Thanks to the academic exchange program, which Gzhel State University implements jointly with the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, the students of GSU E. Lonshakova and M. Krylova studied in Minsk in the second semester of this academic year, and from Belarus Ekaterina Gorshkova and Elizaveta Finskaya arrived to Gzhel for this purpose. Before returning to their homeland, they shared their impressions.

We came to Gzhel University, first of all, to learn how to make ceramic products, but we got more here. Much was new for us, we did a lot for the first time. For a semester we had to learn all the subtleties of working with such amazing and complex material as ceramics. In this we helped the senior teacher of the Department of Decorative and Applied Arts O.A. Pervozvanskaya. Olga Antonovna discovered a lot of new and useful in the field of ceramics and inspired us to work actively. Thanks to her, we learned what incredible possibilities ceramics have for the embodiment of creative ideas. It’s amazing: to observe how an ordinary pencil sketch takes shape, is filled with color, turns into a ceramic product.

For a semester we were taught to mold molds, to grind them on a plaster-molding machine, to paint products, to acquaint them with the peculiarities of the Gzhel painting. We loved this material, in the future I would like to work with ceramics.

Very helpful were the recommendations of the Dean of the Faculty of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, G. P. Moskovskaya. In addition to ceramics, we also taught other disciplines, such as: drawing, art history, sculpture, etc. All these subjects provide valuable knowledge, without which you can not become a professional in your business, which is what we are striving for. Each teacher at the university is laid out to the fullest, to give students their experience, knowledge. Here we were taught how to make projects correctly and beautifully. It is impossible not to say about the workshops in which we spent a lot of time at work. They are full of space and light, the atmosphere inspires. It was incredibly nice to work in them. Twice a week we were engaged in aerobics, in the sports complex of the University you can spend an evening with good health, there are many sections for students here.

University helps in every possible way to discover and develop the creative potential of students. It hosts all kinds of competitions and festivals, exhibitions, in which not only students but also teachers take part, thus giving an example, showing how much success can be achieved through hard work. We also decided to try our skills and tried to take part in such events as the "Hope of Science and Creativity" competition, the International Festival "The Blue Bird of Gzhel", the International Festival "Artistic Ceramics". During the events at the university, an incredible atmosphere of cohesion and friendliness reigns. Visitors from other regions and countries come to participate in such events incredibly interesting.

We are delighted not only from the university, but also from the place in which it is located: clean air, landscapes that are imbued with the Russian spirit, benevolent people. All this gives the ground for inspiration, here we rested from life in a big city.

The village in which we studied and lived is located near Moscow, just an hour away by train. This gave us the opportunity to see one of the most beautiful cities in the world, to get to know him, to learn his history, to feel his spirit, to visit the most beautiful places and sights. At every step for us, there were kinds of incredible beauty. In Moscow everyone admires everything: architecture - with its majesty, people - with purposefulness, with sights - with a rich history of a majestic power. But the most interesting and exciting us as artists waited in museums. Prior to this trip, they would never have believed that we would see many of the works of famous artists live, in originals, and not in reproductions. We visited the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the Tretyakov Gallery. A striking impression was the trip to the Moscow Provincial Theater for the play "Adventures of Fandorin", organized by the university for students. The performance was magnificent, the actors played beautifully.

Thanks for all. We received invaluable experience and knowledge in the field of their profession. Study here inspired us! The exchange of students makes it possible to raise the level of education, to look on the new side for their work thanks to new knowledge.

Ekaterina Gorshkova, Elizaveta Finskaya,

students of the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts