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Information and cultural programmes (since 2001)

The need to popularise issues related to Belarus in Poland, and to disseminate Polish experiences with systemic transformation in Belarus led to the creation of an information programme. As an auxiliary programme it does not possess a separate source of financing. It is partly funded by resources from programmes financed by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Separate resources were obtained with the objective of creating the web-site of the Association. This project is carried out with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw.

The information programme involved co-operation with many Belarusian organisations and individuals, notably the Diariush Social Association, the Belarusian Association of Resource Centres, Arche magazine, Nasha Niva newspaper, the Association of Contemporary Art and the Mizhnarodny Kantakt organisation. Between 2001 and 2002 several publications about Belarus were issued in Polish and in English. The Association published and co-published two of these, and actively co-operated with the publishers of the rest. The co-ordinator of the information-cultural programme is Marta Pejda (marta.pejda@tut.by). The webmaster and co-editor of the web site is Jarosław Iwaniuk (webmaster@eedc.org.pl)

Project: Publication of Belarus – the Third Sector. People – Culture – Language.

The publication, containing texts by Belarusian authors and edited by Marta Pejda, is the continuation of a 1998 special edition of the IDEE Foundation’s Newsletter. It provides information about independent life in Belarus, covering such topics as national minorities, the national religious structure, culture, education, the organisation of cultural life, etc. We were especially keen to show the changes taking place in Belarus under the Lukashenka administration: those of a purely formal (legislation, heraldry), but also of a social, mental and political nature. An important part of the publication are texts devoted to the presidential elections of 2001. The edition comprises texts by a dozen or so Belarusian authors, mainly representatives of the young and middle generation, and a CD-ROM with an interactive database of Belarusian non-governmental organisations prepared by the Belarusian Association of Resource Centres. The disc also contains the first edition of Belarus – the Third Sector and its present electronic version.

As with the previous edition, the book is available in two separate language versions – English and Polish. Funds for printing and completion of the CD-ROM data-base were granted within the framework of the RITA (Regions in Transition) Programme. Printing was also partly financed by the National Endowment for Democracy. The publication is distributed in co-operation with the Warsaw-based Education for Democracy Foundation.

Project: Publication of The Belarusian Political System until the Presidential Elections in 2001

Written in 2001, the book is the first collective publication of the Analytical Group, based in Minsk and headed by Valerka Bulhakau. The group consists of independent researchers in all fields of the humanities: sociology, political studies, history, international relations and economics. By offering to finance specific publications our association helped inspire a collection of texts on the present socio-political situation in Belarus.

The publication is extremely important for two reasons. First of all, as mentioned above, it is the first work by the Analytic Group – an interesting, informal (unregistered and lacking any organisational status) think-tank whose further plans envisage studies, analyses and publications in sociology and political science. Another important reason is that The Belarusian Political System constitutes the first independent, professional attempt at a such a comprehensive summary of the 1990s in Belarus. Over 20 young scientists and humanists participated in preparation of the materials, more than a dozen of whom contributed texts to the final version.

Project: Publication of pARTisan magazine.

After almost a year of preparations, the first edition of pARTisan – the first magazine, dedicated to Belarusian contemporary art, saw the light of day. pARTisan is an extensive and wholly modern magazine covering the independent art scene in Belarus. The concept of the publication and its keystone text are the work of the founder and head of the independent Association of Contemporary Art (ASM), Artur Klinau, who is also one of the most interesting and renowned Belarusian artists. pARTisan is the only magazine of its kind in Belarus; its exceptionally professional layout and quality content might make it a model for many art magazines in Eastern Europe. The first issue contains over a dozen texts about the most interesting phenomena in Belarusian art of the nineties written by the country’s most distinguished art critics and theorists.

Project: Publication of the magazine Ziamlia N (Land N).

