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Belarus — the third sector. People. Culture. Language VIOLATION OF CULTURAL RIGHTS IN BELARUS Alena Areshka
The violation of culture-related human rights is
widespread and frequent in Belarus. It is generally
known that human rights are protected both on the
international and national levels. International human rights standards are developed. Individual
countries then bring their legislation in line with
those international standards. The Republic of
Belarus declares that all its legislative acts conform
with the basic provisions of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights under which every person has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
(Art. 18). The Republic of Belarus ratified the International Pact on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights. Under Article 15 of the Pact every person has the
right to participate in cultural life, use the achievements of scientific progress and its practical applications, the protection of their moral and material
interests that may appear in relation to any scientific,
literary, or artistic work. Every participant country in
the Pact is to respect freedom that is unconditionally
necessary for scientific research or creative work,
and acknowledge the benefits of developing and encouraging international contacts and co-operation in
science and culture. On the national level, Belarus
has brought its laws in line with international standards. Thus, according to the Belarusian constitution, every citizen of Belarus has the right to education (Art. 48); to retain their ethnic identity, to
use their mother tongue, to choose a language for
communicating with other people (Art. 50); the right
to freedom of artistic, scientific or technical creativity
and teaching (Art. 51). Moreover, every citizen is
guaranteed freedom of thought, opinion and free expression (Art. 33); while censorship as well as the
monopolisation of the mass media by the state,
non-governmental associations or individuals are
not allowed (Art. 33).
In reality, however, all these rights are highly limited
by various legal acts that essentially regulate culture-related issues. Since 1997, the freedom to
publish has become dependent on a number of provisions.
For instance, the resolution of the State Press
Committee issued on 21 May 1997 to establish principles
for issuing and using publishing licences has ipso
facto strongly limited freedom of publishing due to
the very need to obtain a licence from the state. In order
to obtain a licence, a full-time employee of the applying
publishing house (with a related degree and at
least three years of work experience in the publishing
business) has to pass a qualification test. Andrey
Fyadorchanka, an expert publisher of the Humanitarian
Foundation “N asha Niva,” who met all of the
above-mentioned requirements, failed the qualification
test in late 1997. He was unofficially informed that
he would never pass the examination because he belonged to a publishing house that printed independent
literature. Indeed, after the authorities suspended
all publishing licences on 1 December 1998, most of
the independent printers failed to renew them and
have since placed orders elsewhere (including foreign
publishers). As a result, publishing costs borne by
Belarusian NGOs increased.
Similarly, the resolution on the state registration
(re-registration) of political parties, trade unions and
other non-governmental organisations stated that after
the year 2000, all parties, unions and organisations have to register (or re-register) within a certain
period of time. The time limitation and multitude of
minute formalities allow the authorities to selectively
choose the NGOs it will (re)register. The Justice Department
of the Minsk City Executive Committee denied registration to the non-governmental
association “Cultural Contact” on 7 February 2000 on
the pretext that its statutes contradicted legal requirements. A second attempt to register, after the
statutes had been adjusted with respect to the necessary formalities, also failed on the same grounds.
Members of “Cultural Contact” were informed by an
employee of the Justice Department that an order
came down “from above” not to register the association that had spontaneously staged a series of
large-scale international non-governmental activities
including the “Minsk Spring 2000” International
Theatre and Music Festival. Therefore, despite the
fact that Belarus has ratified international documents
that impose certain obligations, and national legislation conforms to international standards, the state violates human rights in the sphere of culture.
Consequently, the cultural originality and independence of this European nation is being abolished and
conditions are being created for the elimination of its
identity. The mass of legal acts, their subjective interpretation and the lack of appropriate opportunities
for redress to an independent court authority make
the activity of many artists and non-governmental
cultural institutions semi-legal.
Other than applying pressure by legal means, the
present authorities frequently use other prohibited
methods. For example, the government censors or
bans selected books, periodicals, art exhibitions and
films by issuing a spoken order or through a telephone call. Occasionally, the governing bodies of
creative associations are forced to issue those bans.
