Belarus as nation is still looking for self-identifying model, being presented in World culture contest as “a part of Russia”. The idea of the project is to document still existing pagan culture traditions and believes and signs to determine cultural basis of Belarus culture.
Belarus people have original culture rooted back in pagan, pre-Christian days. The Belarusian culture has benefited from the fact that when the Slavic tribs came to inhabit nowadays Belarus lands they accept the achievements of Pagan Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes.
This form of religious perception existed for quite a long time (we can freely speak about 15-20 centuries) and made the basis of today’s Belarusian culture. Now there is no doubt that Belarusians had written language already in the pagan period (earlier the emergence of the written language was attributed to the advent of Christianity). And when Prince Vladimir’s efforts to baptise people in the 10th century A.D., he could not completely destroy Pagan believes : the faith in the magic powers of trees, birds, flowers and stones…
Most of Pagan traditions were lost or stopped its celebration in 19th- 20th centuries. Great number of still existing traditions and celebrations are reconstructed by people interested in Belarus culture and by folk unions. It’s a luck if you can find just one person, who participated in original celebration when she (he) was teenager.
Andrei Liankevich
Andrei Liankevich, Belarusian photographer, born 1981 in Grodno and based in Minsk (Belarus).
