June 13, Minsk /Alina Grishkevich - BELTA/. The nomination dossier of the National Library of Belarus, submitted in early 2013 to the UNESCO Chikchi Prize selection committee, has been shortlisted among the main contenders for the award. The decision on awarding the prize is planned to be made next week, the Embassy of Belarus in Paris informed BELTA correspondent.
This and other issues were discussed on June 12 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris during a meeting between the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Belarus to UNESCO, Pavel Latushko, and the Deputy Minister of Culture of Belarus, Vasily Chernik, with the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information of UNESCO, Janis Karklins.
The embassy stressed that the Chikchi Prize has been awarded since 2005 for a significant contribution to the implementation of the "Memory of the World" programme. "Chikchi" is an anthology of Zen teachings by great Buddhist monks, the oldest document (1377) using movable metal type. The second volume of "Chikchi" is kept at the National Library of France, the first volume has not been found and is included in the UNESCO "Memory of the World" register.
The Belarusian side initiated a discussion on expanding the presence of Belarus's documentary heritage in the UNESCO "Memory of the World" register, as well as considering the possibility of submitting a Belarusian application for the status of "World Book Capital 2017".
Pavel Latushko informed the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information of UNESCO, Janis Karklins, about the plans to hold events at the UNESCO headquarters in 2014 dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Belarus's accession to UNESCO, including organising a performance by a Belarusian ensemble, an exhibition of archival materials, and other cultural events.
Janis Karklins supported the idea of organising the anniversary events for Belarus at the UNESCO headquarters, highly praised the level of cooperation between the Communication and Information Sector of the UNESCO Secretariat and Belarus, and assured continued support for Belarusian initiatives.-0-