It should be kept in mind that due to the lack of national
business circles that could sponsor domestic
cultural activity, all such associations are fully dependent on the state budget. It should also be noted
that incomes in the field of culture are among the
lowest in the country. The grounds for issuing a ban
can also be a subjective interpretation of Article 24 of
the Law on Culture: “It is prohibited to distribute
works that call for the violent dismantling or changing of the constitutional state order, promote war, violence, and cruelty; racial, national, or religious
hatred, or pornography.” Another method of suppressing cultural life independent of the state is the
creation of unbearable economic conditions for publishers and galleries that are taxed as regular commercial enterprises. Over the past five years, some
nationally well-known art galleries have disappeared, including “Shostaya Liniya” (The Sixth Line),
“Kawcheg” (The Ark), and “Alter Ego” in Minsk and
“Zyalyony Dom” (Green House) in Homel. As a result,
cultural figures that are trying to retain creative
independence and a civic conscience are being
forced out of cultural life. Many have had to temporarily or permanently leave the country. Vasil Bykau
and Svyatlana Aleksiyevich are two examples of artists who have had to emigrate in order to live and
work. The scale of artists emigrating from the country, especially young artists, is frighteningly large.
The regime has also increased pressure on academic
and university freedoms — freedoms that Europe
has cultivated for centuries. This is evidenced
by the fact that rectors of higher educational institutions are appointed not on the basis of qualifications
but on the basis of loyalty to the government. The
curricula of higher and secondary schools are forced
to follow the ideological provisions of the
Lukashenka regime. Textbooks written during the
first years after Belarus declared its independence
were virtually banned and abolished a few years ago.
They have been replaced with “new” textbooks in
which old Soviet dogmas are restored and imperialist ideas of “Slavic unity” predominate. These essentially racist and fascist ideas adopted by the ruling
regime are disseminated with the assistance of the
state-owned media, forced into the educational system, beautified by a few obedient artists, composers
and writers as well as promoted through state budget-funded festivals.
Current government policy includes the elimination of the Belarusian language (in a country in which
more than 70% of the population is Belarusian). The
native language is being forced out of education, media, science, and the arts. The number of schools in
which the language of instruction is Belarusian has
declined several times during the past four years;
print runs of books are lower; the Belarusian lan -
guage is rarely heard on state-owned radio and TV.
Human rights organisations are noting incidents of
the police arresting and beating people for speaking
Belarusian in the streets. Performances of Belarusian
rock bands who sing about love and freedom in the
native language are being banned (see Appendix)
while pro-fascist Russian rock bands are allowed to
give concerts unhindered.
Censorship is also applied in the theatre and visual arts. The authorities forced the Minsk theatre
“Volnaya Stsena” (Free Stage) to change its name to
the Laboratory Theatre of Belarusian Drama. The
play The Rise of Arthur VI, a work with anti-totalitarian overtones, had to overcome many obstacles in
order to premier. In September 2000 the Belarusian
Ministry of Culture fired Valery Mazynski, the theatre ’s director of plays, and thereby eliminated a renowned Belarusian theatre group despite numerous
appeals to the Ministry in support of Mazynski.
Belarusian visual artists are becoming subject to
stricter regulations. In 1995 and 1996 exhibitions of
the “Pahonya” art group, traditionally held on 25 March (the day the Belarusian Popular Republic declared its independence in 1918) were censored and
some of its works were removed from the exhibition.
In 1997 the exhibition was open to the public for only
two days. In 1998 the organisers only managed to
stage the exhibition in some independent centres in
the provinces.
State-run book publishing houses are subject to
severe censorship. The board of the Belarusian
Encyclopaedia was completely replaced and ideologically
incompatible articles were removed from already
produced and laid-out volumes. The publication of
popular books on history written by independent authors
is hindered (e.g., Whence Our Kin by Uladzimir
Arlow). Entire sections of some historical works (e.g.,
Belarus on Historical Crossroads by American Professor
Jan Zaprudnik) are simply not printed.
