On the cover: EVERYBODY STRIKE! by Masha Svyatogor (August 2020)

We, cultural workers of Belarus, are deeply shocked and outraged by the events of the last days in our country related to the elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus, and by the huge and unmotivated level of violence and aggression committed by the official authorities and law enforcement agencies against the people of our country. 

The presidential elections held on August 9 were carried out without the participation of independent observers and with multiple recorded cases of irregularities and falsifications during the vote counting. No results were announced to citizens waiting outside many polling stations as electoral commissions quietly left their stations guided by the riot police. The security forces were also seen beating and detaining people who came to see the election results after the polling stations closure.

Starting from August 9, 2020, police and military have been applying an unprecedented level of force and brutality against peaceful citizens. They used specialized equipment, such as rubber bullets, stunning grenades, tear gas, water cannons, etc., as well as physical violence against unarmed people at peaceful rallies, thus violating civil rights guaranteed in accordance with the Article 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. We demand launching an independent investigation into every act of brutality and violence committed by police structures.

As of today, the total number of detained citizens across the country stands at 7000. According to the eyewitnesses, people are held in inhuman conditions: up to 40-50 detainees are placed in cells designed to hold 10. This is especially dangerous and unacceptable in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The detainees are denied access to water, food, hygiene and medical care. Their families and friends are not informed about their location. They do not have access to legal assistance and are handled with physical and mental violence. There are detainees (men, women and teenagers) who didn’t take part in the peaceful protests but were targeted by the police in a random fashion and seized when they passed by on their way from work or walked a dog.

We demand an investigation into these atrocities and malfeasance committed by the law enforcement agencies.

We, the undersigned, cultural workers demand:

1. To stop the acts of violence against civilians and remove the atmosphere of fear from the streets.

2. To release all political prisoners and detainees.

3. To hold new transparent elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus.

4. To provide Belarusian citizens with free access to information and the right to peaceful assembly.

We consider the actions of the law enforcement agencies to be illicit, inadequate and offensive to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, according to which the individual, their rights, freedoms and guarantees for their attainment constitute the main goal and value of the society and the State (article 2 of the Constitution of Republic of Belarus).

Signed,

Signed,

Ekaterina Chekhova-Dasko, artist, illustrator, Belarusian Union of Artists

Alexey Naumenko, artist 

Anna Samarskaya, researcher of the history of Belarusian photography

Elena Naborovskaya, culturologist, curator of art projects 

Olga Mzhelskaya, art manager 

Antonina Stebur, curator, researcher 

Nadezhda Makeeva, artist 

Nadezhda Sayapina, artist

Katsaryna Ramanchyk, manager of cultural projectsў 

Daria Pushko, art critic, lecturer, “Optional” Intellectual Leisure Club

Oksana Gaiko, director, actress, Kryly khalop theater

Anna Smolyakova, artist 

Nastasya Gancharova mastachka 

Igar Gancharuk, photographer 

Maxim Shumilin, photographer 

Alena Protasevich, curator, photographer, Zaire Azgur Memorial Museum-Workshop

Arthur Kamaroўski, paet, performer 

Alena Kazlova, poet, pianoforte 

Vera Kavaleuskaya, curator and editor 

Alina Strelkovskaya, art critic, SeBelorussian Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM)

Ekaterina Smuraga, photographer 

Uladzimir Parfyanok, photographer, curator of exhibition projects, Memorial museum-workshop of Zair Azgur

Anna Loktionova, art manager 

Pavel Kuzyukovich, orchestra artist, Bolshoi Theater of the Republic of Belarus

Alexander Marchenko, director 

Aleksei Borisionok, curator of contemporary art, researcher 

Nikolay Pogranovsky, chief curator, State Institution “Memorial Museum-Workshop of Z. I. Azgur”

