Belarusian Culture: Review (November-January’23)

General Situation: in Search of a New Vertical

Literature: “Birds” and “Nests”

Cinema: among Their Own

Belarusian Theatre: Back to the Past

Music: Pop & Rock. Freak Memes Versus the Cry of a Traumatized Person

Belarusian Art: Redesigning Creativity

 

General Situation: in Search of a New Vertical

Sometimes it seems that the field of Belarusian culture has turned out to be a platform for special social experiments. Two years of political crisis, ideological stagnation, the destruction of the former social order, the decline of humanitarian education and the permanent emergency evacuation of the most active from the creative class have created a specific zone of present absence – a chaotic cultural movement without a comprehensive scenario and clear priorities.

The rhetorical question became extremely relevant: how many pieces should Belarusian culture be cut into so that it looks almost alive and retains the ability for conditional activity? At the time of pre-election euphoria and hopes for a quick victory (and a little later – for a quick return), it seemed too depressing and not too significant. But the lack of qualitative changes on the political front, the loss of public international interest in the Belarusian story, the general disorientation of cultural life and the understanding that it is necessary to settle into the available routine thoroughly and for a long time, gave rise to the desire to build a new cultural infrastructure – a new system of Belarusian culture.

Recently, one can observe precisely the processes of a certain accumulation of creative and consumer circles around various institutional platforms – from the projects of “Belarusian Magistrates” to the Belarusian Independent Film Academy. The process of (self)structuring the cultural sphere has many dimensions and ambiguous perspectives. Because, on the one hand, it stimulates the active participation of Belarusians in cultural projects in the format of an improved version of the talaka or community projects (“Knihaŭka” magistrate). On the other hand, it is constructing a new managerial vertical of those willing to “head the process” in order to lead the culture not covered by administrative control in the desired direction. In fact, the well-known Belarusian division of cultural activists and initiatives into self-made and systemic ones is being restored.

It should be noted that the new self-made ones create a network of horizontal contacts, they are self-sufficient and do not seek to control the cultural sphere. As for the new systemic ones, here the questions of influence and control are fundamental. These new ones are not too new, because they use previously accumulated resources: contacts with the international cultural industry, corporate connections and the Belarusian experience of (authoritarian) management.

There is a change of generations of the Belarusian cultural bureaucracy. Domestic new Europeans in emigration rightly see a window of opportunity for themselves in the situation of self-isolation and creative degradation of the official Belarusian culture. And they fill it within their budgetunderstanding.

As for self-made activists, they are united with systemic ones by a common understanding of new opportunities and mutual indifference.

This is a game of the departed. Those who remain in the country will have to join someone from this trend. Otherwise they may continue to exist in a society of decayed matrixes.

The problematic division also occurs functionally. After all, there are no finances or stable internal connections here. Taking into account the presence of direct international contacts and contracts among most important creators, the need for their own emigre structures is not obvious. So far, only declarations and special effects are visible.

Institutions do not produce texts. Creators have no experience in managing structures. The new structuring looks like a precocious artificial superstructure over the creative process, capable of using fresh creativity for the promotion of the newly chosen administrative resource.

But the loud promotional actions of new institutions leave the main trend of the season almost unnoticed: a qualitative breakthrough in the author’s work of the post-traumatic format. Our common illness has finally been put into a package of weighty propositions, given a public voice and style. Mikita Łaŭrecki’s depressingly restrained film “A Date in Minsk”, a tender black cabaret of the project “Prijom!” (“Over!”) by Sviatłana Bień and Hala Čykis, the tragic lyrics of Siarhiej Pryłucki, the rough underground rock of the Minsk band Syndrom Samazvanca, even the abstract acoustic sketches of itinerant electronic artists mark new dimensions of painful Belarusianness – traces of a prolonged drift along the edge of the abyss.

Belcult returns to the ashes. To where, it seems, no one is waiting for it. Simply because it is not possible otherwise. We are the country. The country is where we are.

Literature: “Birds” and “Nests”

The Main Trends of the Season:

  1. “nesting syndrome” of the bellit [Belarusian literature] process – creation of new and reincarnation of old book initiatives in safety (“outside”);
  2. slowing but not stopping the flywheel of book repression (“inside”)
  3. decrease in creative “libido” compared to 2020 (“inside” and “outside”);

The Map of Meanings

“Nesting syndrome” is an ironic term from the forums of new parents, which describes the impulse of a pregnant woman to tidy up or arrange repairs before the birth of a child. Not to be confused with the “nesting period” in birds. Not that we are alluding to “Knihaŭka”, but the rapid relocation of the largest Belarusian independent publishing house “Januškievič” from Belarus to Poland is a typical example of how quickly and decisively important institutions are created or transformed abroad.

The move, it seems, can be considered completed in January: Andrej Januškievič received a court order terminating his Belarusian publishing licence. His case suggests a mechanism by which repression occurs. It can be assumed that those publishing houses whose books are recognized as extremist will be liquidated by the authorities in the course of the next few months. And so it is natural that publishers start nesting in Europe, compensating for the lack of freedom of book publishing at home.

It is worth listing the book initiatives created anew or transferred from Belarus, not mentioned by us in previous seasons: “Skarynapress” (London), “Połackija łabirynty” (“Polatsk Labyrinths”) (Warsaw), European Belarusian Publishing House “Imago/Gutenberg” (Krakow/Minsk), “hochroth Minsk”. The latter, a German one, started by Dźmitry Strocaŭ, published three women’s poetry books with collections of poems in 2020: Nasta Kudasava, Kryścina Banduryna and Hanna Sieviaryniec. With the move, the naming has noticeably changed: it is important for publishers in emigration to declare their attachment to Belarus.

Book sites outside Belarus are also multiplying. The children’s bookstore “Hartajka” opened in Vilnius, the bookstore in the Belarusian Solidarity Center (Warsaw) is operating in test mode. Publications in Belarusian can also be bought on the allegro.pl portal, but in general, the issue of delivery of paper books published in Belarus and vice versa is still difficult to solve. Knihanoša [Bookbearer] was the literary word of 2022 and will undoubtedly remain in our active vocabulary in 2023.

It is noteworthy that in addition to the usual formats described above, new institutions are being created for our literary field. In January, an organizational meeting of the Belarusian Book Institute took place in Warsaw. The structure, which has been talked about for a long time, and which was unsuccessfully attempted to be launched a few years ago in Belarus, is being created with the participation of a wide circle of people who care about the fate of our Belarusian book.

Different in its essence from a publishing house or an association of writers, the new Institute sees its tasks as promoting the Belarusian book and supporting the Belarusian book environment in Belarus and beyond. The meeting, which was open to the whole world via the Zoom format, provided a lot of interesting things. The most encouraging of which is the desire of cultural managers all over the world to promote books in audio format and in electronic versions (although the distribution of Belarusian “electronic books”, surprisingly, is not such an easy process for Belarusians).

