The National Library of Belarus

	The National Library of Belarus was established on 15September 1922. Originally it was the main library of the Republic of Belarus and was called the Belarusian State University Library. There were only 60,000 items at the opening of the Library. About one thousand people were its users at that time. Some time passed and the Library opened its departments in other Belarusian cities such as Vitebsk, Mogilev, and Gomel. There was a universal library collection covering all fields of knowledge including materials concerning Belarusian literature, history, sciences, etc.
In 1932 the Library celebrated its 10th anniversary. On this occasion the Library was named after V.I.Lenin. At the beginning of 1941 the Library collections totaled over 2, 000, 000 items; over 15,000 users visited the Library. The further Library’s development was interrupted by World War II. Though the library was destroyed during the war, it was built anew and in October 1944 it opened its doors to readers. By 1948 the collection of the Library had been restored though many gaps still remain unfilled. In 1992 the State Library of Belarus was renamed into the National Library of Belarus.
The new building of the National Library of Belarus, situated on the Independence Avenue, opened its doors on June 16, 2006. It was designed by architects MihailVinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko. The building is 73-metre high and it has 22 floors. It is an absolute unique building, a gorgeous engineering and architectural construction. The shape of a "diamond" symbolizes the value and endlessness of the world of knowledge. There is the first Belarusian printer FranciskSkaryna bronze monument in front of the Library’s central entrance.
Today the National Library of Belarus is the main informative and cultural centre of the country. It houses the largest collection of Belarusian printed materials and the third largest collection of books in Russian behind the Russian State Library (Moscow) and the Russian National Library (St Petersburg).
	The Library service is in great demand. More than 90 thousand Belarusian citizens are the Library users. Every day the Library is visited by more than 2.2 thousand people. The Library users have an access not only to bibliographic, full texts, graphic, sound and linguistic databases of the National Library but also to databases of other libraries and informative institutions, including foreign ones. There are 20 reading rooms in the Library to satisfy education and research needs of users in different subjects. They hold 2 thousand places and are located on three floors.
Each reading room is fitted up with the modern scanning, printing and copying equipment. There are also a multipurpose conference hall (a place for business meetings and negotiations), a musical-art hall and art galleries. In addition to serving as a functional library, the National Library is a city attraction. It has an observation deck overlooking Minsk. The area in front of the library is used for many public concerts and shows.

MADAME TUSSAUD’S

	Madame Tussaud's wax museum is one of the major tourist attractions in London, displaying waxworks of historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and famous murderers. It has branches in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Las Vegas, Berlin, Washington D.C., New York City, and Hollywood and some other.
Marie Tussaud (Anna Maria Grosholtz (1761–1850) was born in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr.PhilippeCurtius, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius (whom Marie called “uncle”) taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. She showed a lot of talent and started to work for him. In 1777 Tussaud created her first wax figure, of Voltaire. She perfected her skills by modelling the Royal family of France and other famous people, for example Benjamin Franklin.
From 1780 to 1789 she taught art to the sister of Louis XVI. Members of the royal family were so pleased with her work that, on their invitation, she moved to live at Versailles.
During the French Revolution (1789–1799) she was forced to make death masks of the revolution's most famous and prominent victims, such as Louis XVI, Robespierre, Marie Antoinette. Her death masks were held up as revolutionary flags and paraded through the streets of Paris. When Curtius died in 1794, he left his collection of waxworks to Marie. In 1795 she married François Tussaud. They had two children, Joseph and François.
	In 1802 she moved to Great Britain, organized her show “Madame Tussaud’s” and spent the next 33 years travelling around the country. In 1835, she established her first permanent exhibition in Baker Street. In 1842, she made a self-portrait which is now on display at the entrance of her museum. Some of the sculptures done by Tussaud herself still exist. In 1850, at the age of eighty-nine she died peacefully in her sleep.
	The exhibition consists of a series of halls: the Conservatory, the Grand Hall, and the Chamber of Horrors. In her first hall there is the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ figure with a mechanism that simulates breathing. The second hall is known as The Conservatory, where visitors can view life-size wax figures of sport, film and TV personalities. Historical, political, military and royal figures can be found in the Grand Hall. The most famous room is of course the Chamber of Horrors. There are models illustrating methods of execution, famous murderers, the most famous prisoners of the twentieth century, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for their crimes.
Some people think that this museum is frightening. Others consider that its collection of wax statues has no artistic merit. But all agree that it is unusual, fascinating and intriguing.

