YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The Days of Armenian Culture held on October 22-28 in Belarus passed in a warm and pleasant atmosphere and received a warm welcome by the Belarusian people. The Days of Armenian Culture were organized within the framework of the agreement On Cooperation between the RA Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs and Belarusian Ministry of Culture. As Hasmik Poghosian, the RA Minister of Culture, mentioned at the October 30 press conference, Days of Belarusian Culture were held in 2005 in Armenia within the framework of the same agreement. According to the Minister, Armenian culture was presented in Belarus completely thanks to a multi-genre cultural program. According to her, not only state, but also non-state ensembles and groups were involved in the cultural program. The Erebuni dance group functioning in the Armenian community of Belarus also joined them on the spot. Hasmik Poghosian said that the term of signing a new agreement on cooperation between the two states in the sphere of culture will be determined during the coming visit of the delegation of Belarusian Ministry of Culture, as the term of the previous agreement is expiring this year. Mrs Poghosian said that a number of agreements on cooperation in the museum, book and publishing spheres have been reached during this visit. "I think we have much to learn from Belarus, especially in the issue of presenting ethnography. Their Museum of Ethnography works within the jurisdiction of their Academy's Institute of Ethnography, while in our country the Museum of Ethnography has nothing in common with the Institute of the same name, whereas that is a serious and important science especially for such small nations like ours," the Minister emphasized. Joint exhibitions will be organized in the two countries' Museums of Ethnography next year. H. Poghosian said that among CIS countries, Armenia has no state cultural programs only with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. And those with Georgia though exist, nevertheless, "are very weak." "When I assumed the Minister's post, my first visit was to Georgia, we agreed with the Georgian Minister of Culture to determine a concrete cooperation plan during the next meeting in Yerevan, but in spite of sending three invitations the meeting has not been held so far."

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