Polotsk Gospel wins Grand Prix of Art of Book National Contest

MINSK, 4 February (BelTA) - The winners of the 53rd edition of the Art of Book National Contest were announced. The Grand Prix (Triumph nomination) was awarded to the Polotsk Gospel issued by the publishing house of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate, BelTA learned from the Information Ministry.

The book collections “Vyanok" and "Golden Collection of the Belarusian Literature” by the Mastatskaya Litaratura publishing house were named winners in the LIT-Farmat nomination (literary art). The awards in the Books for Children nomination went to the series of books "To Our children” and also "A Friend” by Rygor Borodulin and "You do not Listen to Mishka, Kitty” by Raisa Borovikova (Mastatskaya Litaratura publishing house).

The awards in the Photo nomination went to the Belarus publishing house for “Minsk. Heart of Belarus” photo album. The award in the Golden Tables nomination (reference and encyclopedic literature) was presented to the book “The Main Street of Minsk, 1880-1940” by Leonid Moryakov published in two books by the Mastatskaya Litaratura publishing house. The winners in the Art Books (fine art editions, reprints, facsimile, bibliophilic publications) are Vladimir Stepan’s “Teacher Sergei Petrovich Katkov” and “Syarzhuk Tsimokhau” (Zvyazda publishing house).

A series of educational publications of the Aversev publishing house won the Textbooks of the New Century nomination. Olga Lobachevskaya’s book "Belarusian popular textiles: art, interconnections, innovation" (Belaruskaya Navuka publishing house) was recognized best in the Eureka nomination (scientific, popular scientific editions). The publishing project "Book Culture. Vetka” (Petrus Brovka Belarusian Encyclopedia publishing house) was named winner in the Spirituality nomination (spiritual and educational books).

The Book House publisher was honored in the Contribution to the National Book Publishing nomination for its high-quality richly-illustrated reference, educational, scientific, non-fiction, children's and literary fiction books (such as The newest philosophical dictionary, Postmodernism, History of Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, Physical Therapy, Medicinal Plants, Economics, Religions of the World, and reference books for schoolchildren).

Three special awards were presented at the contest. For the Contribution to the Preservation of Spiritual Heritage went to Boris Lazuk. His book “Slutsk Belts. Revival of Traditions” was published by the Belarus publishing house. A series of twelve books “Harmony of the Hearts" by the Zvyazda publishing house became prizewinner of the Commonwealth special nomination. The special-order books “History of Belarus’ Fire Service" and "Zhabinka Sugar Refinery. 50 years (1963-2013)” by the Technology scientific and production company were recognized best in the In the Mirror of the Time nomination.

The jury awarded personal diplomas to Vladimir Lukashik for the high-quality design of the Maladzik and the Golden Collection of Belarusian Literature book series (LIT-Farmat nomination), to Alexander Suvorov for the creative approach to the concept of special-order books of the Poligrafika publishing house (In the Mirror of the Time nomination), to Svetlana Leontieva and Galina Nechaeva for the research work, preservation of black-letter and manuscript books, and restoration of lost treasures (Spirituality nomination), and to Boris Lazuka for the scientific research work and restoration of lost cultural treasures (For the Contribution to the Preservation of Spiritual Heritage nomination).

In the Excellence nomination Varya Kolesnikova was named best book illustrator for her illustrations to the Plush Fairy Tales by Anastasia Filipova. Alexander Tsarev became best book designer for the unique design of educational books of the Aversev publishing house and of the Imaginative Literature multivolume edition from the School Library series. Anatoly Dribas was named best book photo artist for his author's albums including Mir Castle, Vetka, Minsk, Pervomaisky District of Minsk, Polotsk 1150, Book Culture. Vetka, The Nature Surprises (Petrus Brovka Belarusian Encyclopedia publishing house), the albums Belarus, Minsk-the Heart of Belarus and Minsk (Belarus publishing house).

The award ceremony of the 53rd edition of the Art of Book National Contest will be held in the Small Hall of the Palace of the Republic on 5 February.

Starting from 2012, the books submitted for the contest have been first examined by a panel of prominent art experts. The next stage is the meeting of the jury panel composed of prominent figures of science and culture, the Information Ministry and creative unions. Thirty-one publishing houses with 134 high-quality edition took part in the 53rd edition of the contest.

The Art of Book National Contest was instituted in 1960. The aim of the event is to determine the best publishing projects that contribute to the art and culture of book publishing in Belarus, promote the development of book publishing and popularize the best book projects in the country.