PACE Rapporteur and Head of the Secretariat of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media Visit the Free Belarus Museum

At the Free Belarus Museum, we had the honour of welcoming Agnieszka Pomaska, Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Tatiana Termatich, Head of the Secretariat of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media.

For us, such a visit is not only an honour but also a responsibility. It was important to present the museum not simply as a place where objects and stories are preserved, but as a space that works with memory, culture and people today — and seeks to respond to the challenges facing Belarusian society.

During the meeting, we showed Maksim Shved’s film about the Free Belarus Museum and spoke about our mission, main projects and daily work.

We discussed why it is important today to support Belarusian culture and Belarusians in exile, while at the same time maintaining ties with Belarus and the people who remain there. We spoke about working with different audiences, our educational and cultural projects, the challenges the museum faces, and the tasks ahead.

We also gave a tour of the updated “Point of Entry” exhibition, as well as the exhibitions “Life on Cardboard” and “The First Non-Democratic Elections”.

A particularly significant moment was the conversation about a dress belonging to a Belarusian political prisoner, which is preserved in the museum. Tatiana Termatich noted that she had seen this object many times in photographs, but seeing it in person and having the opportunity to touch it was an entirely different experience.

And this, perhaps, is one of the museum’s greatest strengths. A photograph can tell a story. But an object that belonged to a particular person allows us to experience that story in a completely different way.

For the Free Belarus Museum, it is important that Belarusian culture and contemporary Belarusian history are seen and understood in Europe. We are grateful for the opportunity to tell those who are shaping the European vision of Belarus’s future about our work.

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