Belarusian Artists in Exile Discuss Protest Art, Migration, and Cultural Memory in ARTMargins Dialogue
In October 2024, Belarusian artists Lesia Pcholka and Uladzimir Hramovich, currently residing in Berlin, engaged in a Zoom conversation with researcher Sasha Razor as part of ARTMargins Online's 25th anniversary series. They reflected on their experiences during the 2020 protests in Belarus, their subsequent exile, and the impact of political repression. Both were arrested in early 2021 due to a protest, with Hramovich spending fifteen days in jail. They departed Belarus in spring 2021, transitioning through various residencies before settling in Berlin in 2022. Their artistic approaches shifted; Pcholka focused on documenting protests, while Hramovich concentrated on public art. They showcased their work, including the project By Law, at the 2022 Venice Biennale and in Poland, discussing the psychological effects of displacement and their interactions with Russian artists.
Key facts
- ARTMargins Online published a dialogue with Belarusian artists Lesia Pcholka and Uladzimir Hramovich on December 23, 2024.
- The artists were detained in early 2021 for protest actions during Belarusian political unrest, leading to exile.
- They arrived in Berlin in 2022 after residencies in Ukraine, Poland, and Georgia.
- Both participated in the 2022 Venice Biennale's Yiddishland Pavilion and European Pavilion.
- Hramovich's project focused on Jewish figures Hirsh Lekert and Abram Brazer, addressing erased histories.
- Pcholka's installation Heimat (2022) was inspired by volunteering at the Polish-Ukrainian border.
- Their collaborative work By Law, exhibited in Gdynia and Berlin, uses legal documents on silk to explore refugee bureaucracy.
- The conversation was conducted via Zoom in October 2024 and translated by Sasha Razor.
Entities
Artists
- Sasha Razor
- Lesia Pcholka
- Uladzimir Hramovich
- Yevgeniy Fiks
- Maria Veits
- Jana Shostak
- Arseny Zhilyaev
- Zofia Nierodzińska
- Hirsh Lekert
- Abram Brazer
- Milan Kundera
Institutions
- ARTMargins Online
- Venice Biennale
- Yiddishland Pavilion
- European Pavilion
- Gdańsk City Gallery
- Museum of Migration in Gdynia
- Bund Party
Locations
- Los Angeles
- Berlin
- Belarus
- Ukraine
- Poland
- Georgia
- Vilnius
- Minsk
- Paris
- London
- Gdynia
- Switzerland