Among the new (or forgotten old) formats, it is worth mentioning the project “Biełaruskija mahistraty” (“Belarusian Magistrates”), affiliated with the Belarusian Council for Culture. Painfully reminiscent of the former crowdfunding platform “Tałaka”, the project works on a strong community principle, when a circle of patrons is created around a certain initiative for a certain time. As of today, one effective “magistrate” on the platform supports precisely the publishing house “Knihaŭka”. The project is also interesting for the initiated monitoring of cultural initiatives of Belarusians abroad, where it is convenient to view the information, particularly about book events.

Book publishing is great, but what is on the desktop of writers? It seems that the war in Ukraine, which shamefully affected Belarus, served as a demotivating factor for poetic creativity. We see very few posts on social networks and very few new selections.

This is especially striking compared to 2020, which has caused a powerful poetic reflection in the writing community. The traditional 15th Festival of One Poem, where the best Christmas or New Year’s poetic work is chosen, can serve as a kind of indicator. This year it had the characteristic title “In the Catacombs”. Compared to 2022 and 2021, when more than 80 poems were sent for consideration by the jury, on the deadline day – January 31 – almost half as many were published in the contest community. The results of the competition will be announced in February.

We have to hope that at least the novelists are slowly preparing something thorough for us, but there are no special announcements yet. After all, due to the obvious peculiarities of the media field (the purge inside and unformedness outside), we have to find out about new books by Belarusians only after they are published.

Highlights of the Season

On November 17, for the 11th time, the Ježy Hiedrojc Award was presented for the best prose book in Belarusian. The ceremony was held in Warsaw for the second time in a row. In the full list, due to unfavorable times for literature, there were only two dozen positions. The first prize was awarded to the historical and urbanistic book of Siarhiej Abłamiejka “Unknown Minsk. The story of disappearance” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Svaboda, 2021). As it turned out, for a certain circle of intellectuals, the restoration of Minsk’s old town is no longer a dream, but a goal.

Keeping the bar set in previous years, “Hiedrojc” seems to have almost gotten rid of the scandals and quarrels that were once common to it, turning into a good habit and a favourite tradition. Thus, jury member Siarhiej Dubaviec called the award itself “a work that could be preserved in a foreign country”. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about some other independent literary awards – this year, the Ciotka Award for Children’s Literature, the “Debut” Award, and the Karłas Šerman Award for Literary Translations were never announced. Presumably, this is connected with the defeat in October of an important partner of the domestic award process – the “Viartańnie” [“Return”] fund.

On November 24-27, the stand of independent publishers of Belarus worked at the Historical Book Fair in Warsaw. We want to joke (see also the results of “Hiedrojc”) that a good Belarusian book is a historical book. However, a certain non-format of the participation of various Belarusian authors at the specialized exhibition is striking. However, the project deserves praise for its willingness to use any cooperation opportunities to reach the reader in new conditions.

After a certain Christmas lull, the festival of Belarusian culture in Krakow had a different structure, where on January 21-23 there was a three-day book fair dedicated entirely to Belarusian books, but with the addition of non-book activities.

Conclusions and Predictions

Compared to 2022, no significant changes in the literary landscape were observed this season. Assumably everything said last year could be repeated in January 2023. For Belarusian culture as a whole, as well as for literature, the “match-point” endures: we do not know what external circumstances will force the literary field to transform once again.

But in general, it can be noted that an environment of shared values, driven by dedicated professionals, is able to develop and advance its agenda regardless of the historical upheavals happening here and now.

 

Cinema: among Their Own

Trends:

  1. Belarusian cinema continues to split and polarize;
  2. The film process oscillates between “official” and “non-state” cinema;
  3. The age-old problem of community / shindig activities increased;
  4. There is an ongoing unconscious struggle for the image of Minsk.

Let’s start from the end. On February 1, the creation of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy was announced, an institution that must “promote the interests of creators of independent Belarusian cinema, including on international platforms.”. The entire following text can be considered an answer to the question why the founding of the film academy is a natural, ambivalent and seemingly inevitable step.

Problems of Independence

Belarusian cinema has always avoided such a boring and responsible process as institutionalization. The centralization and bureaucratization of cinema played a significant role in this: the system is framed for monopoly and futility of initiatives. But now, to stay in place, you need to run twice as fast – for basic self-preservation.

The word “independent” in the name of the film academy suggests that in the association disunity was laid by default, and now it reminds of “dependent”. Names in Belarusian cinema did not particularly describe the situation before. Now, moreover, they all mean something a little different than before.

First of all, the basis, which the “independents” do not influence, has changed: after the protests and the start of the war, it is a criminal regime. In the meantime, it is true, “independent cinema” has gradually begun to turn into “émigré” and is making a lot of efforts to resist it or at least to be called something else. Other “independents” suspended their activities and were left without opportunities to make films at all (and this status also requires a new word).

“Dependents” have become significantly less abundant, but they have become totally dependent. And no more interaction – which used to be common even for “the most independent of the independent”. Belarusian cinema is going through the collapse of the familiar arrangement and is trying to fix itself by rearranging names. It’s hard.

Congratulating independent filmmakers on Cinema Day, Sviatłana Cichanoŭskaja added her contribution to the mythologizing of this part of the community (and, of course, strengthened the division). Among other things, Mrs. Sviatłana said: “There should be more Belarusian cinema. As in Belarus, where today censorship does not allow new things to appear, so in the whole world!”

If you are not aware, the definition of what Belarusian cinema is and whether it can be called Belarusian cinema if it is financed by another country and filmed in another country by citizens of another country – that definition has always been a trigger for the community and is still being discussed. Let’s remember the suggested answer: everything is considered Belarusian. Let’s see how it will be in the course of a year or two.

That Cosy Loyalty

We live in a strange time when reality is a metaphor for itself. On the Day of Belarusian Cinema, the Investigative Committee visited the studio, indicating that the main task of cinema is not cinema, but loyalty. And it’s not surprising.

This year, the loyal agenda was faithfully elaborated on by the “Listapad” film festival and became an example of the direction in which loyalty, incompetence and the desire not to be reprimanded are moving culture – so far, it turns out that it is in the direction of propaganda, resentment and the purge of Belarusian culture.

Magically, only 4 Belarusian films appeared in the not too clever festival programme – and those were animated works. The Day of Belarusian Cinema was also marked (yes, we lived to see the day when a separate day is allocated to Belarusian cinema in the programme of the Belarusian Film Festival – by the way, there was also the Day of Tajik Cinema, yep). Congratulations on this incredible result.

They compensated for the emptiness with pathos and screenings of Soviet films. In the Telegram channel of the film festival, as a monument, there is a strange staged video about the queue for the daytime screening of the Soviet children’s film “The Kingfisher” in Sluck. It must testify to the finally satisfied longing for Soviet cultural values – and, of course, to the loyalty of the audience to all higher authorities that can pay them a visit. Let’s wait: “We are united” is ahead.

