Government orders closure of art center after months of preparations for shutdown

August 5, Pozirk. The government has ordered the dissolution of the National Center for Contemporary Arts in Minsk before November 30 by its Directive No. 391 published on the National Legal Internet Portal.

The culture ministry was instructed to transfer unused budget funds totaling 44,300 rubels (about $15,150) to the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. The government also allocated an additional 45,700 rubels to the National Art Museum.

The document did not specify how the center’s assets, including its real estate, will be used or who initiated the decision.

In early May, the art center announced the suspension of its exhibition activities and later asked artists to collect their works by July 24.