Discussion | Belarus: Art During Dictatorship

A panel of artists, curators, critics and activists who will discuss the recent developments in contemporary Belarusian art that have emerged in response to political and economic turmoil, state-initiated mass repression and abuse of human rights. The discussion will focus on artists' courageous positions and contributions to the popular protest movements in Belarus against the dictatorial regime of President Lukashenko, and on the possibilities for individual artists and for communities of artists to act under state repression.

The panel participants are:
-Nelly Bekus, philosopher and cultural critic, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw. Born in Belarus, based in Poland, she holds a PhD in Sociology. She is the author of numerous publications on Belarusian identity, and on media, culture and politics in Belarus and abroad, among them the book The Struggle over Identity. The Official and the Alternative Belarusianness (CEU Press, 2010).
-Sergey Shabohin, artist, editor-in-chief of the portal of contemporary Belarusian art Art Aktivist (www.artaktivist.org). Born and based in Minsk, Belarus, he is currently a curator at Minsk Gallery “Ў”. His works will be presented in the exhibition Sound of Silence: Art During Dictatorship.
-Tatsiana Kulakevich, co-founder of the Belarusian-American Youth Association, which works on democracy and human rights in Belarus. Born in Belarus and currently based in the US, she holds an M.A. in Political Studies from New York University. She has worked for Amnesty International USA in New York and has conducted research as part of the Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences.
-Olga Kopenkina, curator and art critic. Born in Belarus and based in the US, she holds an M.A. in curatorial studies from Bard College. She has curated numerous shows in Belarus, Russia and the US and has published in such periodicals as Moscow Art Magazine, Manifesta Journal, Modern Painters, and Afterimage, as well as in exhibition catalogues and books. She is currently an adjunct professor at the Steinhardt School of Education, New York University. She is the curator of the exhibition Sounds of Silence: Art During Dictatorship.
-The discussion will be moderated by Marek Bartelik, art historian and critic, Vice President of AICA International. Prof. Bartelik holds a PhD in Art History from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has been teaching modern and contemporary art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York since 1996. He has also been a Visiting Professor at Yale and MIT. He has published numerous books and articles, among them The Sculpture of Ursula von Rydingsvard (co-authored with Dore Ashton and Matti Megged; Hudson Hills Press, 1996); To Invent a Garden: The Life and Art of Adja Yunkers (Hudson Hills Press, 2000) and Early Polish Modern Art: Unity in Multiplicity (Manchester University Press, 2005)