Our Own, Strangers and Others

On that background, the festivals “Paŭnočnaje źziańnie” (“Northern Lights”) and “Bulbamovie” look like a continuation of the forced work of splitting – like attempts to pull cinema out of the memorial-bureaucratic framework.

Warsaw’s “Bulbamovie”, which last year was a festival of the filmmakers strongly protesting against violence, this year turned into an offline platform for the diaspora. “Paŭnočnaje źziańnie” announced its task of uniting the dispersed audience and organized online screenings, which are useful primarily because viewers in Belarus, who are generally deprived of Belarusian cinema, managed to watch something.

The programmes of both festivals mixed films from different times. It can be seen from them that time has changed, among other things: films dedicated to protests are still being made, but they are already being overlapped by another stream of films created or completed in exile, when the protest theme has left the agenda. We are at the point where they still interact, but we will soon pass this stage.For now, the surrealist postdoc “Dream”, a kind of dim memory of the protests from the present, is in the programme next to the unfounded teenage drama “Summer 1989” (about the holiday history of 1989, yes). The documentary “When the flowers are not silent” is focused on the testimony of the protests, with the self-contained construct “Meeting in Minsk” about post-protest Minsk. The same “Courage” by Alaksiej Pałujan – with Andrej Kuciła’s new film “Baptism” after leaving Belarus.

In such a mix of protest and non-protest films, we should not lose one that does not serve either trend: the documentary “And Again Belarus” in the “Bulbamovie” programme – signed by the name “Ivan Fiodaraŭ” and the only one dedicated to the case with migrants, which passed for cinema unnoticed, because it fell into the gap between the post-protest terror and the war in Ukraine.

Apart from the actual physical danger of filming migrants, there was another, less noticeable, but perhaps the most important reason why the cinema broadcast those events: it seems that it has long since weaned itself from working with the Other, which does not exist in the local film universe anymore. The division into “own” and “others” is so impenetrable and fundamental that looking at the Other is in itself a “thought crime”, especially if that Other is from the “others'” camp.

While the community is more divided than ever and is trying to somehow show solidarity by looking for “collaborators” and singling out the “addicts”, “And again Belarus” masterfully highlights the scale of the space that remains out of the attention of cinema due to this fragmentation.

But cinema also has another difficult, unsolvable task, related to “own” and “others”: to preserve a cultural presence, at least a symbolic one, in Ukraine. This task is gradually being solved thanks to the festival “1084. On the border”, which was organized by the Belarusian human rights organization “Zviano” in Kyiv and Lviv at the end of the year, and then online. Doing work that requires great community effort is once again left to individual volunteers. This is how Belarusian cinema has always been. But isn’t that why the film academy was created to finally start in a different way?

Battle for Minsk

At first, the feature film “It’s Me, Minsk”, shot at “Belarusfilm” by Andrej Hryńko i Dźmitryj Dziadok, did not appear at “Listapad” – although the intention to show it was quietly announced. Later, this film was not shown at the “Bulbamovie” festival, having been removed from the programme on the eve of the opening.

On the same “Bulbamovie” and a little earlier online, Belarusians were very angry about the film “Minsk” by Boris Huts, a stupid exploitative reconstruction of the protests “in Minsk”.

I still have a dark feeling that these are parts of one hidden and unconscious process – the cinematic battle for Minsk. It seems that the image of Minsk will soon be a marker that determines the quality of the film, the audience’s attitude towards it, and in general, the direction in which cinema is going.

This battle was caused by Mikita Łaŭrecki’s film “Date in Minsk” (yes, exactly, with intentional exploitation right in the title), where protestant Minsk exists as a short walk in the dark to the subway at the end of a long hermetic game of billiards; and the film “The Last Summer” by Ihar Čyščenia, where Minsk appears as a very specific space inhabited by teenagers on Kamiennaja Horka.

It seems unsurprising that the film “Dream”, which captures the protests in Minsk, was honored at the “Paŭnočnaje źziańnie”. And the offline screenings of “Courage” on “Bulbamovie” and “If the flowers are not silent” on “Paŭnočnaje źziańnie” are also parts of the great battle for Minsk, which will probably move on to the “reconstruction of Minsk”.

Mikita Łaŭrecki was the first to feel this new trend and quickly took advantage of it, filming in Berlin the Tiktok series “Murder on Alibiehava”, distinguished first of all by this Minsk tag right in the title. There is Mara Tamkovič’s upcoming full-length debut “Live Broadcast”, which is supposed to be a reconstruction of the story of Kaciaryna Andrejeva and Minsk events. We have to wait for many more successful or not so successful reconstructions of Minsk from foreign locations.

The only thing we can be sure of is that “dependent” (better to say “bureaucratic”) cinema will do everything to avoid the image of Minsk – and in general, the image “in the country”. It has already delighted us with the New Year’s movie “Olivie”, which takes place in an apartment on Kotelnitskaya embankment in Moscow (Belarusians, even in cooperation with Russians, have perhaps never allowed themselves connotations so close to the Kremlin and such an absence of Belarusian codes).

No need to cheer us any more, that’s enough, thank you.

And Again about Our Own and Others

At the beginning of the year, the “Letapis” documentary film studio of “Belarusfilm” premiered – and even sold out: it showed Halina Adamovič’s new doc “Anima” about Belarusian animation in Minsk (!). The distinctive feature of the film turned out to be no longer an offline premiere or a boring story about animators – but the kind of a hostile shindig that cinema, now divided anew into “own” and “others”, will not be able to overcome. We have what we have: the Belarusian animation in the film is reduced to the current, “living”, as the director said, employees of the animation studio “Belarusfilm”.

The fact that many non-studio animators came to the premiere, who, due to “not logging into the system”, sit without resources and without the opportunity to create “non-self-made” movies, added to the intensity of the session. Mythologizing some while silencing others, serving “own” without mentioning “others”, creating an official history and displacing everything that does not fit in… the film was well caught in the process of splitting cinema. Loyal viewers don’t care, but no one asked the non-system, “alien” Belarusian animators in the hall.

Instead of Conclusions

Belarusian cinema has to do a big job: rethinking old concepts, reconfiguring broken connections. Of course, no one wants to do that. Building institutions is not only a way to start doing it, but also a way not to burden yourself with it too much. Therefore, it should be expected that the cinema will reach a new balance by inertia, will throw off unpleasant tasks such as finding the points of contact of all “own” with all “others” and will remain clearly divided.

The task of “showing Belarusian cinema in Belarus” will disappear as irrelevant and unsolvable. They will survive alone again, offering messages and images that they can express alone.

And we definitely should expect “We are united”.

