On April 21-24, the manager, employers, experts and invited experts of the project “Development of the Network Capacity of Family Clubs in Chernobyl Area in order to Improve Social and Economic Situation” participated in the organization and implementation of the family clubs’ events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl and also helped to prepare the district’s feast “Bragin Fair”.

On April 21, the “Vdokhnovenie” (“Inspiration”) family club organized a round-table discussion at Bragin Historical Museum with Art Gallery on issues of preserving historic and cultural heritage and revival of old district’s traditions.  Nikolay Melnikov, the head of the sector of preservation of historical and cultural heritage of the Department of Ancient Belarusian Culture of the NAS of Belarus, talked about expeditions to evacuate cultural and household objects from the evacuation zone in 1997-2002. He also shared his memories of how the expeditions were held and what were the results, showed how and where the collection was kept. Anna Vygonnaya, the project’s expert, described the process of bringing back “Batleyka” to Bragin district. During the round-table discussion, the restored triptych icon "Deesis" of the Church of St. Nicholas of Bragin town to Bragin laity. As a preamble, Fedor Soroka, an artist, who had led the restoration, spoke about the main principles of restoration and showed all the stages of the icon’s restoration. Nadezhda Meleshko, the chief curator of the museum’s funds, highlighted great public contribution (Bragin residents and relocates) to the restoration of icons.

In the evening and over the following days, Anna Vygonnaya was holding rehearsals of the museum performance “Legend about Love” and classes on making theatre scenery and costumes within the framework of the programme “Batleyka” in Bragin”.

Three following days were filled with trips across the district. The project manager visited the villages of Burki and Mikulichi, discussed preparation to the feast “Bragin Fair” with managers and members of the “Matulin Rushnik” (“Mother’s Towel”) and “Mikulyanochka” family clubs.

On April 23, there were several significant events in different parts of the district. In Komarin secondary school, the Green Cross Belarus NGO volunteers and employers held an environmental tournament “Earth is my Planet” for pupils of 7-8 forms, which finished a cycle of classes with pupils of Bragin district.   The objective of the tournament was to increase interest of pupils to issues on ecology, in particular, ecology of animals and plants, as well as to global environmental problems. Among the participants, there were children from the villages of Ugla, Maleyka, Malozhin, Chemerisy, Khrakovichi, Iolcha, and the towns of Komarin and Bragin. 

During the three-stage tournament, the participants were competing not only in knowledge but also in the ability to speculate and present own point of view. They managed to show good theoretical knowledge in the field of ecology, as well as to receive valuable experience of public speaking. The winners of the tournament were pupils of Komarin and  Khrakovichi schools: I place - Igor Shapetko (Komarin SS), II place - Viktoria Savenko (Khrakovichi SS) and III place - Yulia Zhuravskaya (Komarin NL). All the winners were awarded with diplomas and gifts.

In Mikulichi village, members of the “Mikulyanochka” family club organized commemorative events and involved current and former residents of the district to participate in them. The participants planted an apple garden in the centre of the village and opened the art object “Melnitsa” (“Mill”) with a doll of Mikula Selyaninovich.

Then, famous Belarusian artists such as MartaShmatova (Viktor Shmatov’s daughter who was born in Bragin district), Aleksandr Lubnevskiy, Anna Vygonnaya and Anastasiya Pukhovskaya, held an artistic master class on the topic of “Period of Heroic Epic Ballades and Mikulichi” for children were interested in drawing.

In the evening, there was a meeting of members of the “Vdokhnovenie” club and residents of the town with artists and photographers who had participated in plein-airs in Bragin district in April and August 2015 and whose works had been included into the exhibition “Life Energy. Chernobyl. 30 Years”. The meeting was held at Bragin Historical Museum with Art Gallery. The artists talked about their first impression and works, and clarified which moments they captured in their works and why. After the meeting, the delegation visited the park of the 18^th century where they could watch a prerelease of the museum play “Legend about Love”. The audience was impressed by the play: both participants and audience noted the excellent acoustics of the place, as well as energy, which inspired for further experiments on reviving the history. After the performance, the museum staff held an excursion on the park, and members of the “Sad Mechty” (“Garden of Dreams”) club were invited to the opening of the agricultural country estate “Vіshanka”.

On April 24, there were opening ceremonies of the exhibition “Life Energy. Chernobyl. 30 Years” at Bragin Historical Museum with Art Gallery and Bragin District Recreation Centre. The exhibition was organized by the Green Cross Belarus NGO together with the “Vdokhnovenie” family club. Natalya Svyatkina, the project manager, Nadezhda Meleshko, the manager of the “Vdokhnovenie” family club, Mikhail Maksimov, an artist and participants of the artistic plein-air, Aleksandr Lubnevskiy, a photographer and participants of the photo plein-air, and Viktor Barabantsev, a participant of the first artistic plein-air in Bragin in 1987, delivered their welcoming speeches. The speakers highlighted that despite all difficulties, the district was very interesting. The artists tried to reflect all life spheres of this district in their works, and despite all prejudices, they were ready to search for inspiration on banks of the Dniepr and Braginka. The opening ceremonies were visited by foreign guests, including Scott Roland, US Charge d'Affaires in Belarus.

Four busy days showed the results of family clubs’ work. The participants determined where and how to move on in order to make the district develop. We hope that all previous and future activities will draw attention of current and former residents of the district to the work of family clubs, and will stimulate greater consolidation of Bragin residents.

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This publication has been produced with the support of the European Union. Responsibility for the content of the publication rests with the Green Cross Belarus NGO, and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.