Artists with Belarus: Eastern Europe’s creative community stand in solidarity
Image: Dmitrij Jaroshevski or @daemonua
2 September 2020
Text:
Paula Erizanu
As pro-democracy protests in Belarus enter their fourth week, Instagram account @artistswithbelarus is compiling works from Eastern European artists to raise awareness about the country’s use of police brutality against peaceful demonstrations.
Its curator, Lithuanian journalist and communications specialist Urtė Karalaitė, says that she set up the account in an act of international creative solidarity. “I gathered a few Lithuanian artists and illustrators on the first day, so the very first posts were created by them but, in a couple of hours, artists from other countries joined and the initiative has spread fast,” she told The Calvert Journal.
Some of the most powerful pieces displayed by @artistswithbelarus include Estonian artist Richard Sööt’s collage portrait of President Alexander Lukashenko, made from pictures of protests and wounds caused by the Belarusian police forces, and Russian artist Vlad Yashin’s Trigger Warning.
In another show of solidarity with Belarusian protesters, Lithuanians formed a human chain between the capital city Vilnius and the bordertown Medininkai on 23 August.
Protests erupted in Belarus on 9 August, after presidential elections saw long-standing president Lukashenko win another term in office, despite widespread evidence of vote rigging.
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