Kanstancin Varabei, producer, Maisternya satyyalnaga kino

Alexander Silvanovich, artist 

Vіktoria Varabei, ssenarystka, Maisternya satsyyalnaga kino

Ekaterina Averkova, director 

Sergey Smirnov, pianist, co-founder of Nouvelle Philharmonie

Tatiana Ermashkevich, translator 

Pyotr Vachinsky, Senior Researcher, Z.I. Azgur Memorial Museum-Workshop

Elena Ge, researcher 

Daria Amelkovich, cultural journalist 

Nastya Narunasа, architect 

Dima Tsypkin cellist, co-founder of Nouvelle Philharmonie

Polina Zadreiko, musician, NABT

Olesya Burdina Drama Theater 

Alena Derbina, musician, Republican Music Gymnasium-College at the Belarusian State Academy of Music

Linda Rudenko, cultural manager, Private theater and entertainment institution of culture

Angelica Krashevskaya, Center for Visual and Performing Arts “ART Corporation”

Alexandra Mominova, soloist of the Brest Regional Philharmonic Society of the Belarusian State Academy of Music

Christina Ivantsova, designer 

Aleusandr Lytin, photographer 

Oksana Gerasimyonok, musician 

Dana Antonovich, museum worker 

Taras Tarnalitskiy, journalist

Anna Bergman, Content Manager of Theater Projects, Private Theater and Entertainment Cultural Institution

Marina Dashuk, theater 

Oksana Ryabtseva, teacher, concert singer, international expert Xinan Conservatory, China

Viktoria Kharytonava, photographer 

Anna Balash, artist, Belarusian Union of Artists

Alexey Andreev, editor of the anthology “Monologue”

Alla Savoshevich, artist 

Lyudmila Gromyko, theater critic

Snezhana Makarevich, direction 

Tanya Artsimovich, cultural worker 

Yuri, Yakovenk, artist of the Belarusian Artists Union

Olga Sosnovskaya, artist of the Vienna Academy of Arts

Olga Nadolskaya, cultural manager 

Danil Shayka, journalist 

Ekaterina Shimanovich, set designer

Ekaterina Solodukha, Producer, Independent Theater Company “HomoCosmos”

Alexander Budko, musician, music teacher

Irina Kondratenko, art critic, curator

Maxim Sarychev, artist

Daria Kulsha, theater man 

Elena Gurina, artist

Kristina Tatueva, Legal Adviser, Center for Visual and Performing Arts “ART Corporation”

Tatiana Zaidal, culturologist, ART Corporation

Hanna Yankuta, writer, pianoforte 

Lyubov Demkina, head of the literary section of the Belarusian State Puppet Theater

Nikolay Lavrenyuk, cinema, “Listapad” Film Festival

Irina Demyanova, documentary

Alexey Boreisha, Department of Cultural Affairs, BSU

Nastya Kaminskaya, designer

Andrey Volchyok, actor

Andrey Belsky, head of the theater lighting section

Volga Prankevich, mastachka, mastak-afarmitsel, BDMNAiP Belarusian Dzyarzhauny Museum of People’s Architecture and Life

Anna Chistoserdova, art, gallery of contemporary art “Ў”

Daria Potaturko, director

Palina Khadoryk, smm Kupalausky teatr

Valentina Kiseleva, culture, art, Gallery of Contemporary Art U

Veronika Ivashkevich, artist

Yulia Samoilovskikh, film distribution, Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad”

Elena Sidor, assistant director

Vera Prokhorova, designer

Vasily Burdin, graphic artist, designer

Alexander Veledimovich, photographer, teacher, writer

Kirill Gormash, artist

Sergey Shabohin, artist, curator, editor-in-chief of the portal kalektar.org

Svetlana Smulskaya, candidate of art history, associate professor of the educational institution “BGUKI”

Dmitry Yankov, manager of cultural and social projects

Anya Yakubovich, artist

Evgeniya Tsygankova, art teacher

Natalia Pavlova, assistant director of the State Institution “Brest Academic Theater named after the Lenin Komsomol of Belarus

