Why is there less and less Russia at the Slavic Bazaar?
The first thing that catches your eye when watching Belarusian television programs is the camouflage of everything Soviet and all-Russian. But it’s all embroidered shirts and ornaments for any occasion.
A new bridge is opening in Vitebsk – we’ll decorate it with ornaments and tell you about it in every report. It’s as if a bridge can’t just be a bridge, without branding the structures.
Can you imagine that, for example, in Germany, the symbol of the country - a black eagle - was splashed everywhere on houses, bridges, sidewalks and other objects? However, in the 1930-40s there was something like this...
On Independence Day, which, let me remind you, is the date of the liberation of the city of Minsk from the Nazi occupation, the Belarusian TV channel broadcast... from Mir Castle. Not from the Stalin Line, not from the Mound of Glory, not from the Museum of the Great Patriotic War - from the Gothic structure of the noble magnates.
The host of the program, Vera Polyakova, the wife of Minister Makei, explained this choice in a unique way. Like, peace has come, that’s why we are now in the town of Mir, and our anthem begins with the words “we, Belarusians, are peaceful people.” This is the logic. Such “analogies” will soon be used to interpret the name of Sovetskaya Street, as one grandmother at this place advised in which farm “letsh buy honey”, which is why it is called “Sovetskaya”.
They talked about the “Slavic Bazaar” in Vitebsk. Separately, they noted that the competition is usually won by representatives of Ukraine and Belarus. Although, to be fair, representatives of the republics of the former Yugoslavia received exactly the same number of awards.
Such a presentation of information. It seems like we are not talking about Russia, or rather, we are deliberately keeping silent. This year, too, the victory went to Belarusian performers – both in the main competition and in the children’s competition.
But it was possible to tell how the first festivals took place largely thanks to the funding of Russian businessmen, how now the “Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk” is financed, including from the budget of the Union State, and is an interstate cultural project of the Union of Russia and Belarus.
One could also add that the Vitebsk Amphitheater, where the festival concerts are held, appeared in the city thanks to the efforts of the composer Igor Luchenok, one of the founders of our Republican Party of Labor and Justice (RPTS), which recognizes Crimea as Russian.
But will this fit into the anti-Russian rhetoric that is heard from all over the world?
Could a Belarusian TV presenter be indignant, saying, why was there a concert “With Ukraine in the Heart” at the festival, but there were no performances by masters of Russian culture? Like, where is “With Russia in the Heart”?
A demonstrative emphasis on differences, a desire to demonstrate that “they are not us” will lead to a certain result - a slide into parochialism followed by provincial oblivion.
The Slavic Bazaar was short-lived this year due to the echoes of the pandemic. Only four days, instead of the usual week. The very fact of holding the festival in such a difficult period is already a feat. Here, as they say, you need to take your hat off to the organizers and participants.
Everything seemed to be the same as always. Concerts, fairs, celebrations, meetings. There was also a regular at the festival, Kirkorov, who tore off his “Dolchegabanovsky” mask at the moment of the unveiling of his personal star on the Avenue of Stars. There was a festival - this is important.
However, I really want, as before, the presidents of the three countries to sit side by side, in the same box, joke, laugh, enjoy the holiday, and Vitebsk, at least for a week, becomes the capital of Slavic unity.
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