Baltic Belarusian Artists’ Association “Maju gonar” 35th anniversary exhibition

The exhibition of works by the Baltic Belarusian Artists’ Association “Maju Gonar” (“I have the Honor”) celebrating its 35th anniversary is on view in the Exhibition Hall of the Mentzendorff’s House from January 11 to February 28, 2026. 

The exhibition will feature more than 50 works of art by eighteen artists – Inga Vasiljeva, Anna Peipiņa, Tamara Žitkeviča, Irina Jatnova, Nadežda Izeņova, Gaļina Želabovska, Leons Žukovskis, Olga Jakubovskaja, Irina Trumpele, Irina Koroļa, Valerija Valuha, Nastassia Arais, Jekaterina Osberga, Vasiļs Mališčics, Jeļena Lavrinoviča, Larisa Loiko, Vjačeslavs Telešs, Margarita Ostroumova – paintings, watercolors, pastels, lithographs, art photos, and other techniques.

The Baltic Belarusian Artists’ Association (BBMA) “Maju gonar” – “I have the honor” was founded on January 12, 1991, under the auspices of the Latvian Belarusian Cultural Association “Svitanak” (“The Dawn”). The Latvian Belarusian Cultural Association “Svitanak” was founded in 1988. The Association is a contemporary of the Awakening and the Barricades, when together with the Latvian Popular Front it fought for the restoration of an independent Latvian state.

Since 2012, the Baltic Belarusian Artists’ Association (BBMA) “Maju gonar” has been registered in Riga as a separate Belarusian creative organization. Currently, three groups operate in the association: in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The Estonian group has 2 artists, the Lithuanian group also has 2 artists and one artist who lives in Sweden, the Latvian group has 18 artists.

The BBM Association “Maju gonar” exhibitions in Latvia have been held in Riga, Daugavpils, Jurmala, Limbaži, Rezekne, Ludza, Bauska, Varakļāni, Viļani and Jelgava, as well as in Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic. BBMA regularly participates in joint exhibitions of artists of national minorities, which are organized annually by Ita Kozakeviča’s Latvian Association of National Cultural Societies.

Solo exhibitions of artists of the association “Maju gonar” have been held in Latvia, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Finland, France, Canada and the USA. The artists of the association create works in various styles and techniques of painting, graphics, sculpture and applied art.

BBMA “Maju gonar” artists Anna Peipiņa, Vjačeslavs Telešs and Irina Trumpeļe are members of the Latvian Artists’ Union. Vjačeslav Telešs is also a member of the Belarusian Union of Artists.

The love for Belarusian culture and art unites the artists of the association. The exhibitions help the Baltic Belarusian community to preserve the national cultural heritage, as well as develop it, introduce Belarusian national art and help Belarusian societies integrate into the cultural life of the Baltic States.