Minsk Presents: The First Gallery of Contemporary Art
Belarus News - Do You Know That?

Finally, finally, finally! The first Gallery of Contemporary Art was opened in Minsk! What’s so special about it?

Well, surely Minsk hosts academic museums, which have distinct USSR flavor…and also some private galleries. However, there was no decent culture area for modern Belarusian artists in Minsk. But now there is ;)

Gallery of contemporary art

First, the name of the project is quite interesting - "Ў", which is the only letter of the Belarusian alphabet, which doesn’t exist in any other language. As stated by Ekaterina Shaternik, the director of the gallery, the name emphasizes the unique character of this art project.
The Gallery will include an exhibition hall, a bookstore, a café, and a library, specialized in contemporary art. There is (!) no entrance fee, and the gallery works daily from 10 am till 10 pm (it is planned to prolong the working hours till 12 or even till 4 am!)

Art gallery exhibits

Another symbolic thing is the location of the gallery: the new culture area can be found at Nezavisimost’ (Independence) Av., 37 (not far from the Victory Square) former wines & liquors store and bottles redemption centre… “We have been looking for the premises for several years already, we wanted to find a place in the centre of Minsk with a convenient parking area. Finally, we’ve managed to remodel the bottles redemption centre” – said Ms Shaternik.

Minsk Art

The bookstore will be directed by Alexander Dynko. “We are going to have a normal European store, where it is possible to have a cup of coffee and to read a book. Writers will organize literary presentations of books and will be able to share ideas with readers. Soon e-books will also be available for sale at the bookstore.”

Gallery of contemporary art

The organizers of the new art & culture spot in Minsk claim they will hold various presentations and events weekly, we only have to wait and see, but anyway we wish the project "Ў" a tremendous success!