1998
DECEMBER
The Minister of Education, Mr. Dylyan, banned
the study of the creative school of Belarusian writers,
including N. Arsenyeva and M. Syadnyow
(Belarusian emigrants to the USA) and the poet L.
Heniush , who had never accepted Soviet citizenship
in the protest against Russia ’s annexation of Belarus.
30 DECEMBER
The newspaper “Svaboda” (Liberty) published
an appeal by the International Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, in which deep concern and indignation was expressed about the fact that the
film director Yury Khashchevatski was beaten up
last December. The appeal also stated that Mr.
Khashchevatski is a famous Belarusian film director
who directed Ordinary President, a documentary
about Aleksander Lukashenka in which the
Belarusian president is portrayed in an unflattering
light. The film was very popular in the world and
won a special prize at the Berlin Film Festival last
year. However, in Belarus Ordinary President was
banned and could be seen only underground. In
December of last year unidentified people broke
into Mr. Khashchevatski’s studio and beat him severely.
The appeal, addressed to president
Lukashenka, stresses that the perpetrators stole
nothing from the studio so the attack was most
likely politically motivated. On behalf of the organisation,
the Executive Director of the Helsinki Committee’s
European Department, Holy Cartner,
demanded the Belarusian president make every effort
to find and punish those responsible. The Helsinki
Committee also called upon president
Lukashenka to allow the public screening of Ordinary President in Belarus.
JANUARY
A group of well-known Belarusian writers visited
the city and region of Harodnya where many
meetings, co-sponsored by the Harodnya Board of
the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) and the Fellowship
of the Belarusian Language, w ere held. However, the administrations in the town of Skidal and
the village of Kaptsewka illegally banned the meetings
in their respective areas.
FEBRUARY
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus upheld the ruling of the Leninski District of Harodnya
and thereby dismissed the claim of Yury Matsko, father
of Agata Matsko who went to a Belarusian-language class in secondary school No 10. When Agata
was transferred to a Russian-language class, her father
demanded that his daughter continue her education in Belarusian. The school administration
refused, and the court supported this decision that
contradicts both the Constitution and the Law on
Languages.
19 FEBRUARY
Uladzimir Plaksa, an employee of the
state-owned enterprise “Be lAeroNavigation,” appealed
to the Belarusian Helsinki Committee seeking
assistance in defending his right to the
unrestricted use of Belarusian as an official language.
“I have been speaking Belarusian for four or
five years. Accordingly, I am drawing up technical
documentation also in Belarusian. Last year I experienced
some pressure from the administration.”
Yury Kladaw, an assistant to the enterprise’s director,
stated that the ban on the Belarusian language
was motivated by the Statutes of IKAO (an international
organisation of countries participating in air navigation). Together with his application, Mr.
Plaksa enclosed a copy of the minutes of a meeting
held by the staff of Minsk Aerodynamic Section of
“BelAeroNavigation” held on 30 June 1997. One of
the items on the meeting’s agenda was Mr.
Kladaw ’s ban on using Belarusian in technical documents
and control communication.
9 APRIL
The Ministry of Culture demanded, among other
things, the stage be redesigned for a play staged by
the “Lipavichki” Puppet Theatre in Harodnya. The
script was written by Uladzimir Halubka and the play
directed by Alyaksey Lyalyawski, the play director of
the Minsk Puppet Theatre. Ministry critics did not like
the decorations (a four-metre high national emblem
towering above a Belarusian village, walls papered
with issues of “Soviet Byelorussia,” the BSSR anthem
played three times through a street loud-speaker in the finale, etc).
22 APRIL
A poster featuring the Belarusian president in a
Napoleon-style hat was censored from an exhibition
of W. Miranenka ’s work in Homel.
