Sound of Silence: Art During Dictatorship

January 27—March 10, 2012

Curated by Olga Kopenkina

Project Antibrainwash
Nikita Kadan
Alexander Komarov
Denis Limonov (and group Lime Blossom)
Marina Naprushkina
Ales Pushkin
Sergey Shabohin
Yauheni Shadko
Lena Soulkovskaia
Oleg Yushko
“Fau”

Curated by Belarus-born Olga Kopenkina, this exhibition brings together nine of the most active Belarus artists and collectives, and their videos, posters, paintings and installations created in solidarity with popular protests.

Belarus President Lukashenka usurped governmental control seventeen years ago, and proceeded to turn Belarus, once culturally vibrant and working to reestablish its national identity, into a repressed and stagnant dictatorship. In December, 2010, accusations against falsified presidential elections brought rise to a wave of peaceful protests throughout the country, which were, in turn unmercifully retaliated against by police and government forces.

Artists in Belarus began participating in the fast growing protest movement with new and bold actions that gained recognition throughout Europe despite the government’s efforts to silence them. Today, many of these artists, who came of age under the dictatorship of Lukashenka, use their practice to challenge the status quo and contribute to the democratic movement, which expands far beyond the native land.