 

Belarusian Theatre: Back to the Past

The Main Trends of the Season:

  • Repression continues in the Belarusian theatre space: dismissal of creators, closure of independent venues, change of directors. There is no public motivation in such decisions, even public loyalty does not guarantee the preservation of the workplace.
  • In state policy, there is a steady return to the past – both in the literal sense (rewarding at the Babrujsk festival of performances staged several decades ago) and in the figurative sense. Among the latter is the disregard of copyright, which once was a distinctive feature of the USSR, and the showing of underground performances.
  • Culture in general and theatre in particular continue to occupy secondary importance in the value system of the Belarusian state: for 2023, only 0.5% of the budget is spent on culture.
  • One of the most debated and controversial issues in the Belarusian theatre space is the work of domestic creators in the Russian cultural industry during the war.
  • Domestic groups are organizing new premieres abroad. “Team theatre” formed a repertoire of four performances. With their performance “Romanticism”, “Kupałaŭcy” to a certain extent returned to the traditions of the old, “pre-revolutionary” Kupałaŭski theatre, which is perceived as part of the collective’s retro-reboot.

Redundancies and Changes in the Board of Directors

“Layoffs continue in the theatre sector”. A typical phrase, which, however, runs the risk of becoming a common thread in the coming reviews. This time, the head of the literary section of the Slonim Drama Theatre, Siarhiej Čyhryn, lost his position, having served there for 32 years.

Conductor Aleh Lasun was dismissed. He is already the fourth maestro who cannot conduct performances at the Opera Theatre. Until now, Viačasłaŭ Čarnucha-Volič had been dismissed, then Andrej Hałanaŭ and Ivan Kaściachin. By the way, the first of them, together with the team of the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre (Čarnucha-Volič is the chief conductor of this collective), received the opera “Oscar” – the International Opera Awards. The basis: the showing of performances and even the preparation of the premiere in conditions of war. This award best shows what level of professional the Belarusian theatre has lost.

Personnel changes also affected managers: in a number of collectives, directors changed. In the last review, we mentioned the departure of Jaŭhien Klimakoŭ, the charismatic head of the Belarusian State Puppet Theatre. In December, it became known that the director of the Homieĺ Youth Theatre Alena Mastavienka, who has been leading the team since 2017, will join his “company” – she was not offered a contract.

During this time, she made the theatre noticeable in Belarus, with directors Jura Dzivakoŭ and Vital Kraŭčanka in her company (the latter worked here for some time as an artistic director after being forced to leave the Kupałaŭski theatre). The repertoire was unusual and different from a number of other regional theaters: performances based on the plays of the famous Irish playwright Martin McDonagh and his colleague from Germany, Marius von Mayenburg, were presented in Homieĺ.

The director of the Minsk New Drama Theatre has also been changed. However, it is not possible to be bored. Since 1998, Vasil Marciecki has held this position. It was he who at one time banned Jura Dzivakoŭ’s play “Bug”. He fired actors and theatre employees (15 people in total) who tried to strike in 2020. But after his dismissal, his name instantly disappeared from the team’s website: not a single mention remained.

Rusłan Safonaŭ, who until now headed the Rymski-Korsakaŭ Mahilioŭ Music College, became the new director.

Another change of director was forced. The reason is the death of the director of the Minsk Youth Theatre Viktar Staravojtaŭ. He has been in his position since 1999. During this time, the theatre turned into a platform for almost non-stop comedy shows, when it was difficult to distinguish between the state collective and the private enterprise.

At the same time, there were even fewer venues in Minsk. At the end of the year, Hide closed, where independent performances were shown until 2020 (for example, “You can’t stay, you can’t leave” by director Dźmitryj Bahasłaŭski). The epic story with the cult site OK16 continues. It was put up for sale – the previous information about the opening of the supermarket in that building did not come true. But the bidding did not take place, so the future of OK16, as well as the independent theatre in Belarus itself, remains unknown.

A Return to the Past – to the Nineties and the USSR

The place of the Belarusian theatre in time is clearly defined by the results of another festival of Belarusian drama, which was held in Babrujsk. The winner in the nomination “Best Scenography” was Barys Hierłavan for the production “The Black Maiden of Niasviž”. The work of the famous artist is, of course, worthy of attention but the play was just staged in 2000. At the same festival, actor Alaksandr Kašpieraŭ received a special diploma for the role of the merchant Japiškin. However, the premiere of the production “Japiškin’s Merchant’s Theatre” at the Cinema Actor’s Studio Theatre took place even earlier, in 1993.

Such official results clearly indicate a general focus on the past.

Other prizes turned out to be predetermined. In one of the past reviews, we wrote: “We can predict with confidence that productions based on Bykaŭ’s works will be among the favourites of the next National Theatre Award. This will be one of the manifestations of the devaluation of rewards, which is rapidly happening now”. The performance “The Alps. Forty-first” based on “Alpine Ballad” by Vasil Bykaŭ was given as an example. It was staged at the Theatre of the Young Spectator by Taćciana Sambuk. There was no need to wait for the National Award, which had not yet started: Sambuk won the prize for the best director in Babrujsk.

The return to the past – not even to the nineties, but to the USSR – was also manifested in the approach to copyright. On January 6, the law “On limitation of exclusive rights to objects of intellectual property” appeared. It allowed the use of films, music, TV and radio programmes, software from “unfriendly” countries without the permission of the right holder (in effect, in a pirated way). But ignoring copyright in the field of theatre has worked before. Before the New Year, the Chamber Drama Theatre under the direction of Natalla Bašava showed the play “Harry Potter and the Ice Horcrux”. In Europe, it would have been sued for using the name and images in the poster without permission, and would have been forced to pay a fine. This cannot be expected in Belarus.

The untimely death of the critic Alaksiej Strelnikaŭ became a tragedy for Belarusian culture. Theatrical Don Quixote, one of the knights of the Belarusian theatre, he was not a classical theatre scholar who, as a rule, is more interested in the final result such as the play, its artistic value and place in the coordinate system. Strelnikaŭ was a critic, as well as a teacher, motivator, manager who liked to promote performances and projects, bringing people together in a common space. Without him, the national theatre would be different.

Staying until his last days in Minsk, Strelnikaŭ participated in “apartment plays”. They were not publicly announced, as performances without obtaining tour certificates are prohibited in Belarus. It remains only to guess how many such shows are being organized nowadays. And we should also hope that one of their participants or creators will somehow record their impressions. Otherwise, they risk remaining unknown forever.

In general, the attitude of the state to culture is most evident in the following figure: only 0.5% of the budget for the next year will be expenses for culture. It is obvious that Belarusian theaters – with the possible exception of the Opera House – will be financed according to the residual principle, as in previous years.

“Kupałaŭcy” “Retro Reboot”

Belarusian troupes abroad continued their work in November and December. “Kupałaŭcy” pleased with readings of three plays, as well as two premieres.

One of them was the gangster comedy “Sphagnum”, based on the novel of the same name by Viktar Marcinovič. Based on the story of three young gangsters who are forced “to lie low” in one of the Belarusian villages, the director Alaksandr Harcujeŭ stages a play in the vein of psychological theatre (with light mystical overtones). In this production, actor Alaksandr Kazieła, who became the main star of “Sphagnum”, returned to “Kupałaŭcy” after a certain break. The image of Siery created by him is the supreme mastery. It is a pleasure to watch how the actor plays the lines of his partners and conveys the changing personality of his character with his flexible plastic.