23 APRIL
The Co-ordinating Council for the Protection of
National Heritage in the Berastsye Regional Executive Committee compiled a list of the least valuable
historical buildings, which would be subject to demolition. The idea to “clean the towns of the region
from unsightly historical monuments” was advanced
by the committee ’s chairman, Henadz Masko. In his
opinion, many of the state-protected buildings were
an eye sore because there was no money for their
restoration.
30 APRIL
Director Anatol Alay produced a documentary titled
Hastela in the “Letapis” (Chronicle) studio of
“Be larusfilm .” The film attempted to shed light on
the details concerning the mysterious death of the
Soviet era hero and fighter pilot Hastela, who
rammed his plane into an enemy plane. The mystery
deepened when it was discovered during the
pilot’s reburial in 1950 that his grave contained the
remains of other people. According to Alay’s version,
Hastela could have been captured and might
still be alive. The film was produced with state funds
in the “Letapis” studio. The Ministry of Culture did
not pass the film, granted it the status of
“f ilmotheque material” and archived it. The director’s
attempt to convince decision-makers that the
cinematographic investigation should be continued
using government resources was met with resistance
from Minister Alaksandar Sasnowski.
6 MAY
MAY
The police were out in force at the
“Maladzechna-98” music festival. A group of Young
Front members were escorted from the spectators ’
area by police officers, who initially charged five of
the group and subsequently all of Young Front members with offences. The essence of the offence was
that the boys held white balloons with “NRM” 1 written on them with a red marker. The famous singer
Kasia Kamotskaya, a special guest of the festival, was
not allowed to perform.
11 DECEMBER
Minsk-based rock bands NRM, Ulis, and Novaye
Neba were not allowed to perform in the Harodnya
movie theatre Kosmas. After a telephone call from
the City Executive Committee the theatre administration
refused to supply power for the equipment.
1999
FEBRUARY
5 MARCH
A scheduled performance in Berastsye by the
band NRM was cancelled after the club received a
telephone call from the City Executive Committee.
The organisers tried to re-stage the show in a cinema,
but this failed when the police sealed off the building.
5 MAY
Navapolatsk city authorities closed a discotheque run by members of the local branch of Young
Front. The establishment offered records and live
music in the Belarusian language.
JUNE
The Minsk City Executive Committee banned
the ed itorial board o f the newspaper “Belarusian
Youth” to stage the annual rock concert dedicated
to the Belarusian traditional holiday
Kupalle. For the previous five years the concerts
Kupal le wi th the Belarusian Youth had been held
in Gorky Park in dow ntow n Minsk. The first efforts
at disrupting the event occurred as early as in
1995 w hen the city authorit ies cut off electricity to
the stage.
21 JULY
On the last day of Aleksander Lukashenka’s first
term as president, the artist Ales Pushkin pushed a
cart full of manure containing a festive portrait of
Lukashenka, a 1996 referendum poster saying “Requesting
Your Support,” the reinstalled Soviet-style
Belarusian national symbols, new bank notes, handcuffs
and chains and dumped it front of the main entrance
to the presidential administration building.
Pushkin told journalists that the entire performance
had been conceived as a work entitled ‘A Thank-You
to the FPRB2 for His Five Years of Feverishly Hard and
Fruitful Work for the People’. The following November
a court in Minsk found Ales Pushkin guilty of hooliganism
and disrespect to state symbols and
sentenced him to two years in prison (suspended).
28 JULY
The organisers of the “Youth For Belarus” concert were refused permission to stage the event in
the 50th Anniversary of the October Revolution Park
in Minsk. 3 On 19 June the Minsk City Executive Committee did not grant permission to hold a “Youth
against Fascism” meeting and concert on the square
in front of the opera house, and repeated the refusal
on 11 July. Maladzechna officials refused to issue a
permit for a meeting and concert on 27 July dedicated to Independence Day. A concert planned for 1
August in Minsk was also not permitted.
