The Belarusian (Biełarusian) Institute of Arts and Sciences (BINiM, Canada) is an organization of scholars, writers, artists, and other representatives of Biełarusian culture in Canada, united by plowing the fields of Belarusian studies and culture for the purpose of dissemination and advancing such studies and culture in Canada and abroad.
The BINiM is a Non-profit organization. The activities of the BINiM, Canada membership shall be based on volunteer work while any profits, grants, and donations to the BINiM will be used in promoting its aims and objectives, by:
assisting scholars in their study of Belarusian topics.
assisting writers and artists in their work on Belarusian themes.
assisting Belarusian performances of individuals and groups.
The BINiM, Canada will use the following methods to achieve its goals:
meetings of the BINiM at which ideas will be exchanged, experiences shared, scholarly papers read; performances and expositions take place, etc.
presentations of new books and other publications pertaining to Belarusian themes and related studies. Recognized scholars (non-members of the BINiM) may present their findings and studies related to Belarus proper. Surveys, reports, book reviews on matters of interest may also be presented and or discussed.
broadcasting, public speaking, representation at meetings of other scholarly and community societies.
II. BINiM (CANADA) OFFICIAL/WORKING LANGUAGES
In addition to Canada’s official languages, Belarusian is the working language of the BINiM (Canada) membership.
III. MEMBERSHIP
Active membership shall be open to:
to any bona fide educator contributing to Biełarusian studies: professor, lecturer, instructor, teacher or researcher on a regular appointment in a recognized educational or government institution in Canada.
to any person with sufficient (recognized) education and experience promoting causes of Biełarusian diaspora in Canada, Biełarusian history, literature, language; classical and folk music.
to any person with experiences of working in advancing Biełarusian theater, visual arts and craftsmanship, as well as other scholarly and cultural activities related to Biełaruś.
Any member may resign by expressing his/her wish in writing to the Secretary-Treasurer or the General Meeting.
Voting privileges are open to all active members.
Associate membership shall be open to university students who intend to work in the field of Biełarusian immigration to Canada, history, culture, art, literature, language, and other academic and/or cultural areas related to Belarus.
IV. THE GENERAL MEETING AND THE BINiM’s EXECUTIVE
The General Meeting must be convened at least once every three years, and shall include the election of the Executive.
The Executive of the BINiM shall be the governing body and consist of:
President, elected at AGM: reports to the membership at least once every three years or by a request of a simple majority.
Vice-President (reports to the president and the membership).
Secretary-Treasurer reports to the president and acts as Registrar of the BINiM.
Past Presidents.
Chair of the academic group (responsible for organizing BINiM’s participation in scholarly conferences, congresses, and other events in Canada and abroad); s/he may communicate with and report to the group’s membership by correspondence.
Chair of the writers-poets group (responsible for organizing presentations of books of prose and poetry as well as readings for general Canadian, BINiM’s and local Belarusian Canadian Alliance [BCA] audiences).
Chair of the classical music and folk performance groups and individuals.
Chair of the visual art and craftsmanship group.
The quorum of the General Meeting shall be constituted by one half of active members present in person.
A vacancy on the Executive caused by the death, resignation, removal or incapacity to act shall be filled as soon as practicable by a member of the BINiM appointed by the Executive. The member of the Executive so appointed shall be deemed an elected member until the next AGM.
The Executive meetings of the BINiM may be called at any time by the President and/or Secretary-Treasurer.
If, owing to distance, it is impractical to hold such meetings, the business of the BINiM may be conducted by correspondence, e-mail or skype.
The President and the Secretary-Treasurer shall be empowered to take action on all routine matters.
The general meeting is empowered to appoint an Honorary President/Presidents each year.
Retiring presidents of the BINiM shall form an Advisory Board, with an individual tenure of three years, in addition to two-year tenure on the Executive in the capacity of the immediate Past-President. The Advisory Board, to be chaired by the Past-President, will serve as consultative body for the Executive. The Board, as a group, may introduce recommendations at general meetings of the BINiM. The Advisory Board shall normally receive the agenda of all Executive Meetings, which they may, if they so desire, attend, without the right to vote.
Each chair of the Executive groups, as well as the President, shall submit an individual report at the General Meeting every three years.
In all matters not specifically covered by constitutional clauses, the President and the Secretary-Treasurer upon consultation with the Executive may take provisional action until the next meeting of the BINiM; the membership shall be informed by e-mail of such actions.
To amend the Constitution, a two-third majority will be required.
The Executives may suspend the privileges of any member for cause until the next general meeting of BINiM, a simple majority vote will decide whether the membership should be canceled.
V. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
The income shall consist of:
memberships fees.
income from concerts, exhibitions, etc.
income from the sale of publications.
grants and donations from public and private institutions and from individuals.
Active members will be required to pay an annual membership fee of twenty-five dollars by January first of each new year.
Together with the active membership, the associate member may be asked by the BINiM’s executives to donate voluntarily towards a publication or humanitarian help both in Canada and Biełaruś.
Membership shall be canceled for two years’ arrears in dues without reasonable cause after two written appeals, with automatic readmission upon paying back membership fees.