But the first premiere was “Romanticism”, which was first shown offline in Warsaw in October 2022 (online – next month). It was a kind of return to the old Kupałaŭski Theatre: this production would fit perfectly into its usual repertoire. The basis is a national classic, which is updated and returned to the mass audience with this production (we are talking about the work of Adam Mickievič). The stylish and – in contrast to previous productions – not poor scenography rhymes with the productions of the late 2010s. Director Mikałaj Pinihin creates a stylistically sophisticated, light educational play.

In 2019, “Romanticism” would perhaps be perceived as a somewhat predictable project, as experimental productions abounded nearby. Now this whole sphere is destroyed. Therefore, the performance looks like a touching greeting from the 2010s and a kind of psychotherapy session. This is exactly what the mass audience, as well as regular Kupałaŭski viewers, are waiting for. The problem may arise in the long term, because “Kupałaŭcy” return to the usual coordinate system, which they will not want to change. And therefore the chance for a reboot that arose in 2020 will probably be lost.

Such a production looked like the first brick for a retro reboot of the theatre and a possible creation of a stable platform for performances in Warsaw. The latter, however, has not yet happened. As actor Aleh Harbuz later admitted in an interview at the beginning of February 2023, their team played “Sphagnum” only once (as well as “Dziady” /”Forefathers’ Eve”, one of last year’s performances), and after the premiere, there were no showings or new rehearsals for the last month and a half. One of the reasons, perhaps, is that the “Kupałaŭcy” are not legally registered in Poland. As a result, we get a paradox: having a formed repertoire and the interest of the audience, “Kupałaŭcy” do not have a poster or show dates.

From “How are You?” to “Incantation”

The “Team theatre”, which moved from Homieĺ to Warsaw and strives to continue work with immersive theatre, took its niche in the domestic theatre space. It was founded by three married couples: the founders of the collective, Andrej and Alesia Barduchajeva-Aroł from Homieĺ, were joined by actors from Minsk who were forced to leave the state theatres: Darja and Andrej Novik, Maryja Piatrovič and Maksim Šyško (the last three are former actors of the Republican Theatre of Belarusian Drama, Darja sang in the choir of the Opera Theatre). Not having such informational support as “Kupałaŭcy”, they nevertheless created both their own repertoire and a tour poster.

During 2022, they had four premieres: “How are you?” (in May), “Heather Honey” (in June), “Incantation” (in November) and the children’s play “The Museum of Magical Belarus, or we are looking for Ziuzia together” (in December). Performances take place at the site of the local TR Warszawa collective and at the aforementioned Museum of Free Belarus. The troupe has a website, which, unfortunately, for some reason has not yet been developed by “Kupałaŭcy”.

The three first, “adult” performances are of greatest interest.

“How are you?” is a reading of a verbatim play by Vital Karabań, dedicated to the war in Ukraine (directed by Andrej Novik). There are four heroes in the work: a Belarusian who fled here from repression; a local resident moving with a girl to the west of Ukraine; a refugee woman who leaves her grandmother in Vinnica and moves to her sister in Germany; a Russian, a supporter of Putin and the “Russian world”. The first two characters periodically talk to each other, but in general there are almost no connections between the other “speakers”, in fact we have monologues that go through “breakdowns”.

Technologically, switching takes place through lamps, which are turned on by the characters on their tables in turn – they stand behind the last ones for the whole performance. True, at the beginning the actors interact with the audience: they let the audience into the room of the supposed refugees, offering them water. The reading fulfills its main task: it helps to record the events, as well as the mood and outlook of typical participants and victims of the conflict.

The original “Heather Honey” is a ballad written at the end of the 19th century by Robert Lewis Stevenson (directed by Andrej Barduchajeŭ-Aroł). The small work consisting of 11 eight-line parts was transformed into the Belarusian language by Usievaład Scieburaka and becomes the basis for an immersive performance. Its viewers receive special masks that cover their eyes. This stimulates their perception of sounds, smells, as well as physical contact – here there is water and smoke, and the feeling of the ropes that bind the heroes – residents of Britain of the 10th century, who keep the secret of heather honey at the cost of their own lives.

From a temporal distance, the two mentioned performances are perceived as the first building blocks for building its own repertoire. Compared to them, the production of “Incantation” (author and director – Maksim Šyško, music – Mikita Załatar) seems more technically complex. Previous performances had linear plots that were easier to understand.

It would seem that the plot of “Incantation” is quite traditional, in some ways it is a typical folk performance, the basis of which is a rite. But at the same time, it is a visually beautiful production with a stylishly selected video sequence, which is also characterized by the bright singing of Darja Novik – the strong vocals of the actress are fully used in all three performances. Individual episodes (for example, elements of the ceremony with marriage mats, as well as with LED rings) look stylish and non-trivial. There is a clear attempt by Maksim Šyško to reinterpret the rite as a director.

The Controversial Case of the “Golden Mask”

In November 2022, the list of nominees for the “Golden Mask”, Russia’s most prestigious theatre award, became known to the public. Despite the cancellation of performances that were nominated for the award, and generally “black lists” that appeared in this country following the example of Belarus, there is no alternative to it.

Belarusian directors Ihar Kazakoŭ and Alaksandr Januškievič, artists Taćciana Niersisian and Zinovij Marholin were among the nominees this year. The “Golden Mask” has attracted Belarusians before, among its laureates were distinguished persons, stars of the national theatre and their projects, as well as other creators (for example, the famous director Alaksiej Lalaŭski). But that was before the war. Now the nomination for the Russian prize has divided the theatre community. Naturally, the noted performances were created and released even before the invasion of Ukraine, and the collectives did not ask for consent from the creators of the productions. However, there is no definitive answer to the question of whether it is worth working for Russian collectives.

Naturally, the main blow was rightly taken by the representatives of pop culture – we are talking about the band “Biełaruskija pieśniary” who “lit up” on New Year’s Eve in the “Blue light” show with the participation of local propagandists. Belarusian theatre creators – we are talking about both those listed and the actors working in local theatres (for example, former the Kupałaŭski theatre actors Ivan Trus and Pavieł Charłančuk) – did not allow themselves a single public statement in support of the war. That is why they should be perceived not as guilty, but as hostages of the situation.

In Belarus, they cannot work (because they are on “black lists”) or fundamentally do not want to work. The Ukrainian vector became impossible after the start of the war. With the exception of Marholin, they had no experience of long-term relations with Western European collectives. And emigrant theatres are just getting back on their feet and don’t have the necessary number of vacancies to satisfy everyone who wants to join them. Russia remains as a forced platform for gathering forces before the future return to Belarus.

Belarusian theatre is used to being hostage to internal and external factors. Over the past decades, there has been minimal financial support from the state, lack of conditions for support from private business, and manifestations of censorship and self-censorship. In 2022, the war was added to the list of these factors.

