Posted:
17.01.2024 12:58:00
Spiritual dialogue of cultures
The team of the Mogilev Regional Methodological Centre for Folk Art —presented with the Spiritual Revival Award — preserves the cultural heritage of the country through the Kupala Night Festival
The small agro-town of Alexandria is located on the border of the Mogilev and Vitebsk regions. And what a huge event! The Kupala Night Festival (Alexandria Gathers Friends), in the Shklov District, which has been held in the homeland of the President since 2010, has become the personification of friendship between peoples, a place of meetings and cultural discoveries. Here artists and folk craftsmen demonstrate their talents, and the concept of the festival always reveals a piece of the country’s heritage. A large layer of work in the preparation and implementation of the nationwide project is carried out by employees of the Mogilev Regional Methodological Centre for Folk Art and Cultural and Educational Work. This year, the team was presented with the Spiritual Revival Award for its significant contribution to the preservation of the cultural heritage of Belarus and the implementation of the cultural and tourism project — the Kupala Night Festival.
Area of cultural interest
Today, few people will remember that the first festival in Alexandria was local. And it very quickly grew into an international one — in 2023, the agro-town attracted 80 thousand guests, the holiday was held under the auspices of the Union State. All this time, his permanent ideological inspirer is the Mogilev Regional Methodological Centre for Folk Art and Cultural and Educational Work: the opening of the festival, the ‘city of masters’, the concept and memorable symbols of the Kupala Night — all on the creative team. The director of the centre, Oleg Khmelkov, half-jokingly and half-seriously says: when the holiday has not yet died down, their team is already starting to think about the idea of the next Kupala Night.“And now our preparations are in full swing. In 2024, the festival will definitely surprise. We are doing what we love. And, of course, it is very pleasant when the results of this work are celebrated at such a high level. We were appreciated by the President, the Culture Ministry, and the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee. We hold a number of festivals: Forum of Traditional Cultures, the musical festival for children Golden Bee, and Wreath of Friendship — there are many directions. This is our profession, and we do everything with love,” Oleg Khmelkov is keeping the intrigue and plot of the Kupala Night a secret.
The whole concept of Alexandria Gathers Friends is based on the method centre of folk art: the opening of the festival, the fair, amulets. It’s hard to imagine that about 4 thousand people are working on preparations for the holiday! This is a method centre team — almost 60 employees, each in their own field, plus an average of 150 creative workers from all districts of the Mogilev Region.
Staff of the department of information-analytical and repertoire-publishing activities Professional development in effect
No matter how tempting the smells of aromatic food from the food court are, guests of Alexandria always first rush to the ‘city of craftsmen’, where the works of local craftsmen are presented. Thanks to their creativity, you can touch the Belarusian traditions, believes leading methodologist of the department of traditional artistic culture Natalia Domenikova, who has been with Alexandria Gathers Friends from the first day, “Behind the bright holiday, which is watched by guests and television viewers, there is long, painstaking work. After all, we need to develop a concept for the upcoming festival, come up with a project around which we will unite artists from our regions. Every year we have a new theme. For example, during one of the festivals, our craftsmen wove the Kupala Night belts, which were then presented at the festival, made dolls, reconstructed the costumes of our area, presented modern images with traditional elements, and wove towels.”
By the way, for the towel, which was exhibited in Alexandria in 2021, folk artist from the Khotimsk District House of Crafts Tatyana Kovaleva won a first degree diploma. The craftswoman, and she is 75 years old, has not missed a single festival, “I am happy to bring my works to my favourite festival — these were embroidered shirts and belts. We also bring a loom for the holiday, on which we conduct weaving master classes. What a queue for us!”
With the assistance of the Methodological Centre for Folk Art and Cultural and Educational Work, master classes are held for folk craftsmen on the types of crafts that need attention. This is at the same time an advanced training for local craftsmen.
“Often we even attract folk craftsmen from other regions — Minsk, Vitebsk, we are supported by the Belarusian Union of Folk Art Masters. After all, in order to make a worthy product, the craftsmen need to be directed and prompted. They do a lot of creative work on the spot — they reconstruct costumes, towels, and also analytical work — they study the characteristics of their region. Our colleagues take the Alexandria Gathers Friends festival very seriously. Everyone can show their own creativity, conduct master classes, present themselves and popularise their type of craft. Weavers, embroiderers, blacksmiths — everyone strives to demonstrate their skills and achievements in this type of craft. That’s why we have such beautiful, spectacular holidays. And the guests are imbued with the national culture, flavour, and are spiritually enriched,” Natalia Domenikova points out.
The Spiritual Revival Award is the result of a great deal of joint work. We have been working since the very foundation of the festival. And we are glad that it not only lives, but also becomes larger every year.Today, the centre’s methodologists are reviving folk crafts and also passing on the secrets of technology to the next generation. The list includes about 20 directions: from weaving, embroidery to ceramics and beadwork.
Under the wings of goodness
Anyone who was at the Kupala Night last year probably remembered the large stork — the figure of this bird hovered above the stage podium. The idea is also a method centre. A whole team is working on the opening of the holiday, notes leading methodologist of the department of amateur creativity and cultural and leisure activities Aleksandr Kuznetsov, “In 2023, Alexandria Gathers Friends was based on a symbol of the cultural heritage of the Slavic peoples — a talisman. At the opening of the Kupala Night, all regions of the country presented their amulets, and the most important one was the stork. This became the leitmotif of the opening ceremony of the holiday. Choosing a concept is a real brainstorming session: we propose it and begin to develop ideas. We have a responsible mission — we open the festival every year. For us, Alexandria Gathers Friends is a very important festival. The methodological centre popularises folk art, we can tell and show what our people are rich in: folklore, folk theaters, games, rituals. This is a great opportunity to gain new knowledge. The scale of the Kupala Night is amazing. And this is due to numerous people.”
During the New Year and Christmas holidays, the centre had a lot of things to do: concerts, meetings. Now, for example, the team is preparing for the Traditional Culture as a Strategic Resource for Sustainable Development of Society International Forum, which will be held in April. The Methodological Centre itself initiated such a large-scale event, which takes place every two years and raises issues of folklore, culture and art. The list includes not only nationwide, but also regional projects. Interest in folk art, they notice in the team, is only growing every year.
By Tatiana Sedunova
