The exhibition #FramedinBelarus:Towards Solidarity will be held in Hamar, Norway, from August 24 to October 6.
«The main works that will be presented there are embroideries with the stories of political prisoners», – says the creator of the socio-artistic project #FramedinBelarus, Belarusian artist Rufina Bazlova.Rufina Bazlova.
Rufina Bazlova. Photo by Monika von Bernuth
«The main message is solidarity»
«I have been working on the project since 2021, – says Rufina. – I create schemes depicting the stories of political prisoners, and then I invite people from all over the world to embroider these stories of destinies on fabrics. Now we have already collected an archive of 550 ready-made embroideries: after we work with this material, make presentations, exhibitions. The main message is of course solidarity. It is very important not to forget about our martyrs behind bars: this unity and support is important for us and for them», – the artist shares her thoughts.
Photo by Lukas Cetera
The interlocutor says that the gallery consists of several rooms, and each of them will represent a specific installation. According to Rufina Bazlova, one room will be completely dedicated to Vitold Ashurak, who died in the Shklov prison.
On the embroideries you will be able to see political prisoners Aliaksandr Franzkevich, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Ihar Alinevich, Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, Eduard Babaryka, Kim Samusenka, Andrey Chapiuk, Marfa Rabkova, Ales Bialiatsky, Maria Kalesnikava, Paval Seviarynets, Uladzimir Kniha, Volha Zalatar and others.
Photo by Lukas Cetera
«So that the topic of political prisoners does not leave the agenda»
«Many tragic and dramatic events happen in the world every day, society – both Belarusian and Western – is tired of difficult news and to some extent wants to abstract from it, – the creator continues. – But I'm sure that we must stubbornly continue to do our work, to help ensure that the topic of Belarusian political prisoners and repression in Belarus does not leave the agenda».«For foreigners, it is also a source of education: often they do not know anything about Belarus at all, and through such events they discover our country for themselves», – shares Rufina Bazlova her observations.
1967-2023
«The specificity of this project is also that when a person embroiders, he spends 20-30 hours on this work, that is, alone with the history of a particular person. And the political prisoner from a stranger turn into a very close one for the embroiderer. Therefore, it is about rapprochement, and about spiritual unity, and about time. On the one hand, about the time a political prisoner spends behind bars. But for the embroiderer, it is a symbolic sacrifice of his time to a person behind bars, time to think, analyze and understand certain things. In other words, this is a time for reflection, a certain moment of truth», – says the artist.
Photo by Lukas Cetera
Rufina mentions a woman from Canada who embroidered the story of the political prisoner Uladzimir Kniha on the pillowcase of her Belarusian grandmother. «This is the connection of times. And to the date «1967» embroidered by the grandmother, another one – «2023» – has now been added. It's all very emotional and touching. In this way the stories and fates of political prisoners and participants are intertwined in the project», – adds the creator of the project.
Photo by Lukas Cetera
The Belarusian artist expresses her hope that the news of solidarity will break through to political prisoners behind bars: «But in any case, our work is not in vain. We recently met a former political prisoner and gave him the contact of a person from France who was embroidering his story. The guy was very touched, moved. Therefore, what we are doing is, in one way or another, necessary».
To some extent embroidering the stories of political prisoners is also a record of the recent history of Belarus. This is not only solidarity, but also an important contribution to Belarusian culture, sums up Rufina Bazlova.
The exhibition #FramedinBelarus:Towards Solidarity will be held from August 24 to October 6 at Parkgata 21, Hamar, Norway.
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