The story of the Belarusian “legionaires” in Russia is symbolic, because in miniature it reflects a kind of theatrical zugzwang – a situation where any move leads to worsening the situation. The national theatre has found itself hostage to political realities and geopolitics against its will. Its survival is now on the agenda.

 

Music: Pop & Rock. Freak Memes Versus the Cry of a Traumatized Person

Main Trends of the Season

  1. Repression is intensifying. Now a music band can become an extremist formation, and you can get a criminal record for performing a song.
  2. The official stage works at the maximum of its abilities. And this is a tour of the band Drazdy and a freak meme about a Belarusian wife
  3. Independent music: creators have started to make quality music and this gives reason for cautious optimism
  4. Concert venues are closing in droves: there are no options even in pro-government ones, and others simply do not agree on the programme

Terrorists with Guitars: Permission as an Engine of Progress

For the first time in world history, a musical band is recognized as an extremist formation. It happened in 2023 in Belarus, and that’s almost all you need to know about the state’s attitude to free creativity. The musicians of the Tor Band from Rahačoŭ were arrested and received “days of arrest” several times in a row. Later, a “criminal investigation” appeared, and the Belarusian authorities recognized the music band as an extremist formation. By what criteria it was determined, we do not yet know, but we can contemplate about the meaning of criminalization and marginalization of rock music.

Extremism is how the government perceives independent music in relation to itself. It perceives only obedient and fully controlled art, and everything else is considered unnecessary, harmful and even dangerous. And the authorities broadcast it publicly through the recognition of the provincial band as radical. There is overconfidence in their own fear of dissent, a policy of total cancellation and a regime of maximum purge of public space. Officials are trying to repaint reality in the right colours and create their own vocabulary and methods of communication with creators. Musicians are criminals with guitars in their hands. In this context, musical instruments qualify as weapons with which harmful products are produced.

At the same time, every concert is a territory of unpredictability in the state, where everything must develop according to approved “manuals”. In such circumstances, recognizing the band as an “extremist formation” further legitimizes the state’s fight against dissent and gives it the opportunity to hand out sentences for wrongly performed songs.

Another precedent worthy of our attention: the Belarusian singer Mieryjem Hierasimienka, who was detained on Zybickaja street in Minsk for performing a song by the Ukrainian band Okean Elzy, received three years of house arrest. This is a clear signal to musicians who remain in Belarus and continue to work there: songs must be played only after approval by the relevant authorities. The total purge continues: one after another, musicians and other cultural figures are detained in the country, and as a result, they face criminal charges. The state broadcasts the message “the creator is a criminal”. But for whom?

Substitution of Meanings: from Nowhere, about Nothing, Nowhere

On the other hand, what can the Belarusian official ideology offer in return?

The band Drazdy has been touring for two months through the cities and villages of the country with the hit song “Parents’ House” and MP Tenhiz Dumbadze in the bundle. The pop band of the balalaika player Vital Karpanaŭ is experiencing its golden times and collecting hundreds of thousands of views – and we can say that it is the only legitimate Belarusian band that can afford to go beyond the borders of state television and really gather an audience at concerts. Karpanaŭ finally found his way after a series of experiments with public image in the form of nudes with geese and a weak imitation of the band Leningrad. In the current circumstances, the band Drazdy can be considered the best example of official culture, because in the rest, the state ideology is able to give birth to memes, not meanings.

A recent example is the track “Belarusian Wife”, sung on state television: a mix of cheap amateur performance, gender chauvinism and rotten ideas about family values, allegedly from the Paleolithic era.

If you can’t do it yourself, invite someone who can. It reaches the point of absurdity: the victory in the Belarusian television contest “Hello, we are looking for talents” is won by … Ivan Diatlov from the Ivanovo region in Russia. This is what supporting local talents looks like in the Belarusian style.

The shortage of official Belarusian performers will be compensated by Russian and Russian-Ukrainian ones. So, for three days in a row in December, the Palace of Sports was sold out for an imitation art of “unwanted” after statements about Russian aggression Svetlana Loboda under the creative pseudonym Anna Asti. As we can see, the concert life continues, but it takes place again only at proven venues that fully comply with the state ideology.

But even connections with the state do not guarantee the owner a peaceful life. For example, the concert venue Prime Hall, owned by the pro-government tobacco magnate Tapuzidzis, was closed after complaints from “well-wishers” about the events harmful to the Belarusian government. Ouroboros in action – the pool of “untouchables” is dwindling by the day, and a warped view of how culture functions paints Orwellian plots and practices before us. These are interesting times for anthropological researchers, but all that is ruthless for creators.

Visa Belculture: Mobile Heroes

The concert schedule offered to Belarusians abroad is much more diverse. A mini-tour of the band Gods Tower took place in Lithuania, but the main musical country for Belarusians remains Poland – here you can organize a good festival without any logistical issues.

If earlier the celebration of Belarusian music took place in Poland once a year not far from the border, now the program looks consistently full. Well-known bands – Petlya Pristrastiya, RSP, Naviband, Volski, Daj darohu!, J:Mors — regularly announce concerts. Many musicians use the acoustic format, which is obviously more mobile and efficient from an economic point of view. Uładzimir Puhač or Juryj Stylski, Aleś Lutyč or Zmicier Vajciuškievič can be seen in a small bar with a guitar in their hands. There is a demand. But there is also an obvious problem for part of the target audience remaining in Belarus: if you want your injection of Belarusian music, first get a visa.

Results and Summaries: Singing on Bonfires

It was difficult to summarize the musical results of the year, because some of the high-quality releases did not get into the information space: search, systematization, evaluation – all these components are now the responsibility of the user who wants to delve into the Belarusian musical context.

Digging is back in trend, but now it’s the only guide for a neophyte. Here are some albums from the end of last year that are worth highlighting in the “Best of the 2022” format.

ske.in “Rove” is an album as a symbol of an endless journey. Variegated and monochrome at the same time, beautiful and sad, near and far – a wonderful ambience with a national flavor.

“Prijom!” (“Over!”) — Bieńka recorded a powerful reflection album together with Hala Čykis. Her lyrics have never been so strong and imaginative, and the musical component began to coexist better with the text since the bohemian band “Sierjebrjanaja svaďba”(“Silver Wedding”).

According to the results of the year, the group Soyuz should also be noted with the release “Power of the Wind”: the Minsk trio recorded a very warm and cozy album, a tribute to the Latin American music of the 1970s. It sounds very unusual for the Eastern European tradition, but also very beautiful.

To this list you can add names that did not make it to the top and ratings at all, but are worth mentioning.

First of all, Name Killer Birchenson’s “Variablrs” is a mix of midwest emo, math rock and punk in the Belarusian style, freed and rich in bright melodies and non-standard musical moves. And besides, Sož “Apošnija Tancory” is a mini-album of dark and monotonous post-punk with existential lyrics.

It is interesting that already this year, during January 2023, a lot of high-quality material was released, from which a separate rating can be compiled.