27 AUGUST
During a “Youth for Belarus” concert, organised
by the Belarusian Musical Alternative (BMA) in
Maladzechna, the police detained 30 people including BMA head Vital Supranovich. Some of the detained were fined for “violating public order during
the concert.” The lead singer of Happy Face was
fined for speaking about Lukashenka ’s dictatorship
from the stage.
8 SEPTEMBER
During the international performance festival
“N avinki-99,” 4 the director of the Palace of Arts in Minsk
demanded the “Zhest” theatre stop their performance
(a Belarusian interpretation of the Japanese butoh
dance), because he found it obscene. The director expelled
the audience from the Palace and closed the festival.
Due to the efforts on the part of the organisers,
the festival managed to reopen.
DECEMBER
Ivan Kakhanovich, editor of the youth board of
Belarusian state-owned Radio 1, told the DJs and authors
of the programme “Na Wsyu Mots” (Full
Force), which promoted Belarusian-language rock, that the station ’s director Mr. Yadrantsaw ordered
the programme be taken off the air.
2000
FEBRUARY
World-famous w riter Vasil Bykau left Belarus
for Germany. His departure was motivated by the
campaign of persecution conducted against him
by the authorities through state-ow ned media.
MARCH
The Minsk authorities banned the 25 March
“Pahonya” exhibition in the Palace of Arts (see
above).
MARCH
The Berastsye City Executive Committee banned
the “Mummificator ’s Day” festival that was being organised by the New Front of Arts and planned for 5–6 March in a city club.
MARCH
Leanid Halubovich ’s selection of poems titled
‘Last Poems ’ was published as part of the ‘Library of
Kalosye Magazine ’ series. All state-run publishers refused to publish the book due to the oppositional
content of some poems.
17 MARCH
An installation by Ales Karpovich and Piotr Rusak
entitled ‘Spring-2000 ’ disappeared from the
“Pahonya” exposition in the Palace of Arts in Minsk.
Despite all attempts it was never found. The missing
work of art represented an image resembling the
head of the Belarusian state.
MAY
During the “M insk Spring” International Festival,
the City Executive Committee banned
Belarusian and Polish performers from playing in
front of the “Dze-ya” theatre. The authorities
equated these artistic actions to unauthorised rallies.
The police detained some journalists who photographed
the event as it was being broken up. The
authorities did not allow a press conference to be
held after the festival and threatened to close the
“Reactor” club that hosted rock bands as the name
of one of the Polish bands was “Pidzama Porno”
and the club did not have a licence for male striptease.
16 MAY
The administration of the Talochyn district in the
Vitsebsk region ordered Ales Pushkin’s paintings to be
removed from the district alleging that his art had a
negative influence on the people’s national identity.
The paintings were exhibited in Talochyn’s House of
Culture and the exhibition (attended by young people
from the neighbourhood) was visited by the artist himself
who staged a performance.
MAY
The Minsk City Executive Committee denied the
youth wing of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party
“Popular Gromada” authorisation to hold a reading
of traditional poetry at Kupaly Square in downtown
Minsk. The authorities suggested the event move to
an uptown location.
31 MAY
The Minsk Pershamayski District Court heard the
case filed by TV journalist Yaraslaw Byaklemishaw
against Belarusian TV and Radio. The former host of
a cultural programme directed to youth believed that
he had been unjustly fired. One of Byaklemishaw ’s
programmes had featured Yury Khashchevatski ,
which became the reason for the journalist ’s dismissal on the grounds of “severely violating the order of preparing and broadcasting a television
programme.”
1 JULY
The Minister of Culture sent a letter to the director
of the National Theatre of Belarusian Drama stating
that the ministry found it inappropriate to prolong a
contract with V. Y. Mazynski, the theatre ’s art director since its founding. The theatre, once called
“Volnaya Stsena” (Free Stage), lost its freedom-associated name due to actions by the mnistry. Mazynski had previously had problems with the ministry involving ‘The Career of Arthur VI’ by Bertold Brecht.