Thanks to the Association’s considerable organisational and substantive support, the “pilot issue” of the magazine Novahrudskaya Ziamlia came out in 2001. The next issue was published in 2002 in a new layout and under the title Ziamlia N. The magazine was founded by the Pramen’ Association of Philomaths in Novohrod and is the first cultural studies periodical in Belarusian. The contacts our organisation helped the editing board (editor-in-chief Volha Kameneva) establish significantly influenced the concept and content of the magazine. Its first issue was devoted to the general topic of emigration, in its literal and metaphorical sense. The problem of emigration was raised in texts by outstanding authors living in Belarus and abroad. The issue also contains interesting archival materials about pre- and post-war Belarusian history, photographs, drawings by well-known Belarusian contemporary artists, and artistic projects, created especially for the publication. The next issue is scheduled for the second half of 2003. It will be devoted to Judaism and the Jewish minority in Belarus.

Project: The Internet Information Campaign (IIC).

The IIC consists of three independent, though closely interconnected components, available in two web-sites: www.go2east.ngo.pl and the home-page of the Association www.eedc.org.pl. The home-page of the Association contains a general description of our activities, and details of all our programmes, including those already completed. Like all NGO’s, we will post our annual reports, detailed reports on specific projects, and policy papers on the web-site. A permanent and separate part of the web-site will be the Belarusian info-service, targeted especially at Belarusians. Its principal aim is to provide information about the development of civil society and democracy in the region. The service is scheduled to be launched in 2004 (subject to obtaining the necessary financial support). It will largely consist of extracts from the Polish press, as well as essays, commentary and reports on social transformation, building civil society, supporting NGO initiatives, strengthening the democratic processes, promotion of independent co-operation between the third sector, the media and society. Materials will be published in Belarusian. The third area of project activities is the www.go2east.ngo.pl web-site, part of the www.ngo.pl portal, initiated by the informal Zagranica Group, of which the Association is a member. In January 2002, the editors of portal were chosen from among the Zagranica group, and our Association was invited to co-operate. During the initial meetings, the editors decided on the way in which materials would be divided by country. Our organisation undertook the realisation of the part concerning Belarus. We also proposed the general principles according to which the particular parts of the portal will be constructed. The portal www.go2east.ngo.pl is a joint project implemented by Polish NGO’s working abroad (mainly in the East). The portal is an Internet tool comprising several data-bases, archives, links, and other written and photographic material (including maps) related to the activity of Polish NGO’s, and their contacts in the East. In 2002, we sought financial support for the initial phase of the IKI, and received donations from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Embassy of Canada. The funds are meant to be disbursed in 2003.

Cultural projects.

Co-operation with the Belarusian Culture Institute.

On several occasions in 2001, we provided organisational support for the Belarusian Culture Institute (IBK), which is still not registered and has no permanent seat, and as such cannot officially organise events nor apply for grants. Our support enabled the organisation of IBK Evenings at the Architects’ Club in Warsaw: a rock concert and Christmas-New Year festivities. Owing to circumstances beyond our control, the visit to Warsaw, scheduled for early 2002, by the outstanding writer Vasyl Bykau (d. June 2003), we had co-organised could not come to pass.

Foreign visits by Belarusian artists.

On a number of occasions between in 2001 and 2003 we supported the participation of well-known Belarusian artists at international seminars, festivals and exhibitions. This support took different forms: from covering travelling expenses to hosting artists by members of our organisation. Asistance was extended to many well-known Belarusian artists, art theorists, curators: Olga Sazykina, Artur Klinau, Andrej Savicki, Denis Romanovski (art critic and theorist, the curator of the legendary performance festival Navinki), Viktar Piatrou, Eulalia Domanowska (Polish curator of exhibitions of Belarusian art) and others. In the second half of September 2001, with the financial support of the Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw, we enabled the Minsk designer and artist Vitali Levchenia to participate in the First Biennale of Contemporary Art in Tirana (a prestigious festival with the participation of renowned artists and curators from all over the world).

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