On May 15-17, 2025, the IV International Forum of Researchers of Belarusian Fairy Tales and Mythology was held at the NAS of Belarus. Scientists from Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Slovakia, Abkhazia and China took part in the scientific conference. The program includes scientific reports, round tables "Belarusian mythology: from authenticity to mystifications" and "Modern literary fairy tale: between fiction and truth", performances by masters of the fairy tale genre, and the summing up of the results of the children's competition of storytellers of Belarusian folk tales. The forum also included exhibitions of graphic works from the collections of the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature and book publications from the collections of Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library of the NAS of Belarus.
Speaking at the grand opening of the forum, Chairman of the Presidium of the NAS of Belarus, Academician Vladimir Gusakov, called the traditional Belarusian fairy tale the most striking genre of folklore. In his opinion, professionals and amateurs of past eras and the present collect and preserve folk tales in order to more deeply comprehend and understand the character of the Belarusian ethnic group, its psychology and philosophy of life through them. Director of the Center for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the NAS of Belarus, Academician Alexander Lokotko said that holding such a forum at the NAS has already become a tradition. "This is the fourth international forum of researchers of Belarusian fairy tales and mythology. The fact is that now spiritual culture plays a very big role in the formation of self-awareness, historical memory, the idea of a small homeland and Belarus. “The traditions of spiritual culture are given great importance in various areas, including in the study of such a rich and diverse genre as the traditional folk tale,” he noted. According to academician Alexander Lokotko, two series of books were opened in the two years following the III International Forum of Researchers of Belarusian Fairy Tales and Mythology. These are five books of the series "From the Folklore of Ethnic Heritage" (ballads, legends, brain teasers, traditions, fairy tales) in Belarusian, Chinese and English with magnificent illustrations made by artists of the Academy of Arts. The second series is "Folk Tales". There were three issues.