Iryna Gerasimovich, pioneer

Pavel Pavlyut, actor

Marina Karman, art critic, teacher of the drawing studio

Uladzimir Gramovich, artist

Sofia Sadovskaya, art critic, curator

Olga Romanova, ECLAB culturologist

Anastasia Avraleva, artist

Alesya Zhitkevich, artist

Sasha Stelchenko, director

Natalla Jarnak, culture

Irina Lukashenko, cultural manager, Artonist

Antonina Dubatovka, actress of the National Academic Theater. Yanka Kupala

Uladzimir Paznyak, artist, Academy of Art in Szczecin

Lesya Pchelka, photographer. Manager of cultural projects VEHA

Anna Sokolova, artist

Alexey Lunev, artist

Evgeny Kurilchik, artist-soloist-instrumentalist

Ekaterina Yukhnova, artist-soloist-instrumentalist

Dmitry Khlyavich, choir conductor

Igor Sukmanov, journalist, film critic, program director of the Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad”

Gleb Amankulov, artist

Igor Stakhievich, artist, Artonist

Tamara Basakova, Culture

Svetlana Gaidalenok, theater teacher, Kryly khalop theater

Svyatogor Masha, artist

Leonid Nesteruk, artist

Mikhail Gulin, artist

Antonina Slobodchikova, artist

Olga Kostel, ballet master

Maria Kostyukovich, film festival coordinator, film critic

Anton Sorokin, artist

Tatiana Kilimbet, PR manager

Dmitry Karakutsa, marketing

Svetlana Vladimirovna Zhukovskaya, Assistant Director

Angelina Yarosh, coordinator of the regional film distribution Private theater and entertainment cultural institution

Valentina Pisarenko, art critic

Olga Veselik, violin teacher

Krystsina Drobysh, actress

Igor Avdeev, musician of the symphony orchestra

Zhenya Klyotskin, literature, punk-rock, ex-administrator of the DUK “Leadsky Variety Archestra”

Alesya Belyavets, editorial board, art journalist, magazine “Mastatstva”

Nastassya Zharskaya, library NBB

Alexey Strelnikov, theater critic

Andrei Lyankevich, director of the Month of Photography in Minsk

Elizaveta Buzanovskaya, graphic designer

Uladzislau Mashchanka, artist

Daria Brian (Golovchik), director

Alena Ivanyushenko, playwright

Svetlana Stubeda, lecturer at BSUKI

Tatiana Gavrilova, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus

Alyaksey Saprykin, actor, Belarusian Free Theater, Art Syadziba

Igor Chishchenya, documentary filmmaker

Valeria Lemeshevskaya, artist, editor of a magazine about Belarusian art 

Elizaveta Rusalskaya, illustrator

Ksenia Gunina-Averburg, artist

Bagdan Khmyalnitski, actor, pastor of the Laboratory of the Social Theater

Vlad Khvostov, artist and designer

Elvira Koroleva, international social projects

Katsyaryna Chekatouskaya, playwright, actor of the Laboratory of the Social Theater

Alexander Filippov, ballet dancer BGAMT

Genady Arkhipau, artist / painter

Anna Paley, Head of the Cultural and Educational Platform “Pershy Krok”, Mozyr 

Yanina Zaichanka, artist, performance 

Irina Averina, actress Social Theater Laboratory

Sergey Belookiy, artist of the Belarusian Union of Artists

Georgy Anischenko, musician

Vladimir Bychkov, team leader

Albert Litvin, musician

Daria Sazanovich, artist

Maria Adamchenko, artist (painter)

Maxim Krekotnev, editor of MMAM

Alina Derevyanko, manager of cultural projects, Brest Fortress Development Fund

Ksenia Shtalenkova, writer, State Association of the Belarusian Writers Union

Andrey Pichushkin, artist

Timofey Panin, artist

Olga Khatkovskaya, computer graphics artist

Olga Shparaga, philosopher, contemporary art critic European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus (ECLAB)

Ekaterina (Mara) Tamkovich, director 

Yuri Zverev, musician

Evgenia Balakireva, student of BSAI

Yana Alekseenko, director

Olga Tereshonok, teacher

Anna Shevchik, designer

Olga Buravleva, director of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus

