Artists take down exhibition in Vitebsk over censored painting :: Charter'97 :: News

In a move to display solidarity with a painter whose work was barred from an exhibition in Vitebsk, fellow artists have taken down all paintings displayed at the city’s Contemporary Art Center.

The exhibition showcased works by 25 prominent artists painted during last year’s ten-day plein-air session in the birthplace of the late world-famous writer Vasil Bykov in northern Belarus, Vadim Borshchevsky of the Yazep Drazdovich educational center told BelaPAN.

The next day after the exhibition was opened, the director of the Contemporary Art Center directed that a portrait of Bykov by Ales Pushkin, an artist well-known for his anti-government views, should be taken down.

The painting in question shows the writer standing amid birch trees with indistinct figures of riot policemen surrounding civilians behind, according to Mr. Borshchevsky.

“We discovered that the painting was absent on Wednesday,” he said. “We were not given clear explanations. That’s why, artists Ales Marochkin and Mikhail Levkovich, and me started making phone calls to the artists whose paintings were displayed. The painters arrived at a joint decision to take down all works later that day.”

“It’s a pity that many people failed to see the exhibition,” Mr. Borshchevsky said. “It was probably one of the best art exhibitions hosted by Vitebsk over the last few years.”

“There is no politics in it but mere moral and ethical considerations. The artists just felt sorry for the fellow painter and decided not to leave him alone in this kind of situation. What a shame that this happened in Vitebsk, a city which Bykov was very much fond of and which is regarded by many as Belarus’ cultural capital. It’s clear that Vitebsk officials need neither Bykov nor art as such,” the activist stressed.

Valentina Kirillova, director of the exhibition center, played down the scandal. “We hosted many one-day exhibitions last year. This one was held for five days. We arranged with the artists that the exhibition would head to Minsk, that’s why they took down their paintings,” Ms. Kirillova said.