The Art-Minsk festival in Minsk has announced its winners. Among them is “Warehouse 2.0” by young artist Tatsiana Ulasavets — a dystopian vision of a consumer society in which there is no place for humans. The painting received the jury’s Grand Prix.
“A hyperrealistic, endless space devoid of human presence unfolds before the viewer, filled with shelves stacked with various parcels,” the artist’s work is described. “They are labeled, marked with barcodes and inscriptions that distinguish them from one another. This is a new world, a new store, where human presence is no longer required to make purchases. Everything here is sterile and impersonal. On the cold floor below lies a crumpled plastic bag — the only element disrupting the system’s flawless order.”
The festival’s top prize winner is only 24 years old. Tatsiana represents a new generation of Belarusian artists. She graduated from Tsvirko Art School and Hlebau College with honors and is currently continuing her studies at the Department of Easel Painting of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. She has participated in group exhibitions, and this year presented her first solo exhibition project at the National Centre for Contemporary Arts. The themes that interest the artist include consumer society and the world of objects.
The audience Grand Prix was awarded to “Still Life with Buns” by Alesia Skarabahataia, a technical hyperrealist painter. Her works have won audience-choice awards for many years in a row.
This year, 235 artists took part in the Art-Minsk festival, almost half as many as in 2020. Applications for participation continue to undergo not only professional evaluation but also censorship screening.
Seventy artists among this year’s participants were represented at the festival for the first time.
The full list of festival winners can be viewed here.
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