Alexander Adamov, artist

Ekaterina Maylychka, artist

Irina Zdanevich, interface design

Dmitry Kutuzov, designer, master of art history

Anton Klepke, publisher of children’s books

Yana Sycheva, DPI

Valentina Moroz, director, theater teacher EKLAB Social Theater Laboratory, head of concentration EKLAB Theater

Konstantin Selikhanov, artist

Svyatlana Barankoўskaya, artist

Svetlana Slynko, accountant

Irina Polamorenko, clownery

Elizaveta Mikhalchuk, art critic, curator

Ganna Panyutsich, artist

Yana Romanovskaya, artist, designer

Andrei Sagchanka, teatr, adukatsya, cinema Tuteyshy teatr

Alexey Lukyanchikov, sound engineer

Anna Silivonchik, artist

Vasily Peshkun, artist

Evgeny Sivakov, musician

Sergey Semyonov, musician, teacher

Andrey Anro, artist

Vasilisa Polyanina, artist

Valeria Fomina, accountant State institution “Memorial museum-workshop of Z.I. Azgura “

Ekaterina Muravitskaya, museum

Lyudmila Rolich, artist

Ivan Semiletov, artist Union of artists

Renata Stepanova, designer

Evgeny Shimanovich, musician

Pavel Khailo, artist (Ukraine)

Elena Chepeleva, artist, ceramist, sculptor

Olga Kopenkina, curator, art critic

Valentina Pravdina, set designer, theater production designer.

Ekaterina Vysotskaya, UI / UX Designer

Victoria Shkorova, art teacher 

Marina Makarova, designer

Sergey Ashukha, artist

Alesya Murlina, artist, sculptor

Margarita Trukhova, draftsman

Arthur Kirel, artist

Anastasia Bulak, watercolor artist 

Julia Babkina, designer

Andrey Chesnokov, executive producer

Lydia Pogodina, student

Vera Odyn, architect

Maria Belorusskaya, musician

Roman Aksenov, artist

Andrei Kalavur, Specialist in Marketing of the National Mastats Museum of the Republic of Belarus

Vialeta Sagchyts, media

Dmitry Klechko, education

Viktor Kopytko, composer

Alexandra Karnazhitskaya, set designer

Svetlana Golubovskaya, musician

Oksana Bogdanova, Director of the Memorial Museum-Workshop of Z.I. Azgura

Sophia Saprykina, doctor

Alisa Prokhorova, art critic

Dar’ya Buneeva, artist

Daria Lebedeva, clothing designer

Olga Korol, craftsman

Natalia Dashko, designer

Dmitry Skovoronsky, accompanist of the theater studio

Natalia Matsevilo, employee

Ekaterina Andreevna, designer

Raisa Borushko, Artisan

Valentina Pravdina, set designer

Christina Khramaya, painting

Alena Gil, artist

Evgeniya Lettskaya, housewife

Elena Yankovich, designer

Lida Nalienka, literary editorial board, pioneer 

LyubovSretenskaya, artist

Polina Tishina, art

Victor Dovnar, artist BGTHI

Raman Tratsiuk, artist

Anna Plashchinskaya, craftsman

Olga Kirillova, pianist of the Academy of Music

Maria Lazarchuk, designer

Julia Arestova, office worker

Olga Bubich, art critic

Victoria Pozdnyakova, student

Galina Romanova, artist

Olga Nikolaevskaya, theater manager “MusicLand” theater company

Dmitry Kashtalyan, artist, graphic artist, illustrator

Katerina Sinichenko, designer

Dzmitry Padbyarezski, journalist of the watch “Mastatstva”

Marina Napruschkina, artist

Polina Pitkevich, actress, ECLAB Social Theater Laboratory

Aliaxey Talstou, artist, writer

Valeria Fomina, accountant State institution “Memorial museum-workshop of Z.I. Azgura “

Olga Gritsaeva, artist of the theater BGMT (Minsk) BSH

Ekaterina Starkova, artist

Alexandra Galenko, artist

Alexey Okunev, music

Olga Anisko, art critic

Elizaveta Mikhadyuk, illustrator

Andrey Ivanov, playwright

Ekaterina Orabey, art critic

Olga Buik, graphic designer at the State Central Library Service Grodno Department of Culture and Ideology

