SATURDAY 9 MAY 2009, 2pm

An event to mark the anniversary of the Charnobyl tragedy will be held at the Ukrainian Institute, 79 Holland Park, London W11 3SW.

Dzianis Ramaniuk

Сумная прыгажосьць (Sad Beauty)
A presentation of recent photographs taken in the Charnobyl exclusion zone in Belarus.

The presentation will start at 2.30pm. There will be an opportunity to preview the photographs from 2pm.

The presentation will be in Belarusian, with translation into English. Ensuing discussion can be in either language, with translation into the other.

At 4pm Vera Rich and friends will present, in English, their multimedia performance ‘Wormwood Star’, originally conceived to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy in 2006.

There will then be a further opportunity until 5.30pm for discussion and viewing of the photographs.

Refreshments will be served.

A donation of £5 per head towards expenses is requested.

How to get there:

Underground: Holland Park (Central Line); Notting Hill Gate (Central, Circle and District lines) is not far away.
Buses 31, 94, 148, 228 pass the Institute.

Saturday 21 February

2pm, Belarusian Religious and Cultural Centre, 39 Holden Road, London N12

A CELEBRATION OF THE BELARUSIAN AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES

An event to mark the UNESCO Mother Language Day

2pm – for the children (up to the age of 13) [organised by Karalina Maćkievič]: Short poems, chat, whatever they would like to do in Belarusian. A small present for all the children who participate.

3pm – for the adults (13 and upwards). [organised by Vera Rich] Read your favourite Belarusian poem (no need to learn it by heart!). There will be prizes amounting to a total of £50 (the Alexander Lutsko Prize, kindly donated by Dr Alan Flowers) for the best readings (1st prize: £25; 2nd prize £15; 3rd prize £10).

Poets from Vera’s Manifold Voices team will be present to read English translations of Belarusian poems, as well as English poems relevant to the occasion.

The programme will be interspersed with items inviting thought and discussion about what is meant by ‘mother tongue’.

It would be really good if a party atmosphere could be created throughout the proceedings! Some refreshments will be provided (perhaps draniki [potato pancakes] with sour cream), but contributions of food and drink will be very welcome!! [By the way, Lent begins on Wednesday the following week.]

This is in many ways an experimental event; let us try to make the occasion the first of many in the UK which celebrate the Belarusian language.

For information on the background to the UNESCO Mother Language Day go here.

Dr Alexander Lutsko was Rector of the International Sakharov College of Radioecology in Minsk until his death in 1997. See here.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY

The 2008 AGM will be held on Saturday 24 January 2009, 2pm, Belarusian Religious and Cultural Centre, 39 Holden Road, London N12.

This is the meeting that should have been held in October last year but had to be postponed because of the Kupala-Kolas Colloquium.

The Council of the Society proposes the following Agenda for the 2008 AGM:

1. Adoption of the Agenda
2. Apologies for absence
3. Minutes of the 2007 Annual General Meeting and matters arising
4. Reports
1. Chairman/Secretary
2. Treasurer
5. Election of Council
6. The officers of the Council of the Society are currently:
• Chairman: Jim Dingley
• Vice-Chairman: [vacant]
• Secretary: Aleś Patrusaǔ
• Treasurer: Vadzim Dziamidčyk
• Council members:
• Alan Flowers
• Karalina Mackievič
• Mrs H Michaluk (ex officio, Chair of ZBVB)
• James O’Connor
• Andrej Vyšadok
7. New members of the Society
8. Activities of the Society for 2008-09
9. Any other business

Nominations for the vacant post of Vice-Chairman, as well as for the other officers, should be sent to me in advance of the AGM. Nominations must be made and seconded by paid-up members of the Society.

Further items for the agenda may be submitted at the start of the meeting; it would, however, be preferable if they could be sent to me in advance.

Jim Dingley
Chairman

The meeting will be followed by a talk at approx. 3pm:

Mgr A Nadson

Apostolic Visitor for Belarusians
Rector, Belarusian Catholic Mission, London
Librarian, Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum
Vice-President, Anglo-Belarusian Society

Skaryna in Vilnia: a European in a European City
(in English)

This is the talk that Fr Nadson delivered in Belarusian on the occasion of his receipt of an Honorary Doctorate of the European Humanities University in Vilnius in November 2008. Photographs of the occasion can be viewed here.

Refreshments will be provided.