On February 16, in a beautiful and solemn atmosphere, the Minsk City Hall hosted an event on the eve of the International Mother Language Day. Journalists visited this unusual international literary meeting, which was attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik, ambassadors and diplomats of foreign states. The guests got acquainted with the presentation of Belarusian designers, the performance of Belarusian pop stars and recited poems of poets in the new for them Belarusian language. It was beautiful and touching, because for many of them it was their first conversational practice in the Belarusian language.
Sergei Aleinik, who is also the Chairman of the National Commission for UNESCO, opened the literary meeting, not only giving a note of officiousness to the cultural program, but at the same time setting a lyrical mood.
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The minister's speech was filled with beautiful sayings and quotes. "As there is no river without water, so there is no nation without language," he said. - I am sure that everyone here treats their native language with great love and respect, because it embodies the history of the people, its cultural and spiritual heritage, customs and traditions. But language is also a source of development, which has a powerful unifying potential and force".
Sergey Aleinik quoted South African historical leader Nelson Mandela: "To speak to a person in a language he understands is to speak to his mind, but to speak to him in his native language is to touch his heart.
By the way, joint literary evenings have already become a good tradition for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and foreign diplomatic corps. And this confirms the common commitment to the importance of linguistic and cultural diversity.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes: "The diversity of languages is our unity. It embodies cultural diversity, encourages the exchange of opinions, creates the basis for mutually respectful dialog - the main tool of our diplomatic work, the basis for interaction and cooperation between countries and peoples. Belarus has long realized this simple truth. We have never divided our people either by language or ethnicity.
The words of the Minister that the native Belarusian language has always occupied and will always occupy a special place in Belarus are important. It gives us strength and resilience, its melodiousness is the indomitable will of Belarusians, originality and color of our rich culture. The Belarusian language sounds in songs full of magic beauty, legends, tales, witty and wise proverbs, apt sayings and fairy tales, works of fiction and scientific literature.
When the ambassadors of foreign countries started to come on stage and recite Belarusian poetic lines, it was very warmly welcomed by the audience. The host of the event, Belarusian TV journalist Pavel Lazovik, first briefly introduced the works of Belarusian poets, whose poems were then performed by the foreign diplomats.
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Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Belarus Xie Xiaoyun read an excerpt from Vladimir Mozgo's poem "Sakaviny". Then, in a conversation with journalists, he explained that for more than three years of work in Belarus he had gotten used to the sound of the Belarusian language, he hears it quite often, but he understands not everything that is said. "In my understanding, the Belarusian language is really very beautiful in sound and interesting in its linguistic history," the ambassador said.
According to him, he recited an excerpt from a poem in Belarusian with great pleasure. "This is the first tryout for me. But it was also a great pleasure. I don't know if I pronounced it correctly, but I liked it," Xie Xiaoyun shared his impressions. - Mother tongue is very important for any country. Everyone certainly loves it, despite the many other foreign languages in the world.
The jubilee of the famous Belarusian poet Arkady Kuleshov was dedicated to the speech of the head of the Mongolian diplomatic mission in Belarus Batsukh Bayarsaikhan, who read the poem "Bevay" and wished the Belarusian people great success in development, including in the field of culture and literature.
The attention with which the ambassadors listened to the Belarusian poetic lines shows their interest to the language of the country where they carry out their diplomatic mission.
The poem about winter by Pavliuk Coward, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Pakistan to Belarus Sajjad Haider Khan, sounded beautiful and inspiring. The diplomat admitted that he was pleased to read about winter, as he was born in the north of Pakistan and loves this season of the year. The Ambassador also said that the national poet Faiz, whose work is known all over the world, including Belarus, is very much loved in his homeland. The poet wrote in his native language Urdu.
At the literary meeting, Vasil Bykov's work was also noted - his poems were performed by Israeli Charge d'Affaires Zvi Mirkin.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia Razmik Khumaryan spoke about the importance of the native language, which is the foundation of any nation, when he read out an excerpt from Ales Staver's poem "Zhuravli na Palesse latsatsiatsi". "The Belarusian language is important to my family, as my children went to school here earlier when I worked as a counselor at the Armenian Embassy in Minsk," the diplomat confessed.
He read lines such as: "To love our dear Belarus, you have to be in different places. Now I can understand why the cranes come to Palesse".
The head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission Ahmed Mohammed Almadbukh, who read the poem "Vasilki" by Yadvigin Sh. (Anton Levitsky), also took part in the poetic journey through Belarus.
There was also a young representative from the UN Children's Fund on the stage, who also read an excerpt from the Belarusian work.
The participants of the event were able to hear recordings of the voices of the authors themselves and original performance of musical pieces written to the words of their poems.
The literary meeting was the result of joint efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of the international TV channel Belarus 24, Radio Kultura, the Museum of the History of Minsk, and the creative project Rodnae Modnae. More than 30 heads of foreign diplomatic missions, consular offices and representative offices of international organizations accredited in our country, members of the National Commission for UNESCO, representatives of the cultural community and the academic community took part in the literary festival.
The participants were presented national and historical costumes from the collection of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after M. Tank, a fashion show of the "Rodnae-modnae" project, national dishes of Belarusian cuisine.
The literary evening was accompanied by musicians of the Belteleradiocompany orchestra and artists of the folk music ensemble "Byaseda". All the participants of the event were presented with souvenirs prepared by the creators and designers of the project "Rodnae Modnae" and the Minsk State College named after Glebov.
As the foreign guests admitted, they liked the Belarusian atmosphere of the holiday, which was held in a very warm and friendly atmosphere.
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