History

#art_born_Belarus

Website: https://byculture.org/art_born_belarus/

An advocacy media campaign aimed at re:visioning Belarusian artifacts in the museums of the world. An expert has prepared arguments explaining why Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine, Ossip Zadkine, Nadia Khodasevich-Léger, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Ivan Khrutsky, Sophia Federovich, Peter Blum, and Abram Bogdanov are Belarusian artists, and why the Slutsk belts are an example of Belarusian art.

We have transformed these scholarly arguments into letter templates that you can send to museums worldwide.

Let’s honor Belarusian heritage and ensure that the world recognizes these and many other artists as part of Belarusian culture.

Art Management School

A pilot educational project conducted in 2024 as part of the ArtPower Belarus program.

The six-month course included a range of theoretical and practical disciplines, mastering the basics of which is an essential prerequisite for personal development in the profession of an art manager. The instructors were experts in fundraising, management, and well-known figures in the Belarusian cultural space.

Nineteen participants successfully completed the program, with some already securing funding for their own creative projects and bringing them to life.

#ByCultureGlobal — Days of Belarusian Culture

Website: https://belarusis.art/

The campaign to promote Belarusian culture started in 2021. That year, events united around July 7 — International Belarusian Culture Day — were held throughout the week. In 2022, under the slogan Belarus Must Go On, the celebration expanded to over 100 events in 16 countries.

“To tell the story of Belarus” — these words became the motto of the Days of Belarusian Culture in 2023. Belarus exists wherever the Belarusian language is spoken and where Belarusian culture is honored.

Charity Auctions

A series of 18 online auctions, with all proceeds directed toward supporting repressed artists. Over time, many notable figures joined the movement, including the band MEUTE, Svetlana Alexievich, Alhierd Bacharevič, Margarita Levchuk, Lera Yaskevich, the band NRM, Boris Grebenshchikov, Volha Yakubouskaya, Rufina Bazlova, Uladzimir Tsesler, and other artists.

Auctioned items included artworks, musical instruments, unique stage costumes, books (one of which was published as a single copy specifically for the auction), and even a crystal rock crown.

Total funds raised: €22,500.

#FREEIRDORATH

A campaign in support of the musicians of the fantasy-folk band Irdorath and their friends, who were detained on August 2, 2021, at a summer house near Minsk. At that time, the band’s leaders, Nadzya and Uladzimir Kalach, were sentenced to 2 years in a penal colony, while Anton Shnip, Piotr, and Yulia Marchanka received 1.5 years in a penal colony. Their crime — playing music on the streets during mass marches in Minsk in August 2020.

As part of the support campaign, solidarity actions by bagpipers were held, funds were raised to support the arrested musicians, and many efforts were directed at spreading information in global media.

#FREEPUSHKIN

An international solidarity campaign for the imprisoned political artist, which included exhibitions, film screenings, charity auctions, and the spread of posts with the hashtag #FREEPUSHKIN on social media.

Ales Pushkin was an artist, restorer, and performer. He was arrested on March 30, 2021, for a portrait of Yauhen Zhykhar, a participant in the post-war anti-Soviet resistance. For this work, as well as for depictions of other Belarusian figures from World War II and a remake of his own performance A Gift for the President featuring a wheelbarrow of manure, Ales was sentenced to five years in a high-security prison.

#BelarusWithUkraine

Instagram: belarus_with_ukraine
Facebook: BelarusWithUkraine
X: Belarus_Ukraine
Telegram BY: BelarusWithUkraine
Telegram UA: BelarusWithUkraine_UA

A media campaign in support of Ukraine and an advocacy initiative highlighting Belarusians’ rejection of Russian military aggression. Since early March 2022, following Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the project team has systematically documented stories of assistance, solidarity, and cooperation between Belarusians and Ukrainians under the dramatic conditions of war.

Through infographics such as “Belarusians are not the regime”, video content, special animations, and interviews with prominent Belarusians and Ukrainians, the campaign provides undeniable evidence of large-scale Belarusian-Ukrainian solidarity.

#StopFakeListapad

A campaign to strip the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad of its accreditation with FIAPF — the International Federation of Film Producers Associations — organized in collaboration with representatives of the film community. An open letter from Belarusian film professionals and direct appeals from the leadership of the Belarusian Council for Culture to the FIAPF president led to a positive outcome (from our perspective).

Listapad, a Belarusian film festival with rich traditions, had its reputation compromised by the authorities due to a politically motivated change in leadership. As a result, it was stripped of its accreditation by this prestigious international organization.

Artists of Victory

Website: artists.byculture.org
Concerts on YouTube

A campaign in support of musicians who, despite the risk of repression in 2020 and beyond, demonstrated their civic stance and inspired Belarusians through their art. As part of the campaign, dozens of concerts took place in Belarus and around the world, a documentary mini-series was filmed, and a media project was launched.

Interviews with musicians, artists, directors, and actors (many of whom ended up in exile), published within the project, reveal the life of the Belarusian creative community before and after 2020. This is a collective portrait against the backdrop of global societal shifts—an attempt by the protagonists to remain true to themselves and build a new life in a world that will never be the same.

#stopBTRС

An international campaign to exclude Belteleradiocompany from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and against the participation of BTRC representatives in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

As a result, the EBU disqualified the official representatives of Belarus for “violating the contest rules,” and BTRC’s membership in the EBU was suspended.

This means that BTRC can no longer hold national selections or broadcast the adult and junior Eurovision contests, as well as air certain sports events. BTRC representatives cannot participate in EBU projects in any capacity or offer their content to the program packages of foreign EBU member channels (72 broadcasters).