Perhaps, the cause for Mazynski ’s dismissal was his
staging of ‘Prince Mamabuk ’ by Belarusian playwright Dudaraw — a play in which the officials see allusions to president Lukashenka.
SEPTEMBER
The Minister of Culture appoints Valery Anisenka
Art Director of the National Theatre of Belarusian Drama
to replace Valery Mazynski. Most of the troop had left
together with Mazynski. The theatre began to recruit,
under the threat of expulsion, students of the Culture
University’s Directing Department headed by Anisenka.
23 SEPTEMBER
The Harodnya City Executive Committee banned
the first graffiti festival in the Park of Culture and Recreation.
The festival was expected to attract 300
young people and special boards were specifically
prepared for the event.
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
During the exhib ition of Uladzimir Bazan‘s photographs
entitled ‘The Vi tsebsk Courier — the
Chronicles of a Newspaper Column,’ the Vitsebsk
Regional Museum removed some of the photographs
without the author’s consent. The museum
administration explained that the these photographs
did not fall in line with the policy of the museum
as a state institution. The discarded
photographs pictured opposition activists, rallies
and protest actions.
3 NOVEMBER
Students of the Belarusian Academy of Arts
held a picket outside the academy build ing under
the banner “Student. Artist. Pauper.” Their fliers
stated that the academy administration eliminated
its world -famous graphics chamber for its lack of
materials and conditions for students to work. The
picket had not been authorised by the Minsk City
Executive Committee although the organisers had
filed their application in advance as required. The
police filmed the protesters with a video camera.
Henadz Rudovich, deputy head of the Interior Department
for the Pershamayski District, warned
that those participating in the picket would face administrative
charges.
2001
1 FEBRUARY
During a conference entitled “Measures to Solve
Problems connected with the Development of Culture and Art,” Alaksandar Lukashenka ordered a National Chamber of Creative Workers be established in
the House of Writers. Earlier, on 1 July 1997 the president had ordered the House to be placed under the control of the Office of Presidential Affairs “in order
to ensure the efficient utilisation of state property,”
despite the fact that it was built with the private funds
of the writers and was the property of the Union of
Writers. The actual reason, according to Lukashenka
himself, was that the building, constructed with state
funds, hosted opposition meetings. The Union of Writers believes that the new Chamber of Creative
Workers is an instrument to irreversibly take away
the property of the Union.
FEBRUARY
Lukashenka issued the edict “On the National
Council of Rectors of Higher Educational Establishments,” a body made up of assigned rectors of
state-owned universities and similar institutions. Under the edict rectors may “initiate and co-ordinate licensing, reorganisation and liquidation of higher
educational establishments,” change their names
and statuses and introduce new subjects. The edict ’s
text did not mention whether the council would also
include rectors of private establishments.
FEBRUARY
The State Committee for Youth Affairs, the
founder of the Belarusian-language magazine
“Pershatsvet” (Primrose), decided to cease its publication.
The official explanation was that the magazine
was not generating a sufficient profit.
“Pershatsvet,” the only state-run publication for
young authors writing in Belarusian, was transformed
into the Russian-language magazine “S TO.”
19 MARCH
The Board of the Harodnya City Branch of the
Belarusian Union of Artists banned Yuras
Matsko’s exhibition “Dzyady” by a majority of
votes. The opening of the local sculptor’s exhibition
had been planned for 23 March. The ban was
initiated by Iryna Pratsko, director of the Union’s
exhibition hall in Harodnya, w ho ju stified the decision
by claiming that a nationalist exhib ition
would “ threaten public order.” The actual reason
for the refusal was not to let the opening coincide
w ith an anniversary of the Belarusian Popular Republic,
as the author mentioned his in tention to invite
opposition representatives to the event.
