Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus

Hello! My name is Dasha Baydak. We are at the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, and today we are going to talk about the Japanese gods of happiness: Darumа, Daikoku and Hotei. But first, let's briefly review the history of the museum. The National Art Museum is located in the center of Minsk, on Lenin Street 20. There are more than thirty thousand works in the exposition, branches and storage facilities, which form twenty diverse collections and make up two main museum collections: the collection of national art and the collection of art monuments of countries all over the world.

The official history of the museum dates back to January 24, 1939. On this day, the State Art Gallery of the BSSR was established. The pre-war period of the gallery's work was under the leadership of Nikolai Prokofievich Miholap - a famous Belarusian ceramist.

But in 1941 the Great Patriotic War began. And in the first days of the war, the entire collection of the Gallery disappeared. After the war, only a small part of the works was returned.

In 1944, Elena Vasilyevna Aladova became the director of the State Art Gallery. Thanks to her, the Gallery was gradually replenished with new works of art.

But there was not enough space for all the exhibits, so it was decided to build a new building for the Gallery. The architect of the building was Mikhail Baklanov. The construction lasted 8 years and was completed in 1957. In the same year the State Art Gallery of the BSSR was renamed into the State Art Museum of the BSSR. And in 1993 it was renamed into the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus.

Now I want to introduce you this hall, the part that relates to Eastern cultures, so Japan.  Сейчас мы с вами находимся в зале под названием «Искусство стран Востока XVI – XXI веков». Now we are in the hall called "The Art of the countries of the East of the XVI – XXI centuries."

The history of this collection begins in the late 1950s, when the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow provided significant assistance and collected cultural monuments from private collectors. Today, the collection presents traditional types of art from the countries such as India, China, and Japan.

Sculpture in ancient Japan is mostly associated with religious and ceremonial traditions. Most often, they were made of strong wood species, bronze, clay. The figures, in comparison with the dishes of the Japanese, were colorful, because they were put in temples, used as symbols of holidays.

In many houses in Japan, there is a special altar, Kamidana.  Kamidana served for the prayer purpose of the household(странно перевелось). It is located at the top of the wall, creating a kind of shelf where these figures were often located. Every morning, family members perform a ritual of worship, clap their hands and bow. Do not forget that these altars also housed the gods of happiness, which there are seven in Japan: Hotei, Jurojin, Fukurokuju, Bishamonten, Daikokuten, Ebisu and Benzaiten. Now let us go directly to the gods of happiness, which are represented in the museum's collection. Meet Daruma, Daikoku and Hotei, the beautiful smiling gods of happiness.

И начнем мы со скульптуры Дарумы, которая располагается по середине.  Данная фигурка датируется 19 веком. Дарума – это символ удачи и счастья в японской культуре. 

And we will start with the sculpture of Daruma, which is located in the middle.  This figure dates back to the 19th century. Daruma is a symbol of good luck and happiness in Japanese culture. It should be noted that not all the gods presented here are of Japanese origin. Но я хочу отметить, что он, на удивление, не имеет японского происхождения. But I want to point out that he is not of Japanese origin. The brick color of Daruma's skin indicates his arrival from India. Daruma arrived by sea in?? China and, traveling around the country, began to preach his teachings. Позднее его учения распространились в Японию, где он стал символом стойкости, силы и удачи.  Later, his teachings spread to Japan, where he became a symbol of perseverance, strength and luck. According to legend, Bodhidharma (Daruma) meditated for nine years in the Shaolin Monastery in front of an empty wall. All this time he did not eat, did not sleep, did not move and received a rich spiritual experience. While Daruma was meditating for years, his limbs completely atrophied. Вы можете заметить, что Дарума сидит. Скульптура отображает святого в момент глубокой медитации, когда его конечности были обездвижены. You may notice that Daruma is sitting. The sculpture depicts him in a moment of deep meditation, when his limbs were immobilized.