Minsk

The analysis of the Minsk agreements implementation (a common name for a package of documents adopted in September 2014 and February 2015 aiming to resolve a current crisis in the Eastern region of Ukraine) demonstrates that despite a few steps forward, the systematic violation of certain clauses as well as serious manipulation of the others by the so-called ‘Donetsk People Republic’/ ‘Luhansk People Republic’ (‘DPR’/‘LPR’) combatants and the Russian Federation has been observed and confirmed by the international community. Lifting international sanctions seems the only incentive for Russia to comply with the Minsk agreements. Its current tactic involves partial implementation, which would help to apply for easing sanctions and thus to decrease the cost of its waging war against Ukraine. At the same time, Russia preserves the possibility to re-escalate the currently low-intensity-conflict at any convenient moment.

Independence in 1991 and the need to construct a new national identity have drawn the attention of national post-Soviet political elites to the capital cities. Minsk was unique in this process because the set of possible cultural interpretations was initially limited there to post-war architecture that represented the Soviet power and its attributes. In this study, I analyzed cultural narratives in the space of Minsk as represented by the names of the places, the outer look and decorations of the city. For this purpose, I conducted content-analysis of historical and modern names of the city objects, and interpreted the strategies of building new nat ional identity by the authorit ies. I found that the current narrative of national identity in Minsk is constructed on the basis of the 1945 Victory of WWII and the pre-communist 19th century history of the city’s development. These are symbolically promoted and legitimized strategies to interpret Minsk. Moreover, the current project of national identity in Minsk strives for a monopoly, thus cutting down on the sources of other identities of the city. However, new capitalist features are increasingly including Minsk into global capitalist dynamics.

The paper Dynamics of space and population characters of Minsk by Anna Shirokanova desciribes several aspects of the soviet and post-soviet development in the city. The author pays a special attention to the ways by which the city gains in importance under the postcommunist period: the street renaming, construction of new symbols of power, restauration of some historical buildings, and keeping the city comfortable for its inhabitants. At the same time, the author shows the problems related to some neglection to the long history of Minsk (poor historical memory of some part of the Minsk population has been confirmed by the survey data), some provincialist attitudes of the people (bad knowledge of foreign languages, non-representation of national heros in the map of the city). The author shows that Minsk is a unique capital city in comparison to other neighbour capitals (Vilnius or Warsaw): the buildings constructed during the last 20—40 years totally prevail here. The old historical centre has been rebuilt many times, so that the old history is not well represented in Minsk. On the contrary, its present time is visible everywhere. Minsk was called “the soviet city of the Sun” as it represented the sweet dreams of the soviet people about the communist future. Of course, it is only a metaphore; however, Minsk still keeps some unique features in its architecture, design, atmosphere that differ this city from other regional capitals.

This article describes the history of the icon of the Virgin Mary from Fashchevka / Faščaŭka village (Shklov district, Mogilev region, Belarus)
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У гэтым артыкуле выкладзена гісторыя абраза Панны Марыі з Фашчаўкі (Шклоўскі раён, Магілёўская вобласць, Беларусь)
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В этой статье изложена итория иконы Девы Марии из Фащевки (Шкловский район, Могилёвская область, Беларусь)
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W tym artykule jest opisana historia obraza Matki Boskiej z Faszczówki (rejon Szkłowski, region Mohylewski, Białoruś)

This paper gives a historical overview of the shaping of Minsk as a capital in comparison to the capital cities of neighbouring countries and during different periods of the city's history. The article features a curious and rather comprehensive table of street renaming and monumental buildings in Minsk and an empirical attempt to zone the city centre basing on the epochs represented in the city's taxonomy.

В статье рассматриваются основные мероприятия по подготовке Первой Всебелорусской сельскохозяйственной и промышленной выставки в Минске. Первая Всебелорусская выставка планировалась как масштабное мероприятие экономического и политического характера, на котором будут продемонстрированы достижения государственного, экономического и научно-культурного строительства в БССР за 10 лет ее существования. Созданные при правительстве БССР структуры в 1927-1929 гг. занимались разработкой концепции выставки, выбором терри-тории, формированием бюджета.