Who are or were the most famous painters in your country? You are going to read about the life of Pablo Picasso. Discuss these questions. (a) Why is he famous? (b) What nationality was he? (c) Which century was he born in? (d) Do you know the names of any of his works? (e) Do you know anything about his life?
HIS EARLY LIFE   On 25 October, 1881, a baby boy was born in Malaga, Spain. It was a difficult birth and to help him breathe, cigar smoke was blown into his nose! This baby grew up to be one of the 20th century's greatest painters PABLO PICASSO.
Picasso showed his genius from a very young age. His first word was lapiz (Spanish for pencil) and he could draw before he could talk. He was the only son in the family, so he was thoroughly spoiled. He hated school and often refused to go unless hewas allowed to take one of his father's pet pigeons with him! Apart from pigeons, his great love was art. When in 1891 his father got a job as an art teacher, Pablo went with him to work and watched him paint. Sometimes he was allowed to help. One evening, his father was painting a picture of their pigeons when he had to leave the room. When he returned, Pablo had completed the picture. It was so beautiful and lifelike that he gave his son his palette and brushes and never painted again. Pablo was just 13. HIS LIFE AS AN ARTIST His genius as an artist was soon recognized by many people, but others were shocked by his strange and powerful paintings. He is probably best known for his Cubist pictures. His portraits of people were often made up of triangles and squares with their features in the wrong places. One of his most famous portraits was of the American writer Gertrude Stein, who he met after he had moved to Paris in 1904. His work changed ideas about art around the world, and to millions of people, modern art means the work of Picasso. Guernica(shown above) which he painted in 1937, records the bombing of that small Basque town during the Spanish Civil War, and is one of the masterpieces of modern painting. HIS FINAL YEARS Picasso married twice and also had many lovers. He had four children. The last, Paloma, was born in 1949 when he was 68 years old. At the age of 90 he was honoured by an exhibition in the Louvre in Paris. He was the first living artist to be shown there. Picasso created over 6,000 paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Today, a Picasso costs millions of pounds. Once, when the French Minister of Culture was visiting Picasso, the artist accidentally spilt some paint on the Minister's trousers. Picasso apologized and wanted to pay for them to be cleaned, but the Minister said, 'No, please, Monsieur Picasso, just sign my trousers!' Picasso died of heart attack in 1973.

Art in My Life

Nobody can deny that art plays an important role in the life of a man. Art appeals to our hearts and minds, feelings and ideals. Art affects and influences all our senses, emotions and also intellect. Art includes music, literature, film, photography, architecture, sculpture and paintings and so on.

A museum is a repository of the world’s masterpieces. It is the place where you can enrich your knowledge, where you can look at the achievements of mankind. A museum is a wonderful place to satisfy your aesthetic taste. The significance of museums in our life is great. Museums give the possibility to be always in touch with the past as well as discover something new for yourself. I think museums effect the formation of personality and the outlook.

I like visiting museums because it relaxes my body and soul and I acquire inner harmony and balance. My favourite museum is _____________. Honestly speaking, I would like to visit ____________museum in the near future.

For me art is not just entertainment but also a way to express my emotions and imagination. Thanks to art, I can communicate with different people of all nationalities and every walk of life. Every artist tries to develop his own style that differs from other ones. I am not an exception. While creating my works I try to combine my own originality and the experiences of previous generations. I think that my works are never dull and colourless. I hope they are interesting, thought-provoking and mature. As the works of my favourite painter ____________(Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso …).

to deny –

to appeal to something –

toaffect –

senses –

repository –

masterpiece –

achievement –

mankind –

to satisfy somebody’s aesthetic taste –

significance –

to be in touch with –

toacquire inner harmony –

in the near future –

entertainment –

walk of life –

todiffer –

to be an exception –

to be thought-provoking –

to be mature –