Commemorative event in the US celebrates the 135th anniversary of Yanka Kupala
07.07.2017On the day of the 135th anniversary of Yanka Kupala on July 7, the Permanent Mission of Belarus organised a poetic recital and a commemorative ceremony by the monument to the People’s Poet of Belarus in ARROW Park.
The monument to Yanka Kupala in the American private park “Arrow” (ARROW Park, Monroe, New York, USA) is the only monument in the western hemisphere to the Belarusian poet. The author of the monument is the famous Belarusian sculptor Anatoliy Anikeichik. The architect of the Kupala memorial is Sergei Batkovsky. The opening ceremony of the monument, which took place on July 1, 1973, was attended by its creator A. Anikeichik and the famous Belarusian playwright, People's Writer of Belarus Andrei Makayonak.
Near the monument to the outstanding Belarusian poet in the memorial park there are monuments to the greatest poets of the American, Russian and Ukrainian people: Walt Whitman, Alexander Pushkin, Taras Shevchenko. Over the decades this ‘community’ of monuments has been a meaningful embodiment of togetherness of the literary traditions and closeness of the cultures of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, a symbol of friendly ties between the cultures of Eastern Europe and the United States.
At the monument to the greatest Belarusian poet, staff of the Belarusian Mission to the United Nations, the UN Secretariat, the Belarusian diaspora in the United States and American citizens read Kupala's poems.
As a sign of gratitude and recognition of the exclusive role of Yanka Kupala in the formation of the Belarusian nation and the establishment of its independent statehood, Belarusian diplomats planted picturesque rosebushes around the monument to the first People’s Poet of Belarus.
On behalf of the State Literary Museum of Yanka Kupala, the staff of the Belarus mission to the UN donated to the library of the memorial park unique editions of Kupala's poetic pieces translated into foreign languages.
Addressing the participants of the ceremony, Andrei Dapkiunas, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the United Nations, spoke of vitality of the creative heritage of Yanka Kupala and the consonance of its themes with the challenges the Belarusian society faces today. The head of the Belarusian Mission to the UN called on his colleagues to perceive the heartfelt and fraught with painful anxiety for the lot of his Motherland Kupala’s poetic word not as a historical artefact but as an inexhaustible source of daily creative and professional inspiration, an example of work and struggle for the better future for the country and her people.
The Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations intends to make a memorial event in the Arrow Park regular.
