The first stationary theater was founded in Belarus in 1933 on the basis of the Belarusian opera and ballet school. The list of brilliant performances staged in the theater was opened with Bizet's Carmen. During several years the troupe had been growing and was increased by several high professionals and soloists. "The Swan Lake", performed by K. Muller, was the first performance, showed at the scene of the new theater building. Theater's performances at the Decade of Belarusian Art in Moscow turned to be a great success. The theater didn't stop working even during the war (it worked in Nizhny Novgorod till Minsk Liberation in 1944, than in Kovrov).

During this time the repertoire was enriched greatly. The most famous operas staged in this theater are "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky, "Othello" and "Don Carlo" by Verdi, "Hoffman's Fairy Tales" by Offenbach, "Sadko" and "Golden Cockerel" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Lohengrin" by Wagner and many other masterpieces of the world art. Nowadays you can see new interpretations of classical plays like "Carmen" and "Boris Godunov" as well as traditional performances.

The theater tours a lot and is welcomed in many countries all over the world. In Spain, Russia, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Israel, Portugal, China opera admirers are well acquainted with the repertoire of the Belarus Theater. The theater's p participation in the well-known annual festival in Germany called Classic Open Air has already become a tradition. It should be mentioned, that in 1996 State Theater was divided in two independent theaters: National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus and National Academic Opera Theatre of Belarus.

The National Academic Yanka Kupala Theater

Yanka Kupala National Theater is the oldest theater in Belarus. It was opened on the 14th of September, 1920. The first performances were originated from Belarusian folklore and works by Belarusian writers. But with the advent of Evstigney Mirovich in 1921, the theater's repertoire grows, and foreign works start to be produced on the stage as well as home ones.

The theater was on the real rise in the sixties, as it was a new period in its development. This period can be called modern. Productions by V. Raevsky and B. Luzenko bring in the spirit of newness and freedom. Under the direction of Valery Raevsky, the theater becomes more liberated in expressing feelings and thoughts on the stage. The new director managed to find that golden mean between the novelty, emancipation, and experiment, on the one hand, and classical tradition on the other hand. All this made his theater truly unique.

For thirty years that he was a director of the Yanka Kupala National Theater, V. Raevsky managed to produce lots of pieces by such authors as Shakespeare, Gogol, Durrenmatt, Brecht, Dostoevsky. But special attention has always been given to national writers like V. Bykov, N. Matukovsky, E. Shaban and others.

The National Academic Drama Theater named after Gorky

In 1920 there was a small traveling troupe under the leadership of a wonderful actor Vladimir Kumelsky. Only at the end of the decade, in 1928 the theater settled down in Mogilev and got a name - Regional Drama Theater. In 1932 the theatre received the status of the Russian Republican Drama Theater. In this period a plenty of outstanding actors such as D. Orlov, A. Obukhovitch, V. Konopliansky, N. Ablov, A. Kistov worked there.

In Minsk the theater began working in 1947 and at this time Vera Redlikh became its art director. The real pearl of the repertoire was the performance "The King Lire", that was awarded with the price for the best acting of A.Kistov by the British Royal Academy of Drama Art.

In 1973 the theater was headed by the young talented director Boris Lutzenko. The new plays of "The Moore Brothers" (by F. Schiller), "Three Penny Opera" (by B. Brecht) and "A Human Tragedy"(by M. Medach) at once became big events in the theater life. The modern period of the theater is characterized by the constant enrichment of the repertoire by the classical masterpieces.

The State Puppet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus

The history of the State Puppet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus began in Gomel, where in 1938 the Republic Puppet Theater was founded. While forming its repertoire, preference was given to Russian classical plays. The best plays of this period include: "Kashtanka" by Chekhov, "Tale of the pope and his worker Balda" by Pushkin and others. The theatre didn't stop working during the World War II. In 1950, it moved to Minsk and since the middle of the 60s the staff worked on the stage of the cinema "Victory". The staff of the theater do not only play the plays for children. Experimental performances showed the combination of drama art, music and pantomime. The repertoire included works by Russian and foreign playwrights. Modern period of the theatre development can be characterized as classical one. Staging of the classic has been always considered as the most difficult theatrical problems. But successful performances of the theater show that it is still possible. The staging of Bulgakov's conceptual novel "Master and Margarita" speaks for itself. The State Puppet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus tours a lot; its performances at international festivals of Puppet theatres in Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, France made the theater world famous.

MUSEUMS IN MINSK

The leading Museum of the historic profile of the Republic of Belarus is the biggest collection of the monuments of material and spiritual culture of the Belarusian people from the ancient times to our days. Chronological frames of the museum fund are from 40, 000 B.C. to present time. Several collections of the museum are of special value:

  The biggest archeological collection in Belarus. Collection of materials on the history of primeval society includes hunting, fishing, and agricultural instruments, domestic and ritual articles, ancient works of art and adornment.

  Manuscripts and block letter books.

  Collection "Belarusian folk costume" features both everyday and festal, ceremonial Belarusian clothes; there are costumes of different age and social groups of population.

  Collection of numismatics.

  Exposition "The ancient Belarus".

  Exposition "Old heraldry of Belarus". Practically all the exhibits of the exposition are presented to the public for the first time. The authors of the exhibition tried to personify the heraldry and tell about the carriers of heraldic traditions.

The museum was established in 1957 as a museum of local lore, history and economy. In 1991 it was reorganized to the National museum. In 1967, the museum was opened for visitors. At present, approximately 100,000 visitors attend the museum annually.

