March 16, Pozirk. The French embassy in Belarus has expressed condolences on the death of Juryj Abdurachmanaŭ, an arts guru, who passed away on March 14. Abdurachmanaŭ was renowned for discovering and promoting Jewish artists of the Paris School, including Smiłavičy-born Chaim Sucin and Fajbiš-Šraha Carfin.
Born in 1959, Abdurachmanaŭ graduated from the Interpreters Faculty of the Belarusian State University of Foreign Languages and was fluent in French and English.
Throughout his career, Abdurachmanaŭ organized arts projects, curated exhibitions and gave lectures at the French media center at the Pushkin Library in Minsk. He conducted research in French archives and contributed to the creation of the Chaim Sucin Museum in Smiłavičy. He also located Carfin’s relatives in France and invited them to visit Belarus; the family subsequently donated two of Carfin’s works to the National Fine Arts Museum in Minsk.
Abdurachmanaŭ authored books and articles about artists of the Paris School, co-founded the Sucin’s Readings International Conference, and wrote and produced a documentary about Carfin.
The farewell ceremony will take place on March 17 from 9:00 to 10:00 in Minsk at the Ritual Hall, 33A Kulman Street.
