Belarusians against dictatorship: “I use art because it’s something you can’t erase”

The year of chaos

Alexander Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus ​​since 1994, making him the country’s first and only president. Being known as an extremely corrupt dictator, he also maintains a strong bond with Russia. In his attempt to turn Belarus more into the political direction of Russia, he has repressed the Belarusian identity to an extent where even speaking Belarusian in public is forbidden.

Lukashenko ran for his sixth term as president in 2020, but was challenged by three strong women: Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo. When it was announced that Lukashenko had won the election, Svetlana openly stated that this was not true and that she had in fact received the most votes. She openly called out his corruption and election fraud, and people followed her on to the streets in hope for a better future. The mass protests of 2020 were some of the biggest the country has ever witnessed. Tragically, it resulted in police beatings, mass detentions and the opposition having to flee the country. Lukashenko is still the president today.

Expressing solidarity from exile

Imagine that you are constantly in a deep sleep, and then suddenly you wake up and start to notice your surroundings. Everyone around you is still asleep and pays no attention to their surroundings. This is how Liliya Kvatsabaya describes the moment she woke up to the truth and realised that she had been living under a dictatorship.

Liliya Kvatsabaya is a Belarusian artist, now living abroad, who has used her art to speak out against the repressive regime. In 2020, she found herself amidst the protests. But like many others who were scared of what a future in Belarus would bring, she left. When asked what she misses about Belarus, she mentions the strong sense of community, the food, especially the soups, and the weddings. According to her, Belarusians throw the most fun weddings, where everyone is happy and on the dance floor.

Living hundreds of kilometres away from her home, she felt helpless that she couldn’t be there to support her people anymore. Helpless that she wasn’t standing side by side with them. With a background in painting and graphic design, she started using her art to express her solidarity.

цензура is the Belarusian word for censorship. The picture shows a sad face that cannot speak or open its eyes due to censorship. It reflects the feeling of not being able to speak freely, a feeling many Belarusians have inside of them. The seams are red and green, just like the Belarusian flag. Similar to the flag the country had during the Soviet Union, it’s a propaganda tool used by Lukashenko to promote those times as great.

The goddess of Belarus

A painting that gained popularity during the horrifying events of 2020 was the “Belarusian Venus” by Yana Chernova. Originally from Belarus, Yana went on to study art in Moscow. Her painting refers to Venus, the goddess of fertility, femininity, love and desire. In Yana’s painting, the venus is naked and covered in dark bruises. The goddess stands for the “Belarus is a safe country”-propaganda that Lukashenko is using. The bruises symbolize the beatings and the brutality committed by the Lukashenko regime, especially towards women.

Many women shared pictures of their bodies after being victims of police brutality of the 2020 protest. When Lukashenko was asked about it, he answered: “Well, yes, some people’s backs were black and blue. But today, those bruises are gone.” He further implied that the bruises were fake or painted on, and they hadn’t been there due to aggression - he directly mocked the victims.

Yana herself has pointed out that her paintings are not meant to be beautiful in a decorative sense. They have to touch something inside of people. “My paintings are about truth, about lived experience, about history. They’re about not turning away, but about seeing and acting”, she says. When asked why she uses art as a tool of resilience, she explains that art can never be erased. With her painting of the Belarusian Venus she touched many people and made a name for herself amongst like-minded Belarusians.

Both Yana and Liliya agree that if they were still living in Belarus, they wouldn’t be where they are now. They were both born and raised under dictatorship. There were always rules to follow, things you couldn’t do and topics you couldn’t talk about. The same applies for the art sector.

Preserving Belarusian identity and culture

In order to support Belarusian artists, musicians, writers, publishers and researchers in living out their art and expressing themselves through their artwork, ArtPower Belarus was founded in the year 2022. It is a large-scale programme that supports independent Belarusian artists - both living in and outside the country’s borders - in showcasing their art across Europe. The programme offers educational courses such as art and project management, as well as classes on how grant systems work.

With Russian dominance being present, many have lost their national identity. One of the aims of this programme is for artists to regain this identity, to reconnect with their roots and to preserve Belarusian culture. The overall goal of the programme is to strengthen the role of Belarusian culture as a tool for resilience and transformation. Just as Yana and Liliya have done.

The first edition of ArtPower Belarus went from the end of 2022 until the beginning of 2025. 231 participants had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe to showcase their work, to gain more experience and to conduct research in archives. 140 projects were implemented, of which 36 took place inside of Belarus , where certain security measures had to be met when it came to exhibiting art inside the country.

The programme continues this year and has received over 250 applications. Funded by the European Union, it is a collaboration between the Danish Cultural Institute and the Belarusian Council for Culture. The latter mentioned has been labelled an extremist group by the Belarusian government.

Belarus ≠ freedom

None of the women interviewed for this article live in Belarus anymore, because it is not a country for free people. It is not a country where someone can truly express themselves and still live in freedom. Maryna from the Belarusian Council for Culture said: “We understood that we had to leave, because sooner or later we would all be punished.” While talking about the country’s wonderful art, music and literature, hope was raised that, one day, we will be able to visit.