‘Only Cupid can shoot Belarusians.’ Tongue-in-cheek fashion brand sells clothes to support protesters
23 September 2020
Text:
Paula Erizanu
Pro-democracy protests in Belarus are now in their seventh week: but any revolution requires its own kit. Which is why @big_belarusian_family have creates DIY flags, t-shirts, and hoodies with symbols to support the demonstrations.
During the protests, demonstrators embraced Belarus’ former red and white flag, which became the country’s emblem after the fall of the USSR. It was later changed for the current Belarusian flag by long-standing dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who chose a design more similar to that of Soviet Belarus — leaving the red and while version to become a symbol of resistance.
As red and white flags ran out in Belarusian shops, @big_belarusian_family began to sew their own, gifting some to 73-year-old protest icon Nina Baginskaya. The team, who want to stay anonymous for their own safety, later upgraded to t-shirts and hoodies. All of the items bear messages from protest placards, including “Only Cupid can shoot Belarusians,” or “They’re filming us for a Netflix show — there’ll be a happy end soon.”
Other imaginative t-shirts include the romantic “I’m looking for a revolutionary”, and a top featuring hashtag #NashaMasha (or “Our Masha”) in honour of opposition leader Maria Kolesnnikova, who tore up her Belarusian passport at the Ukranian border to avoid being forced into exile.
You can order your own t-shirt or hoodie by DM-ing the account.
