Photo: V. I. Anikin, “Minsk

What happens with the capital architecture.

Last week it became known that during the renovation in the Palace of culture of railwaymen under the plasterboard was bricked up unique painting — a 15–metre wall painting “My homeland.” The Village of Belarus found out, what masterpieces of monumental art destroyed and dismantled in Minsk during the years of Lukashenka’s rule.

The Paintings “My Homeland”

YEAR: 1978

Photos from the group of Belarusian Soviet Monumantal Art on Facebook

The Village of Belarus said: the Palace of culture of railway workers changed the sign and now has almost the longest name of the institution in the country, “Transport Republican unitary enterprise “Minsk branch of the Belarusian Railways”, the Cultural and sports center”. Now there is a repair, and painted in the tempera technique “My Motherland” decided to close the plasterboard walls. Director of the Palace Alexander Kulaga explained the motives:

— It has already cracked in 40 years, it was never updated. We sew up the drywall. Learned five years ago, can not remember now which one, how much can cost a restoration — we called the money that, sorry, best to draw it. I’m not ready to say who the authors are and what this painting represented some value. Sew up the drywall, who knows, maybe until better times.

Both artist are still alive and made free of the desire to restore the painting, if they were invited. The authors say: the theme works lyric is a story about Belarus, which was a place the symbols of power, fertility, red ribbons.

Encaustic “Vilnius old and new”

YEAR: 1976

Photo: E. Ponomareva, “color in the interior” (1984)

In the foyer of the former cinema “Vilnius” Zoe and Svetlana created a monumental canvas “Vilnius old and new” in the technique of encaustic (paint mixed with hot wax). The painting on the wall depicts historical and cultural figures of Lithuania. In the scientific book “Color in design” by Eugene Ponomarev writes: “Rich and dense in colour mural paintings, built on the combination of red, green and yellow colors contrast is opposed to the General light colour of the lobby. The original contrast is softened by the inclusion into the spatial environment of the individual color components of the panel. Red and green is introduced in the space foyer as the colors of the upholstery fabric on chairs, and yellow is repeated in the hue suspended acoustical ceiling foyer”.

The authors of the panel said that the panel was protected with him there was nothing we could do. But cinema “Vilnius” radically remade into a Center of free-style wrestling name Alexander Medved and panel nothing left.

Also Zoya Litvinova and Svetlana Katkova created in 1971 painting “Science and man” (sometimes called just “Science”) in the former Institute of technical Cybernetics Surganova. But that job destroyed. Now in Minsk in sight, not a single monumental work Zoe and Svetlana.

Sgraffito and mosaic the Storks

YEAR: 1965

Photo: V. I. Anikin, “Minsk. The architecture of the capital of the Republic of Belarus” (1997)

In 1965, on the southern outskirts of the city built culture Palace of the worsted mill. People’s artists of the BSSR Gavril Vaschenko and Vladimir stelmashonok completed the painting of the facade in a rare technique of sgraffito, which ensures durability of the product. In the spirit of socialist realism art images framed the slogan “Art belongs to people” and “Peace, labor, freedom, equality, brotherhood and happiness.” And in the dance hall came the mosaic with the flying storks.

In 2012, DC was closed for renovation. Several years later the engineer of technical supervision of Uksa of administration of Leninsky district Rita Strigelsky said sgraffito can not be restored “due to the fact that the building is not recorded for 50 years”. And indeed, in the course of repair work for an Belarusian builders have lost the skills to work with monumental art, brought down from the facade of the great art of sgraffito, sheathed the walls with a coat and plastered. Mosaic with storks also remained only in photographs. Instead a simple painting “under shirt”. But after renovation (completed in may 2018), the former culture Palace of the worsted mill became known as the Minsk city Palace of culture.

Canvas “Balad AB backage”

YEAR: 1989, 1999

Photo: Lianina-minsk

Bus station “Moscow” was commissioned in 1999. The second floor lobby was decorated with painted “Balad AB backage” Victor Khatskevich. The canvas area of 45 square meters he created in 1989 to a sanatorium in Aksakovschina, but there from her in the last moment refused. The result is a polyptych, consisting of stories, “Childhood”, “Youth”, “Maturity” and “Struggle”, written on motives of the poem of Nicholas Gusovskogo “Song about the bison”, appeared on the second floor of the bus station.

In July-August 2014 the bus station was demolished. Painted until recently hung in its place, covered with polyethylene. Further its traces are lost.

Mosaic of a bright future

YEAR: 1974

Photo: Darriuss

Mosaic and sgraffito often made on blank walls of schools and kindergartens — The Village Belarus has done a detailed review of such a monumental mosaics. They slowly deteriorate, crumble, and some of the utility of the paint. Has almost irretrievably lost mosaic on the school building in chyzhivka. The contours can be assumed that either the runners tearing the ribbon or the happy Soviet people, aspiring to a bright future.

Stained glass “Celebration of the Belarusian land”

YEAR: 1982

Photo: TUT.BY

Huge stained glass window with an area of 250 square meters were placed in the Windows of the lobby of the building, which now houses the national school of beauty. It was a gallery of portraits of Belarusian educators, designed in bright colors of clear and blue glass. In the early 2000s, the building caught fire. Stained glass window in need of restoration, but instead simply removed.

Ceramic panel on the topic of Oct

YEAR: 1980

Photo: V. I. Anikin, “Minsk Minsk Minsk” (1997)

The Oktyabrskaya hotel was built for the Olympics–80 — say, to the last she retained the old Soviet spirit. At least, the certification for the “star” she never passed, and reconstruction. Above the entrance to the hotel was an abstract ceramic mural, which, most likely, was ideologically connected with the name of the hotel: the painter and the poet Adam Globus believes it is portrayed in the falling October leaves. In 2008, the hotel was sentenced to a total alteration, two years later work began. But the hotel did not alter, but simply demolished. Panel gouging excavators. On a place “October” in 2013 opened the pretentious “President-Hotel”. But even the high price tag does not save the view from the window on a blank wall and power outages.

Photo: Euroradio