The Belarusian authorities want to reduce the Republican List of Historical and Cultural Heritage Sites. On Belsat’s Studio program, historical and cultural heritage protection activist and acting chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front Party Yuras Meliashkevich reflected on the reasons behind the decision.
“This is a question of the state of mind of these officials whom Lukashenka has deliberately cultivated all these decades. They have no Belarusian idea, they have no Belarusian identity. To a large extent, these are people who view Belarus as a space for manipulating these material objects”, the expert said.
In this situation, Meliashkevich added, if a building — a palace, manor house or remains of a farmyard — has lost its function, references to Belarusian history mean nothing to officials because this does not fit into their worldview.
In addition, businesses that take on the responsibility of preserving a historic building face difficulties. Moreover, there is no culture in Belarus of people with money investing in large-scale projects that are important and prestigious for Belarusian culture.
“I hope that the current officials will not be able to reach every site. And the time will come when we will restore those manor houses that created the beauty of Belarusian rural landscapes. They were probably the most beautiful centers of our Belarusian cultural landscape. This is an entire layer, an entire civilizational phenomenon”, the expert concluded.