Preparation of the First All-Belarusian agricultural and industrial exihibition in 1927–1929. Forming concept and planning.

The article discusses the main activities for the preparation of the First All-Belarusian Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Minsk. The first All-Belarusian exhibition was planned as a large-scale event of an economic and political significance, which will demonstrate the achievements of state, economic, scientific and cultural construction in the BSSR over 10 years of its existence. Created under the government of the BSSR, the Main Exhibition Committee and its departments in the period 1927-1929 were engaged in developing the concept of the exhibition, choosing the territory, and forming the budget for the construction of exhibition pavilions, the selection of exhibits for the exhibition and the organization of mass excursions of citizens from all regions of the BSSR.

The building of the Minsk factory-kitchen (Sverdlova st., 2), which survived on the territory of the city during the Nazi occupation, has the status of historical and cultural value. The Minsk factory-kitchen is an example of constructivist architecture, and also deserves attention as an object of humanitarian research as the largest catering enterprise in the 20th century and a landmark object of urban infrastructure. In different historical periods, the functions and tasks of the kitchen factory changed, the external and internal image and appearance of the building were transformed. The most intensive transformation of the facility and its functions, like the city as a whole, took place during the wartime, the occupation of Belarus, the liberation, and then the restoration of the infrastructure of Minsk, including the network of public catering establishments. The article, based on a wide range of found archival sources, examines the path of transformation of the Minsk kitchen factory (1941-1947).

Minsk, Belarus: The official press and media are completely manipulated by the authorities, according to media experts. Only entertainment and fashion programs and the President’s speech about the greatness of Hitler and Stalin are broadcast on TV.

Autor bada specyfikę marketingu medialnego oraz promocji mediów audiowizualnych w warunkach państwa autorytarnego, a mianowicie Białorusi, gdzie rynek mediów jest zmonopolizowany przez media państwowe. Autor poddał analizie charakterystykę marketingu medialnego, promocji, klasyfikację technik promocyjnych dla TV oraz radia. Praca opisuje także sytuację na rynku medialnym Białorusi, w tym ograniczenia, z którymi się spotykają media niezależne od władz. W rozdziale praktycznym proponuje się projekty dwóch kampanii promocyjnych dla Radia Svaboda oraz  Biełsat TV z uwzględnieniem warunków na Białorusi.

This study supplements the function-topological model of analysis of city organization and development with a sectoral model of administrative-territorial division. The function-topological model allows revealing unique features of objects of the same profile, located in different space sectors. Besides, significant objects are usually placed in strictly defined sectors. Identification of general principles of spatial arrangement at all levels from geopolitics to the structure of private farmsteads on the cases of various cities, metropolitan areas and architectural ensembles is of great general scientific significance. It deals with the principles described in regional traditions: the Indian Vastu Vidya and the Chinese Feng Shui. The analysis shows that, on an intuitive level, the same principles are implemented in the activities of specialists, designers, who make decisions about the location of industries, residential areas and architectural complexes. Recognition and study of these principles are hindered by the materialistic attitudes of twentieth-century science. The results of the study lead to a radical step in recognizing many spatial elements of the mythological picture of the world as reliable ones.

Główną ideą artykułu jest pokazanie zmian historycznych, które miały miejsce w społeczno-etnicznej strukturze w Mińsku w ciągu ostatnich dwóch stuleci i omawia, jak te zmiany wpływają na kapitał społeczny miasta. W XIX wieku Mińsk zmienił się radykalnie, ponieważ nastąpiła zmiana cywilizacji: od obwodowego europejskiego politycznego i kulturalnego środowiska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Mińsk został siłą włączony do rosyjskiego miasta prowincjonalnego. Następnie, przez cały wiek XX, Mińsk doświadczył bardziej radykalnej przemiany i nowego przejścia: od kapitalizmu do socjalizmu, i z powrotem. Współcześnie Mińsk, wciąż typowe miasto pogranicza Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej, można uznać za jedno z wielu innych miast tego regionu. Słowa kluczowe: kapitał społeczny, grupy społeczne, przemiany, skład etniczny, pogranicze.