First of all, this is an album of the band Syndrom Samazvanca (Impostor syndrome), created from fragments of world music experience. Though the musicians do not play with them, but create their own puzzle of art rock, psychedelic and kraut, decorated with charismatic and apt lyrics by Uładź Lankievič: sometimes Bacharevič talks to us through the lyrics of the “Vostraŭ skarhaŭ” album, and sometimes Comrade Major.

Another interesting album is “Pap” from the band Čjortočka. It has atmospheric lyrics and a prickly, uncomfortable sound to accentuate the mood. The shadows of a gloomy city, painful introverted monologues, metaphysical lyrics appear here – everything works perfectly together.

Note: both albums were recorded by musicians who live and work in Belarus, and this is a wonderful illustration of the vitality of Belarusian music and the ability to adapt to the conditions of a total ban.

Two parallel realities: music outside Belarus lives in a live mode, music in Belarus – in a studio format. To assemble a complete picture of musical life, you need to be well versed in puzzles with a thousand fragments and more.

Conclusions

  •  The pressure on Belarusian musicians is constantly increasing. The Belarusian authorities are breaking records in repression and are trying to legitimize them. Now the dissenting creator is under criminal prosecution. There are two options not to get punished: to stop writing songs or to agree with the postulates of the “code of conduct” manuals.
  • The capabilities of the official variety show are limited to the production of homogeneous trash. This is not a freak show, but a hallucination of a traumatized mind. The target audience of this work is mythical and exists only on paper.
  • Independent Belarusian music now works exclusively with gloomy intonations and narratives. This is a painful reflection, regardless of genre components – be it art punk or chanson. Finding the positive in these circumstances is an impossible task.
  • At the same time, Belarusian music is slowly coming out of a standby mode and creating a new dictionary of narratives and meanings: it is the cry of a traumatized person, an attempt to draw attention to oneself through therapeutic monologues and a handful of chaste self-irony.

 

Belarusian Art: Redesigning Creativity

The Main Trends of the Season:

  • Persecution of Belarusian artists continues, with Aleś Puškin still in detention
  • Emergence of professional transnational art activist platforms drawing inspiration from the 2020 Belarusian protest tactics
  • Proliferation of art residencies in Germany and Poland as a sign of international support and solidarity with the exilic art community from Belarus
  • Increase in collective and individual exhibitions by Belarusian artists
  • Activation of independent art projects within Belarus
  • Limited and inconsistent media coverage of Belarusian contemporary art and art criticism.

Mapping Meanings: Contemporary Art at Home and Abroad

Abroad

Belarusian contemporary art in the Winter of 2022–2023 experienced a significant period of transformation and introspection. As the trends from the previous year continued, amateur protest art exhibitions experienced a decline while simultaneously, Belarus saw a massive creative migration due to the repressions within the country and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. This war’s first anniversary on February 24, 2023 serves as a time for reflection on Belarusian art accomplishments in the face of these challenging circumstances.

In light of these events, many Belarusian artists found themselves in a precarious situation as dissidents and exiles but also as people who remain connected to the country through their citizenship. When confronted with discrimination and scrutiny in the EU, where reports of such unfair treatment towards Belarusians remain prevalent, they must navigate the complex identity crisis of being a migrant from the aggressor state in the middle of a military conflict, constantly negotiating their stance.

As a response to Russia’s unjustified military aggression in Ukraine in 2022, the International Coalition of Cultural Workers Against The War in Ukraine was formed, acting as a hub for exchanging digital art from around the world. Led by seven curators with five Belarusians and two Ukrainians at the helm, this initiative has made a significant impact, participating in major exhibitions like Documenta & Manifesta, Venice Biennale, and more. The solidarity practices which were formed during the Belarusian protests, provided a solid foundation to support their mission objectives, demonstrating that many countries are willing to come together through art to address important issues.

The Winter of 2022–2023 also saw the emergence of a strategic effort to support refugee artists. New art residencies and programmes, such as PerspAKTIV, have come to fruition, offering temporary residencies to artists-in-exile. Launched in Berlin in the summer of 2022, with support from Ambasada Kultury and Razam-Kunst, this residency has made a significant impact in the winter season, showcasing individual exhibitions by artists from Belarus such as Alaksandr Bielski and Taša Kacuba.

These residency networks are complex, and it takes a lot of sustained effort on the artists part to be able to navigate them effectively. Many of these artists have had to move from one country to another, packing their suitcases multiple times within just a few weeks. As a result, creative migration from Belarus has seen a surge in activity in recent years, with several prominent residency programmes taking shape. These include ABA (Air Berlin Alexander Platz) founded by an artist from Belarus, Alaksandr Kamaroŭ, American non-profit CEC ArtsLink, and the Berlin-based Slavs and Tatars residency programme. Poland and Germany continue to be key destinations for artists seeking creative opportunities. In conclusion, the winter of 2022–2023 was a season of change, reflection and hope for Belarusian contemporary art, despite the challenges it faced.

In Belarus

Belarusian contemporary art scene presents a unique window into the political and social divides that exist within the country. This divide is manifested in two of the most prominent events in the art world – the highly controversial Triennale of Young Artists and the groundbreaking new group exhibition at Minsk’s Vershy Art Platform. These events serve to illustrate the role that art plays in shaping the discourse and attitudes of Belarusian society.

Despite the achievements of Belarusian artists in Europe, the local art scene is still struggling to catch up with international trends in contemporary art. The Triennale of Young Artists, held at the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, aims to showcase the works of 50 young and talented local artists who have honed their skills within traditional art education institutions such as the Belarusian Academy of Art. However, this pro-regime attempt to institutionalize contemporary art has yet to successfully bridge the gap between local and international art networks.

The independent art scene in Belarus is not entirely suppressed, as evidenced by the group show at the Vershy Art Platform, titled “Under the Sign of Void.” This exhibition features emerging young artists who are producing innovative works despite the challenges they face, including the political and social pressures that exist in the country. This show marks an important milestone in a time when many Belarusian artists are choosing to leave the country, and it serves to demonstrate the resilience and determination of those who remain and continue to create new ideas and perspectives.

Despite the difficulties that the independent art scene faces, it remains an important source of hope for those who appreciate the power of art and its ability to shape society and bring about change. The artists who continue to work in Belarus, despite the challenges, are a testament to determination, resourcefulness, and passion that exist within the country’s cultural landscape.

Challenges

The Belarusian art community has been facing a number of challenges and difficulties in recent months. The community has been dealing with a series of significant losses, as three of its leading figures from the older generation – Vital Čarnabrysaŭ, Aleś Rodzin, and Lenina Mironava – have passed away, leaving behind a rich legacy for future generations.

All three artists were instrumental in shaping the Belarusian art scene in their own unique ways. Vital Čarnabrysaŭ was known for his sculptures, while Aleś Rodzin was a multi-talented artist who organized the Daсh festival, and Lenina Mironava was an architect and art historian whose work left an indelible mark on the country’s cultural landscape. Their influence is undeniable, as it can be seen in the response by the artistic community across a wide range of social media platforms.

