Выстава "Un-packing: прабелы ў памяці" , Праца Аляксея Лунёва, фота Аляксандра Васюковіча
Belarusian curator and cultural animator Volha Mzhelskaya spoke about the “Redakcja” project in an interview with Polish magazine Miej Miejsce.
The project is being created by our publication reform.news to support the editorial team. It will also serve as a venue for recording media projects, as well as a stylish pub and a space for cultural events — meetings, debates, book launches and discussions about culture and politics.
The funds raised will help finance the work of the editorial team and journalistic investigations.
“Art, not only Belarusian art, will definitely be present there. There will be space for projects related to freedom of speech and the relationship between art and language,” Volha Mzhielskaya explained.
In an interview with Michalina Sablik, the curator also spoke about the Belarusian art scene, the 2020 protests, emigration and curatorial work between Belarus and Poland.
The interviewees focused in particular on the events of 2020 and changes in public consciousness.
“In 2020, during the protests, people suddenly began taking a mass interest in art,” Volha Mzhelskaya said. “They went to exhibitions, took part in tours and visited artists’ studios. Art became a form of psychological survival.
Culture also played a major role because Belarus has long been going through a process of searching for identity — answers to questions about what the Belarusian people, language and culture are. A new wave of interest in Belarusian roots, history and folk culture followed. At first, I would not yet call this a decolonial turn. It was primarily a protest against Lukashenka’s dictatorship, a regime that systematically weakened everything connected with Belarusian identity while strengthening a pro-Russian orientation. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the emergence of a Belarusian decolonial perspective in art has become clearly visible. Artists today turn to folk motifs or traditions, often doing so with a full awareness of Russian colonialism and the need to restore their own culture.”
The interview can be read here.