National Arts Museum of the Republic Belarus

The National Arts Museum is the biggest museum in the Republic of Belarus. The basis of the collection was created in the first decades of the 20th century. During World War II the museum was plundered by the Nazi. The fate of the collection remains one of the greatest mysteries of the twentieth century. During the post-war period, due to the enthusiasm and dedicated work of the museum's workers, it was reconstructed. In 1957, the Art Gallery was renamed and moved to the new building. In 1999, the museum received its national status.

Nowadays there are more than 25,600 exhibits. And the biggest collections of the museum are:

  Collection of Modern Belarusian art (painting, sculpture, drawing, works of applied art)

  National Belarusian Art (17-20th century)

  Ancient Belarusian Art (paintings, icons, ceramics, porcelain, arts and crafts of Belarus)

  Manuscripts and old printed books (16-19th century)

  West European Art (16-20th century)

  Russian Art (18-20th century).

The Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War

The Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War is the largest depository of historical documents and relics of 1941-1945. On June 2, 1942 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus had created the Commission responsible of collecting materials evidence of the courage and heroism of the Belarusian people in the Great Patriotic War. The Commission members managed to collect together unique homemade weapons; documents, photographs, uniforms, newspapers and magazines published underground, trophies as well as personal things of solders. Wide collection of unique drawings and paintings includes rare works by professional artists and amateurs, ordinary soldiers, who tried to reflect the horrors of war in their drafts. The first collected materials were exhibited in Moscow in the Sate Historical Museum in November 1942. Then the exhibition called "Belarus Alive Belarus Fighting" was brought back to Minsk. For some decades, this museum was the first and only museum on the territory of the former USSR that dealt with the Great Patriotic War.

Since 1966, the museum is located in a tailor-made building in the center of Minsk.

Today its holding counts in total more than 137,000 exhibits and some auxiliary material. The museum's collection increases one thousand specimens annually.

Yakub Kolas's State Memorial and Literary Museum

On the territory of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences among the old trees of the picturesque park the 2-storied building - Yakub Kolas' Memorial and Literary Museum - is located. The poet, Yakub Kolas (1882 - 1956), lived in this building from 1944 up to his death. He was a poet, writer, dramatist, literary critic, pamphleteer, translator, scientist, teacher, public figure; one of the founders of the modern Belarusian literature and literary language; National Poet of Belarus (1926); Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus (1928). In his work the main features of the Belarusian poetry such as patriotism and preservation of folklore tradition are reflected. The museum was founded according to the decision the USSR. It was founded on the 4th of December in 1959. Expositions of the museum are dedicated not only to the life and personality of Yakub Kolas, but to the whole Soviet epoch of the National literature.

Yanka Kupala's State Literary Museum

Yanka Kupala's museum is located in one of the most beautiful areas of the capital of Belarus. Having changed several places since foundation, it was finally established on the site where the original house of the poet stood, demolished with the fascist bombs in the first days of the World War II. Together with the grand monument to the poet and the fountain called "Kupalye" (bathing), the museum fits into a solid harmonious ensemble. Yanka Kupala (1882 - 1942) was a classic of Belarusian literature: a poet, playwright, translator, and author of about 2,000 works that were translated into many foreign languages. Together with Yakub Kolas, he was a founder of a new Belarusian literature. In his poems lyricism and melodiousness of traditional songs harmonized with the achievements of the soviet literature. The museum of this national genius, being one of the oldest literary museums of the Republic, was opened to the public in 1945. The creator of the museum was poet's wife Vladislava Frantzevna Lutzevich. Autographs, books, photographs, personal belongings were carefully collected by her and made a starting point for the museum's collections. The exhibition of the museum tells about the life of the genius writer and his works.

Maxim Bogdanovich's Literary Museum

Maxim Bogdanovich's Literary Museum is one of the most beautiful museums of the Belarusian capital. It is housed in a two-storied brick building, a monument of the city architecture of the 19th century in the Troitskoye suburb, situated on the bank of the River Svisloch. Unfortunately, the house, where the writer was born, was demolished during the war, that's why the literary museum is situated not far from the place, in another building.

A decree on the foundation of Maxim Bogdanovich's Literary Museum was ruled in 1981. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the artists and decorators, the museum was opened to the public in 1991, by the centenary of Bogdanovich's birth.

In the museum you can plunge in the unique poetic atmosphere of the house and learn some interesting facts about the life of the famous Belarusian writer.

Vankovich Museum

Vankovich museum is a branch of the National Arts Museum of the Republic of Belarus. The building of the museum is a monument of the palace architecture. It has been included in the architectural heritage list of the Republic. There are three main expositions in the museum:

  Life and work of Valentin Vankovich (1800 -1842). Valentin Vankovich is one of the greatest Belarusian painters of the first half of the 19th century. Paradoxically, there is no original painting of Vankovich on the territory of Belarus. His paintings were taken abroad in the first half of the 20th century and now are exhibited in the museums of Paris, Vilnius, Krakow and others. In the museum, a wide collection of photocopies of documents and paintings is presented.

  Belarusian country estate portrait (17-19th century) is represented with the paintings of F. Goretcsky, I. Chrustsky, K. Rusetsky, I. Damel and other well-known artists.

  Country estate interiors of classical style. Original furniture, works of applied art reconstruct the salon atmosphere of the first part of the 19th century. Concerts of classical music are held regularly in the musical parlor.