This monitoring of the violation of creative and
academic freedoms is based on information collected from:
a) Belarusian and foreign media;
1 The name of a popular Belarusian-language rock band — PK.
2 Supposedly meaning «First President of the Republic of Belarus» — PK.
3 Just to make it clear: the park was planted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1917 Socialist revolution. The revolution began on November 7, which date is still celebrated by some people in the 3rd millennium. However, according to the Russian Orthodox calendar that was then used in Russia, the revolution began on October 25, and therefore Communist ideology idolised The Great October , even after having dismissed the old style calendar. Hence the name of the park built 50 years later — PK.
4 Although literally meaning “novelties” or “small news”, the word Navinki is commonly known as the name of the village where the Minsk regional mental asylum is situated.
Alena Areshka, born in 1956. Graduated from the faculty of
philology of the Belarusian University and from the faculty of
theory and history of art of the Institute of Repin in St. Petersburg. Used to work as a translator in the Museum of Art in Minsk. Currently works for Civil Society “Dyaryush.” In
co-operation with the Belarusian Association of Journalists
(BAZ), she participated in monitoring freedom of speech in
Belarusian mass-media; she was also a co-ordinator of monitoring
human rights' programme in the Modern History Archive
(1997-1999). Co-author of the book “Authorities and Press”
(Moscow, 1998). In the “Dyaryush” Society she deals with a
programme “Living History.” Author of weekly programme
“Boomerang” in Radio Ratsya.
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The Law on Culture in the Republic of Belarus was
adopted in 1991. Under this law, enterprises and institutions
of art and culture are independent in terms of
choosing their artistic programmes and repertoire,
and have the right to promote and distribute works of
art and culture in various genres, forms and styles. Officials
or state institutions have no right, unless provided
with adequate motivation, to ban, limit or stop
cultural actions, exhibitions, publications or performances
of art works or other products of cultural activity
intended for public display or distribution. In
cases when cultural actions are stopped or limited,
those concerned have the right to legal redress in a
court of law concerning the related decision made by
an official or an organ of government (Art. 24). The
Republic of Belarus guarantees freedom of publishing
and distribution of printed products regulated by its
legislation (Art. 29).
It is obvious that the authorities are not interested
in national culture, but even worse, they are
hostile toward it. This particularly applies to the
present-day, avant-guard phenomena in
Belarusian culture. The combination of the country’s
financial crisis and the implementation of government
policy under president Lukashenka is
taking Belarusian culture to the edge of destruction.
The Appendix contains particular incidents of
this between 1998 and 2001. From this list an objective
picture emerges of present Belarusian society
and relations between the state and the
individual as well as betw een the state and society.
Four photographs were censored from the exhibition In the Search of Belarus 12 Years after
Chernobyl , conceived by Swiss journalist Peter Hagi
and art photographer Hugo Eggi together with
Belarusian journalist Syamyon Bukchyn and photographer Syarhey Brushko. The exhibition is the result
of the authors travelling around Belarus. The authors
published an album which, as well as the exhibition,
was financed by Swiss sponsors. The exhibition was
first shown in Switzerland and then came to Minsk.
Three out of the four photos banned in Minsk were
connected with the newspaper “Svaboda” and its
banning. Those photos were also cut out of the album.
In addition, the censors “cleaned up” the text
cutting out a paragraph about “Svaboda.” As a result,
the Belarusian edition of the album differs from
its Swiss counterpart by four blank spots representing the censored photographs.
Zoya Vrublewskaya, editor in charge of musical
programmes on Belarusian radio, banned the groups
Paganini, Skryabin, and Stravinksi from the air, judging their music to be “devilish.”
Despite a request from the German Embassy, the
Culture Department of the Harodnya City Executive
Committee banned the “Th e Invisible Wall 2000” International
Bard Festival on the pretext that Harodnya
“has planned a sufficient number of cultural events for
this period.” In the judgement of the festival organisers,
the true reason for the ban was that the festival
was planned before the election to Lukashenka’s
House of Representatives and thus was seen as a
“su spicious political action.” Nevertheless, the festival
was held, without authorisation, in the Kirche that belonged
to Harodnya’s Lutheran community.
Export of democracy
