An exhibition of Belarusian Polesie icon painting will be presented to guests and participants of the international arts festival "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk," the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore informed a BELTA correspondent.
The exposition, drawn from the collections of the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life, will be unveiled on July 9 at the City Hall. It will feature 42 icons from the 19th to early 20th centuries, representing the historical and ethnographic regions of Western and Eastern Polesie and the Dnieper region. These icons were acquired by museum staff during numerous expeditions over the past 40 years.
"Folk icons hold a special place in the icon collections of many Belarusian museums. Researchers at the international level study this phenomenon in art, as folk (household icons) are a heritage not only of Belarusian but also of Ukrainian and Russian culture. Common stylistic features, colour schemes, character types, and ornamental framing can be traced in the folk icons of Bryansk, Gomel, and Chernihiv regions," the museum emphasized.
Regarding the specifics of Belarusian folk icons, museum staff noted that they were created within the general Christian canons but, drawing upon them, conveyed the emotions, feelings, and sympathies of the icon painter themselves. They are unified by being painted on wood panels using oil paints, often without a primer. The wood panels for the icons were not meticulously prepared and often had defects. All this suggests that folk icons were painted by non-professional icon painters and were primarily used for domestic purposes. Researchers believe that artisans also painted icons, earning a living through their craft.