Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas Museums May Lose Their Independence. What Are the Threats?

Possible reorganization of the Yakub Kolas and Yanka Kupala museums. Image created with AI assistance.

The Ministry of Culture is discussing the reorganization of the museums of Belarusian classics — Yakub Kolas and Yanka Kupala. According to available information, a scenario is being considered whereby both institutions could lose their independent status and become branches of the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature. In fact, it's about creating a peculiar "holding company" of state literary museums.

Should this idea be implemented, the staff headcount will be reduced, and the museums will cease to be separate structural units. This, in turn, will lead to a significant reduction in the human and organizational resources of the museums.

It should be noted that both museums house over 35,000 main collection items, and the total number of museum objects and materials in the collections of the museums of Belarusian literature classics exceeds 100,000 units.

The implementation of such an initiative, according to its proponents, will allegedly optimize costs. Although the Belarusian regime already allocates meager funds to culture.

Among the professional community, assessments of possible actions are negative. It is known that employees of the capital's museums are shocked by such initiatives from the Ministry of Culture and express concern about the possible consequences for the scientific, educational, and exhibition activities of the Kupala and Kolas museums.

Павялічыць

Building of the Yanka Kupala State Literary Museum. Source: wikipedia.org

For the sake of truth, it should be noted that there is no unanimous stance within the ministry itself, as some oppose such actions. Meanwhile, in behind-the-scenes discussions, sources claim, discussions are already taking place regarding future management positions within the expanded structure of the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature.

A similar model already existed in Belarus from 1987 to 1996, when literary museums were part of a single association and had limited independence. However, in practice, such a working scheme did not demonstrate sufficient stability and efficiency, as a result of which several museums gained independent status.

A distinctive feature of the current situation is that the Kupala and Kolas museums are proposed not merely to be administratively merged, but actually to be transformed into branches. This means not only a loss of independence but also a limitation in financial and human resources.

It should be recalled that both museums have their own branches (four estates for each museum). Their further status in the event of reorganization remains uncertain: will they become branches of branches, or will they be fully subordinated to district authorities?

Павялічыць

Building of the Yakub Kolas State Literary Memorial Museum. Source: wikipedia.org

More than ten years ago (in 2014), the literary museums of Maksim Bahdanovich and Petrus Brovka were deprived of their independence. Although in the short term this did not lead to a sharp deterioration of their activities, over time there was a reduction in staff and a narrowing of opportunities for developing and popularizing the works of Belarusian writers.

To this day, the museums continue to conduct scientific and educational activities relatively successfully, but with retained independence, the potential of these institutions could have been much broader. Depriving the Bahdanovich and Brovka museums of their independence was easier also from the point of view that each of these cultural institutions had only one branch.

After 2020, the Yanka Kupala museum faced significant personnel changes: the administration was changed, and some prominent employees left the institution. This affected the museum's public activity and the number of large-scale cultural projects, including international ones, which were previously implemented with the participation of foreign cultural institutions and diplomatic missions.

As for the Yakub Kolas House-Museum, in recent years, museum staff have faced various difficulties. First, the leadership of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences "squeezed out" three offices from the Kolas museum staff, which, incidentally, the museum workers had received back in the 1960s.

At that time, the Yakub Kolas Literary Museum was part of the Academy of Sciences, and it was headed by the writer's eldest son, Danila Mitskevich. The fact that the cultural institution had used the "academic" offices for almost 60 years did not save them from eviction, which occurred in 2021. Moreover, it wasn't just the offices that "moved," but even the collections with all their treasures and unique materials. They moved to the Institute of Energy, which is also located near the Yakub Kolas Museum. In 2025, the institution again lost some of its offices, which negatively affected the working conditions of the employees.

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