In light of these losses, it is now up to the members of the art community to ensure that this heritage is not lost or forgotten. It is crucial that their memory is preserved so that their legacy will endure despite the current hardships. The art community has the responsibility to keep their memory alive by showcasing their works and sharing their stories with future generations.

Another important challenge facing the Belarusian art community is the lack of sustained effort to write critical reviews and comprehensive event coverage. This dearth of information and analysis makes it difficult for artists to gain recognition within Belarus and the diasporas and for audiences to fully understand the context and significance of their work. Despite these challenges, there are some notable exceptions, such as Reform.by, which stands out as a prominent source of information. However, even their work cannot fully compensate for the lack of discussions and critical evaluations of new exhibitions or works.

Art in Focus

The distinction between contemporary art exhibitions in Belarus and those held internationally, as well as between group and solo exhibitions, is an important factor to consider. There are two types of exhibitions in Belarus: regime-sponsored and independent; independent exhibitions usually take place with very little budget, if any. When considering exhibitions abroad, group exhibitions are typically the result of careful curatorial planning by multiple organizations, while solo exhibitions often showcase the results of an artist’s residency programme, with a few exceptions. Despite the difficulties faced by contemporary artists in Belarus both domestically and abroad, there are several noteworthy projects that are worth mentioning.

The Antiwar Coalition’s international tour showcases the solidarity of Belarusian and Ukrainian communities through exhibitions and public engagement. The platform’s collection, currently displayed at Dymchuk Gallery in Kyiv, on show January 20 – March 3, 2023, not only creates a visually dynamic experience but also serves as a chance to donate for generator equipment needed for charging phones during blackouts. The momentum will continue with exhibitions in Dusseldorf in February and New York City by March 2023, offering a greater appreciation for art inspired by the peace effort amid the turmoil of war.

“The Concrete Trampoline,” curated by Vasil Matalaniec, took place from September 9 to December 30, 2022 and sparked a major controversy in the Belarusian art community due to its venue at the Marina Gisich gallery in Saint Petersburg. During the war in Ukraine, some artists expressed strong disapproval of any association with or events held in Russia due to their involvement in the conflict, while others called for understanding and support as they lacked opportunities for international exposure. This divisive issue brought up questions of morality, as conflicting ideologies of pro-Western versus pro-Russian attitudes debated the best way to promote artistic expression from within Belarus.

From December 10, 2022 to January 29, 2023, BY LAW, a collaboration between artists Lesia Pčołka and Uładzimir Chramovič, was held at the Museum of Emigration in Gdynia, Poland, curated by Maksymilian Bochenek. BY LAW is part of the SUPPLEMENT series of artistic interventions, which address the theme of assimilation in migration. Lesia and Uładzimir, both social activists from Belarus, use objects and video projections to examine the difficulties they faced in obtaining permission to marry in Poland as migrants. Through highlighting their own bureaucratic struggles, they raise a larger question about the meaning of marriage in a time of mass migration and the challenges that migrants face navigating complex bureaucracy across multiple countries.

From December 13, 2022 to January 8, 2023, Alaksandr Bielski presented his solo exhibition “Nemesish”. The exhibition was a visually striking commentary on the recent events in Belarus and the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022. Bielski explored the theme of art and visual culture in Eastern and East-Central Europe and its confrontation with contemporary monstrosity. The works on display, including paintings and multimedia pieces, were created during his residency at Schloss Wiepersdorf as part of the “PerspAKTIV” programme, showcasing his exceptional artistic skills and the ability to produce thought-provoking pieces. The exhibition was financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, highlighting the significance of the topics explored and the importance of cultural exchange between nations.

The solo Taša Kacuba’s exhibition “The Weight of Memories” was curated by Volha Mželskaja and held at Galeria Promocyjna in Warsaw from January 18-28, 2023. The show explored the effects of personal and collective memories on identity, with a particular focus on the violence and repression in Belarus, as reflected in Kacuba’s paintings and installations. The artist, currently residing in Poland, used her art to chronicle her own experiences of war and migration and to shed light on the suppressed memories and emotions associated with these events. Through her diary-style narrative, Kacuba aimed to convey the common pain faced by individuals who have lost their homes and loved ones during war and migration.

“Under the Sign of Void,” curated by Julij Iljuščanka, took place from January 21 to March 21, 2023 at the “Vershy” creative space in Minsk, Belarus. The exhibition showcased works by three Belarusian artists, Siamion Matalaniec, Alena Tałobava and Maryja Panamarova, who are all based in Belarus. Iljuščanka aimed to bring together artists, collectors, and audiences through this exhibition, as indicated in its social media promotions. This exhibition marked the inaugural opening of the “Vershy” creative space and became the start of a promising venture. Iljuščanka also made sure to have the artists’ discussions published on Sygma, a Russian-language platform focused on contemporary culture.

Belarusian artists Nadzia Sajapina, Jaŭhien Bułdyk, Lesia Pčołka, Siarhiej Šabochin, Varvara Sudnik, and Žana Hładko participated in the ECLAT 2023 festival in Stuttgart, Germany. The five-day culture festival, curated by Christina Fischer, was designed to provide a platform for artists to freely express their ideas without any predetermined themes or ideologies, featuring such mediums as music, poetry, and art. The works were presented within PlatformB, a digital production and discourse space for artists in exile representing a diverse group of artists from such countries as Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Experimenting with digital formats of sound, image, text, and video design, PlatformB provides a hybrid art space for artists. Fischer, a colleague of renowned Belarusian activist and musician Maryja Kaleśnikava, has been a consistent supporter of Belarusian artists in exile.

Summary & Predictions

  • Persecution of Belarusian artists in Belarus will persist, making it difficult for artists residing in Europe to return safely
  • Despite this persecution, independent art projects will continue to reemerge in Belarus, leading to a new phase of domestically-produced Belarusian art with new names, ethos, concepts, and visual aesthetics
  • Antiwar Coalition of International Art Workers Against the War in Ukraine will gain further recognition, leading to stronger projects and raising the professional level of Belarusian contemporary art
  • In the future, more Belarusian artists will be able to participate in international collaborative projects, which will enable them to diversify their art practices and integrate into the global art scene
  • The expanding network of art residencies will lead to more exhibitions, increasing the visibility of Belarusian art abroad and requiring documentation and preservation of this newly-emerging scene
  • Belarusian artists in exile will have to seek long-term migration options, which would potentially impact their ability to continue producing art and shift their focus towards securing steady income
  • Continued need for revenue will lead to a more planned art sales strategy with the potential to redefine Belarusian contemporary art and its trends in the art market
  • With the proliferation of exhibitions and new art produced by Belarusian artists in exile, the community of art workers from Belarus will need to come forward with a plan for marketing, archiving and covering this emerging scene, as well as producing critical texts to help assimilate this new experience discursively.

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