Photos of the Day for September 20, 2016

Feast of the Maccabees (Makauje)/Honey-Blessing Feast (Mjadovy Spas), Davyd-Haradok 2016.  Макаўе/Мядовы спас, Давыд-Гарадок 2016 г. August 14 is one of the clearest examples of syncretism, the overlapping or fusion of different religious traditions, in the Belarusian cycle of the year. From pre-Christian times, Belarusians have traditionally seen the time around August 14 as marking the… Continue reading Photos of the Day for September 20, 2016

Photos of the Day for September 19, 2016

Functionalism and the Zakopane style in Hlybokaje:  civil-servants’ housing quarter by Juliusz Klos and other houses. After surveying some of the Zakopane-style buildings on the outskirts of Hlybokae (photos of the day for September 18), there was not enough time for more than a drive-by tour of the better-known Polish-era six-building housing quarter for civil… Continue reading Photos of the Day for September 19, 2016

Photos of the Day for September 18, 2016

Zakopane (functionalist) style, Hlybokaje 2016.  On the road from Braslau to Mjensk, and inspired by the visit to the civil-servant residential quarter in Braslau, we stopped in Bjerazvjechcha on the outskirts of Hlybokaje, as well as in Hlybokaje, to survey some of the Zakopane-style buildings there. Функцыяналізм (закапанскі стыль), Беразвечча й Глыбокае 2016 г.  Па… Continue reading Photos of the Day for September 18, 2016

Photos of the Day for September 17, 2016

Architectural patrimony of Braslau 2016 (V/V):  Polish functionalism:  civil-servant quarter designed by Juliusz Klos. On September 17, 1939, Stalin’s Soviet Union, following its ally Nazi Germany’s September 1 invasion of Poland, invaded Poland from the east and occupied and annexed Belarusian (and Ukrainian) lands which had been incorporated into the interwar Polish Republic.  Heavy Soviet… Continue reading Photos of the Day for September 17, 2016

Photos of the Day for September 16, 2016

Architectural patrimony of Braslau 2016 (IV/V):  Zakopane-style houses, Sadovaja Street. Архітэктурная спадчына Браслава 2016 г. (IV/V):  Дамы ў закапанскім стылю, вул. Садовая.  

Photos of the Day for September 15, 2016

Braslau architectural patrimony 2016 (III/V):  Braslau cemetery.  Unfortunately the countrywide mania for cutting down cemetery trees reached Braslau several years ago, and the resulting lack of shade has — predictably — led to the rapid and choking growth of weeds, grasses and bushes. Архітэктурная спадчына Браслава 2016 (III/V):  браслаўскія могілкі.  Шкада, што таксама браслаўскія могілкі… Continue reading Photos of the Day for September 15, 2016

Photo of the Day for September 14, 2016

Braslau architectural patrimony 2016 (II/V):  vernacular architecture. Архітэктурная спадчына Браслава 2016 г. (II/V):  народнае дойлідства.   End-19th century brick building, Ljeninskaja Street (formerly Grand (Vjalikaja) Street, then Pilsudski Street) 79.  From its style and material, this building was most likely Jewish-owned until World War II. Тыповая местачковая камяніца ў добрым стане з прыканца 19-га ст.,… Continue reading Photo of the Day for September 14, 2016

Photos of the Day for September 13, 2016

Braslau architectural patrimony 2016 (I/V).  Braslau should be proud of its neglected but nevertheless outstanding example of a Polish-era “civil-servants’ quarter” (in Belarusian:  калонія ўраднікаў; in Polish:  kolonia urzędników), designed in the mid-1920s in the emerging functionalist style by renowned Polish architect Juliusz Kłos. The photos of the day for September 29, 2015 surveyed this… Continue reading Photos of the Day for September 13, 2016

Photo of the Day for September 12, 2016

Belarus in Faces (part CCVIII):  archivists Mikhail and Alina, Braslau History and Area Studies Museum 2016. Беларусь у тварах (частка CCVIII):  спадар Міхаіл і спадарыня Аліна, архіварыусы ў Гістарычна-краязнаўчым музэі, Браслаў 2016 г.

Juryj Khadyka (1938-2016) / Юрый Хадыка (1938-2016)

It is with great regret that we read the Belarusian newspaper “Nasha Niva” report of the death of Professor Juryj Khadiyka.  Not only was Juryj Khadyka a renowned physicist, but also a Belarusian patriot and a leading expert on Belarusian Greek-Catholic art and iconography.  In 2008 he was kind enough to give me a detailed… Continue reading Juryj Khadyka (1938-2016) / Юрый Хадыка (1938-2016)