PerspAKTIV Final Art + Alumni + Networking-Event
Belarus as a Global Case: Art and Activism in Conditions of Risk
April 11, 2025 - April 25, 2025
PerspAKTIV
Authoritarian regimes are becoming more prevalent, and the number of artists who face the necessity of creating art under the risk of political or other forms of repression is growing around the world. In recent years, Belarus has become a symbol of the fight for freedom and human rights, and its artistic community, largely in exile after the events of 2020, serves as an excellent example for studying global trends related to artists at risk.
The PerspAKTIV event aims to showcase Belarusian contemporary art and to highlight the current Belarusian context as an example of the complex realities faced by cultural figures under political repression and forced migration. The event will not only discuss and reveal the challenges Belarusian artists face in conditions of political and social exile, but also explore the opportunities for artistic development and international integration, showing the positive perspective of art as a tool of adaptation and self-expression in new circumstances.
The program includes an exhibition of Belarusian contemporary art, concerts, performances, discussions and workshops.
The event is the Final Art + Alumni + Networking-Event of the residency project PerspAKTIV, implemented by RAZAM, Ambasada Kultury and Galeria Miejska Arsenał and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, that has been launched in 2022 and has grown to a network of 33 cultural institutions in Germany and Poland supporting repressed Belarusian artists and cultural workers.
PerspAKTIV invites all those interested in the topic of ‘artists at risk’ to come and engage in dialogue, profit from the network's expertise, hear our alumni, and - most important - delve into the varied manifestations of Belarusian contemporary art presented during the event.
PROGRAM
April 11, 2025
Location 1: Ballhaus Prinzenallee, Prinzenallee 33, 13359 Berlin
11:15 Opening & PerspAKTIV in words, numbers and moving images
12:00 Panel discussion - Residencies as a remedy for artists-at-risk?
Location 2: Hotel Continental - Art Space in Exile, Elsenstr. 87, 12435 Berlin
17:00 Opening of collective exhibition “КРОПКА СХОДУ / VANISHING POINT” with participation of PerspAKTIV Alumni
18:00 Curatorial tour
19:00 “Rimma and me" dance project
April 12, 2025
Location 1: Ballhaus Prinzenallee, Prinzenallee 33, 13359 Berlin
17:00 Performance
19:00 Concert of “WTBSK”
A project by singer-poet Sveta Ben and electronic musician Sergey Novitsky, blending experimental electronics, trip-hop, psychedelics, noise guitars, trance and techno with piercing, visceral lyrics.
20.00 Madmapper (live techno, hypnotic)
April 11 – April 25, 2025
Collective exhibition КРОПКА СХОДУ / VANISHING POINT
Participants: Sergei Belaoki, Aliaksandr Belsky, Rasalina Busel, Aliaksandr Kot-Zaitsau, Volha Savich, Varvara Sudnik (anonymously), Sasha Velichko
Curators: Volha Arkhipova, Ewelina Muraszkiewicz
Vernissage: 11.04.2025, 5 pm
Opening hours: Wednesday-Friday 16-18, Saturday-Sunday 16-20
Hotel Continental - Art Space in Exile
Elsenstraße 87, 12435 Berlin
Exhibition curator Volha Arkhipova:
“The presented exhibition is part of an ongoing movement shaping Belarusian art abroad. Artists from Belarus have the opportunity to express themselves within the international creative scene. Their personal experiences, shaped by difficult social and political conditions, are reflected in different forms of art—ranging from traditional and classical to conceptual and experimental. Each artist tells their own story, touching on themes that are understandable to everyone.
These themes include understanding, protest, borders, war, prison, and home. At the same time, they show how these ideas are not fixed—they can change, take on new meanings, or even turn into their opposites. Art not only makes us think about these things but also helps us find ways to move forward, showing the audience how to navigate a world where meanings seem lost.
This is why the exhibition is called "Vanishing point" — it’s about finding the place where different ideas and experiences meet. What do artists discover in this process? What images and meanings do they create? Questions of identity and belonging don’t have simple answers, because this is a living, ongoing process—a process of solidarity and resilience.
Арыгінальны тэкст на беларускай мове:
Прадстаўленая экспазіцыя з'яўляецца часткай сучаснага руху, які адбываецца з беларускім мастацтвам за мяжой. Мастакі з Беларусі адтрымалі магчымасць выказвання ў межах міжнароднага творчага працэсу. Індывідуальны досьвед, які сфарміраваўся ў цяжкіх сацыяльных і грамадскіх умовах, праз розныя формы творчасці: ад класічных і традыцыйных да канцэптуальных і наваторскіх, па-свойму распавядае і прадстаўляе зразумелыя кожнаму тэмы. Гэта тэмы паразумення, пратэсту, памежжа, вайны, турмы і дома, і тым жа часам, умоўнасць гэтых тэм, прыклад таго, як устойлівыя паняцці зменьваюць сваю сутнасць і ператвараюцца ў сваю супрацлегласць. Мастацтва ня толькі прымушае нас думаць пра гэта, але і знаходзіць шляхі ратавання, паказвае гледачу, як магчыма адшукаць гэтыя арыентыры ва ўмовах страчаных сэнсаў. Адсюль і назва выставы “Кропка сходу” ‒ пошук таго месца, дзе сыходзяцца розныя накірункі і вынікі, месца даследвання. Якія намаганні прыкладваюць мастакі і якія знаходзяць вобразы ў гэтым асяродзі. Разважанні пра самаідэнтыфікацыю і змест ствараюць больш пытанняў, чым адказаў, бо гэта заўсёды жывы працэс, працэс салідарнасці і ўстойлівасці)
SIDE EVENTS EXHIBITION
Hotel Continental - Art Space in Exile
Elsenstraße 87, 12435 Berlin
April 13, 2025
2 pm - 4 pm Workshop with Aliaksandr Belsky on Mosaic techniques (this workshop will be held in German and Russian languages).
April 18, 2025
2 pm - 4 pm MOURNING MORNING / Crepe paper flowers workshop led by Rozalina Busel (this workshop will be held in English).
April 24, 2025 - Finissage
18 pm Artist talk with Sasha Velichko (English)