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Hanna Vaishevich

The ghosts of Belarus

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About

I created the book as a personal university project to gain knowledge of pop-up mechanics. The 3-page book tells 3 legends of Belarusian ghosts in unusual form.

Category

Book Design

Year

2025

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Timeframe

4 weeks

Materials

Faber-Castell black ink, 300g/m paper, book carton.

Technique

An accordion-style book, ink painting.

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Firstly, I created the moodboard that accurately reflected the historical aspects of each legend.

Then I started to sketch each legend
layer by layer.

To be sure that each layer works with each other, I created a several prototypes. In addition, I created the prototype
for measurements.

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Belaya Panna, “The White Maiden”

There was once a grim tradition of walling people alive so a building’s walls would stand forever. During the construction of the Franciscan Monastery in Golshany, one wall kept collapsing, leading the builders to revive this ritual. They drew lots, and the unlucky wife who brought dinner—later known as the White Lady—was sealed inside. She is said to haunt the monastery, hating men for her cruel fate. Years later, restorers found a woman’s skeleton in the wall, but when the bones mysteriously vanished during transport, strange noises began to echo through the monastery.

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Lida Castle

Prince Gediminas built Lida Castle in the 14th century. It soon became a key historical site — Jagiello married Sofia Golshanskaya here, and Prince Alexander of Lithuania signed his will. The castle is also famed for resisting repeated Crusader attacks.

In 1392, when the Crusaders struck again, Prince Dmitry Koribut defended the fortress but escaped through an underground passage, leaving brave soldiers to fight to the end. Legend says their spirits still guard Lida Castle today.

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Lake Svityaz

Lake Svityaz, one of Belarus’s most beautiful lakes, was once the site of a city ruled by Prince Tugan. He left with his army to aid Mindovg in war, leaving the city defenceless. That night, enemies attacked. To avoid capture, the townspeople prayed for salvation — and the city sank beneath the ground, turning into a lake. Its people became the flowers that still grow along Svityaz’s shores.

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© 2035 by Hanna Vaishevich. Built on Wix Studio

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