Alexandra Lyogenkaya, director of an amateur group, teacher of acting at a private theater school

Olga Remenitsa, librarian

Lina Bulygo, cultural manager

Andrei Gancharoў, design, theatrical porch

Dangolya Rosickaite, Director

Diana Betsun, artist-designer, animation

Elena Perovskaya, theater worker

Daria Parfenenko, Museum Researcher

Marina Derkach, theater worker

Elena Tsvetaeva, contemporary art

Vladimir Feschenko, Research Fellow, Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences

Tatiana Kachan, artist

Valeria Didenko, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art

Kirill Khlopov, artist 

Evgeny Sivakov, musician

Tatyana Karpacheva, artist

Dar’ya Kulikova, monster

Alisa Fursevich, specialist in educational process support

Natalia Ivanova, editor

Ilona Dergach, curator

Zhanna Gladko, artist

Andrey Korolevich, cinematographer

Natalia Ivanova, cinematographer

Marya Badzey, kaardinatar praekta wir.by

Yulia Vorik, actress, theater projects manager

Julia Shatun, cinema

Natalia Baraboshkina, screenwriter

Polina Butko, site editor. BGAI student sound engineering

Lyudmila Perepechko, film studio “Belarusfilm”

Ksenia Myalik, filmmaking Member of the Union of Cinematographers, student of the St. Petersburg Film School of Television

Marya Rudzyankova, nastanitsa School of craftsmanship

Alexander Svishchenkov, director

Elizaveta Dubinchina, illustrator

Daria Volkovets, actress Theater “Na Nemig”

Artyom Busel, film and TV sound engineer

Alyaksey Busel, sound engineer at Palace of Republic 

Anastasia Vyaznikova, artist

Ekaterina Tarasova, director, producer

Palina Kuranovich, researcher at BDMNAiP

Vyacheslav Kruk, sound engineer

Andrei Klyutchenya, film art National film studio “Belarusfilm”

Andrey Sheromov, sound technician

Natalya Khalanskaya, organization of events, time-club “1387”, Bobruisk

Nadezhda Abramchuk, director

Ulyana Khripko, artist

Andrey Sheromov, sound engineer

Natalia Oleinik, librarian of the Borisov Central Regional Library named after I.Kh. Kolodeev

Pavel Oleinik, Methodist of the Borisov Central Regional Library named after I.Kh. Kolodeev

Alexander Krasheninnikov, deputy manager of the RE:PUBLIC club

Camilla Harutyunyan, student, former employee of the contemporary art gallery

Diana Levdanskaya, design

Sergey Mikhalenko, Chairman of the Union of Photographers of Belarus

Andrey Steburako, designer

Vyacheslav Abramtsev, screenwriter, playwright

Natalia Podvitskaya, actress

Marya Maroz, artist

Andrey Kudinenko, film director Belarusian Union of Cinematographers

Irina Brizhis, artist, animator

Anastasia Kardash, theater

Sergey Babenko, cultural worker

Vladimir Rimkevich, artist

Angelica Mnatsakanyan, English teacher

Alla Kurkul, cinema

Rustam Agayev, radio

Ekaterina Kliots, graphic artist

Yana Shklyarskaya, art critic, Darwin Museum

Larisa Pavlova, craftsman

Baranko Svyatlana, artist

Anastasia Sokolovskaya, illustrator

Sergey Oganov, sculptor, member of the Union of Artists of the Republic of Belarus 

Genik Loika, sculptor

Alexander Prokhorov, artist-sculptor

Denis Kondratyev, artist-sculptor

Anastasia Timchenko, artist of the Moscow State Chemical Combine A. K. Glebova

Zhanna Morozova, DPI

Ganna Komar, poet, translator

Lyudmila Skitovich, stage designer

Alexander Zimenko, art critic, Center for Fine and Media Arts “New Cultural Initiative”

