The Ukrainians of Belarus. Belarusian Public Association of Ukrainians «Vatra». Mohyliv Public Association «Dnipro» and Minsk Public Association «Zapovit» 1991–2014
Abstract
The article contains information about the activity of two branches of Belarusian Public Association of Ukrainians (BPAU) «Vatra»: Minsk Public Association «Zapovit» and Mohyliv Public Association «Dnipro». Minsk Public Association of Ukrainians «Zapovit» is registered as a legal body by the Department of Justice of Minsk City Executive Committee on March 2, 2005. This branch is headed by Halyna Kaliuzhna. The author of the article points out the major objectives of the Association:
- encourage youth and children to participate, especially to organise the Ukrainian language courses for them and conduct seminars and annual holidays in summer camps in Ukraine;
- cooperate with cultural establishments of the capital, as well as with the BelarusUkraine Friendship Society, in order to conduct commemorative and literary evenings dedicated to Taras Shevchenko, Lesia Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, Volodymyr Sosiura, Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas; and to organise exhibitions dedicated to the tragic years of the famine in Ukraine, to Chernobyl disaster and other memorable dates;
- organise concerts of the Ukrainian folk ensemble «Vatra» in order to preserve and promote national songs and customs;
- restore and preserve folk art, especially the Ukrainian embroidery;
- issue the Ukrainian newspaper «The Ukrainian in Belarus»;
- participate in the activities organised by BPAU «Vatra» to commemorate well-known Ukrainians, e.g. Pylyp Orlyk, the Ukrainian hetman and the author of the first constitution of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the author of the article provides the facts about the PAU «Dnipro» which was established by the initiative group of Ukrainians on December 23, 2002. The Association was registered as a legal body by Mohyliv Executive Committee. The first chairman was Anatolii Moshchenko, the honoured Worker of Culture of Belarus. He is a talented organizer who gathered real patriots from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, etc. PAU «Dnipro» has more than 50 members of different age and professions. Among them the author lists Volodymyr Turchyn, Myron Shudlo, Olena Dudych, Liudmyla Borovyk, Alla Storozhenko, Volodymyr Tyshchenko, Liubov Kondybor, Natalia Kulyk and others. The members of the Association regularly hold conferences, festivals, exhibitions and activities to commemorate soldiers, veterans, artists, etc. Moreover, the Association cooperates with the Department of Ukrainian literature of Karl Marx Library.