Yuri Solomonov, theater designer

Anton Kolyago, film critic

Viktar Starukhin, artist

Renata Stepanova, designer

Alexandra Grakhovskaya, conductor

Sergey Stets, musician

Anastasia Khaminova, education

Dina Danilovich, curator, photographer

Valentina Kolesnikova, artist, craftsman

Marta Shmatava, BSM artist

Tatiana Kondratenko, artist BSAA

Maria Chernykh, costume designer

Anna Romanova, art critic, independent curator

Anastasia Nemchikova, film critic

Anna Savchenko, film director

Dina Zhuk, artist

Nikolay Spesivtsev, artist

Irina Doinikova, museum worker

Evgeniya Yesko, museum worker, researcher

Alessandra Pomarico, curator, author, teacher, Free Home University, Italy

Nikolay Oleinikov, artist Chto Delat, curator of Free Home University, musician group Arkady Kots

Kirill Medvedev, poet, translator, musician, group Arkady Kots

Oleg Zhuravlev, sociologist, musician group Arkady Kots

Anna Petrovich, sound engineer, musician, group Arkady Kots

Dmitry Vilensky, artist, Chto Delat group

Olga Tsaplya Egorova, artist, Chto Delat group

Nina Gasteva, dance artist, Chto Delat group

Alesya Arabey, museum worker, National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus

Lyubo Lappo, MA (Sociology of art) the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw

Ivan Streltsov, critic and editor of Spectate.ru

Andrey Polupanov, director, trainer, head of the Social Cinema Workshop, Andrey Polupanov Film School-Studio

Yulia Chernyavskaya, professor

Vyacheslav Sashcheko, teacher, director

Anastasia Shchitzova, lecturer at BSUCA

Alyaksandr Zimnitski, senior researcher, Belarusian National History and Culture Museum

Gennady Fomin, lecturer at BSUCA

Ella Levanova, culture

Dmitry Matuizo, BSUCA teacher, musician

Elina Dmitrieva, culture

Antonina Shchastlivaya, artist

Olga Tereshonok, lecturer of BSUCA

Maria Fomenko, manager of the Plastforma Festival

Natalia Ponomareva, artist

Alexey Loiko, Belarusian National History and Culture Museum

Anna Stalmakh, teacher

Viktor Lobkovich, producer

Alyaksandra Ignatovich

Yanina Rashchinskaya, director

Dmitry Lonsky, sound engineer

Yury Butsko, montage specialist

Valeria Mandrik, screenwriter

Ekaterina Romashko, National Film Studio Belarusfilm

Nadezhda Kolesova, make-up artist

Alana Ivory, director

Alexandra Butor, film director

Olga Zharikova, teacher of cultural studies

Vitaly Shchutsky, sociologist, researcher, art critic

Viktar Vasilenya, head of the fol music ensemble, BSPU named after M. Tank

Elena Vorobyova, artist

Aleksandr Zamkouski, theater

Andrei Vylinsky, translator, Yanka Kupala National Academic Theater

Pavel Niakhayeu, musician, lecturer, translator

Alena Moshhenok, art critic, senior researcher at the Belarus National Arts Museum

Alexander Kozlov, actor

Grigory Khoroneko, musician, member of the Union of Musicians of the Republic of Belarus

Anna Malinovskaya, culture

Alexandra Galak, art manager, National Center for Contemporary Arts of the Republic of Belarus

Irina Skizhenok, museum employee

Pavel Vasiliev, artist

Denis Khvorostov, National Center for Contemporary Arts of the Republic of Belarus

Nikolay Mikhailov, lecturer of BSUCA, choreography department

Ilya Malafei, Cultural Researcher

Olga Matusevich, artist

Volga Vishneva, exhibition activities

Zmіtser Vishnyo, writer, artist

Nadezhda Evseeva, casting director

Andrei Dureika, artist

Kristina Baranova, production designer

Hanna Zubkova, artist

Maria Belkovich, playwright

Inga Lindarenka, cultural manager

Denis Romanovski, artist

Natali Sazanovich, head of the folk ensemble “Gamanina” of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics

An updated list of signatories can be found here