„In front of me is a white sheet of paper. There are many words and images inside me that I want to express and turn into a letter. I want to write in such a way that I am understood and nothing is distorted.
But multiple views and perceptions can produce as many interpretations as there are readers. Sometimes I cringe at the thought that my words might be twisted and hurt other people. But I can’t give up writing, because writing means not losing the connection with those who are not with me, letting it all out, reliving it and looking at it from the outside. On a piece of paper, I can at least imagine that I have gotten back what I lost – my home. I write my own letters and collect the letters of others to put together into a long archive of different experiences and stories. When I think about why I keep writing, I realize I’m still hoping for a response.“

Nadya Sayapina began her project „Letter to Mom“ in January 2021 and was able to realize it and during a residency at the Mystetskyi Arsenal in Kiev with the support of the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine.

„Letter to Mom“ deals with the stories of people who had to leave Belarus urgently and are now building their lives in new places. It is based on thirty interviews with Belarusian immigrants, which the artist collected over several months. The project shows the emotional side of the experience of displacement: personal feelings, the sense of losing one’s homeland, helplessness and confusion, fear, insecurity and guilt. The artist turned to drawings, performances and installations through which the audience could recreate and relive the emotions experienced by the project participants.

The development and reconstruction of the project in different countries allows us to address the issue of forced migration in a more global context. „Letter to Mom“ presents a look at everyday and different things that migrants have gone through, trying to make audible what is difficult for them to articulate.

Nadya Sayapina documents her project with excerpts from the interviews on her own website: https://lettertomother.com.ua/eng/

Zhanna Gladko’s work focuses on investigating mechanisms of culture and art history. The artist places the role of the contemporary museum and archives, problems and crises of identity, gender issues, the theme of history and memory at the centre of her artistic interest.

Her performance Vicious Circle is based on the installation Destroyed Piano, which the artist created in 2015. The work is part of the larger cycle „Inciting Force“, which is dedicated to the artist’s autobiographical story and her complex relationship with her father. He had raised his daughter according to strict rules and under total control, which at some point led to conflicts. In retrospect, this personal experience reveals to Zhanna Gladko the patriarchal thinking that had already shaped Belarusian society in the Soviet Union and still stands in the way of the country’s renewal today.

In 2015, in the absence of her daughter, her father dismantled the piano that Zhanna Gladko had learned to play as a child and which was also a symbol of inner liberation for her. He left only some parts of the instrument – strings, pedals…. – were left. The artist managed to film the last phase of her father’s destruction of the instrument.

For the exhibition at the Kunstzentrum Karlskaserne, Zhanna Gladko creates a space that refers to the idea of a sacred zone, a place that can be attractive at certain times and whose attraction is difficult to overcome. It is the image of a home, a comfort zone, a community, a magic circle inherent in mystical practices*. Something that offers protection from external forces, but at some point turns into an insurmountable wall or cage that restricts the freedom of personal expression. A trap from which one can hardly escape unless one appropriates and asserts one’s right to autonomy and independence.

* The image of a circle, a ring, refers to a sacred space that was used in magical practices. Such a circle was drawn with charcoal or chalk to protect oneself from the outside world. Later, brass wire was used to form the circle. It was considered particularly powerful when people stood in a circle and held hands, creating a circle that united people into a community, a force.

This project focuses on the experiences of Belarusians who suffer from psychological violence perpetrated by the regime and law enforcement agencies. It is a collection of stories about knocks on the door, phone calls from unknown numbers, and how people in Belarus are suffering from a terrible case of post-traumatic stress disorder. As long as this trauma remains invisible and untreated, it will affect generations of Belarusians.

Since the beginning of August 2020, many world media outlets have published Belarusian citizens’ stories, raising awareness about the extreme physical violence in the country’s detention facilities. While these stories feature physical harm, including bruises and years spent in prison, they rarely acknowledge the emotional toll state violence took on its victims. Amid the horrifying details of illegal detentions, beatings, and torture, we often overlook other mundane manifestations of oppression. Permanent fear, helplessness, paranoia, lack of safety, or difficulties leaving the country are not mentioned at all, because “there are more serious problems to feature.” As a result, thousands of Belarusians are left alone with their traumas, unheard, unnoticed, and invisible.

I began collecting stories and photographing respondents immediately after the elections in Fall 2020. At that time, any critical activity towards the state was becoming increasingly dangerous. My documentary project, “Invisible Trauma,” was blocked from publication in three popular Belarusian media outlets in Fall-Winter 2020. The project was not safe for me to continue because activism and public speech were persecuted.

As reprisals grew, people started to use indirect symbols to express their protest. After the white-red-white combina was recognized as extremist by the regime, it was replaced by a white sheet of paper in the windows. Even a blank piece of paper could result in an arrest. This image shows exactly how absurd and dangerous the regime’s system is.

Because I could not work with the media using the usual documentary methods, I began to use online space, working with white paper on a glass as an image of invisibility. I created a chatbot in Telegram to anonymously collect stories and an Instagram account where stories are published that are voiced by other people.

I no longer do portraits of my subjects or meet with them in person. Instead, I create a space where they can take a photo by themselves and write their story anonymously. The faces of these people are hidden behind a mask in the form of a white sheet of paper, or through this mask, I created on Instagram. The virtual space is the only one that we have left for expressing protest.

As of today, all independent media are blocked in the country, and more than 200 non-governmental organizations are being liquidated. There is not a single independent art gallery in the country, and the activists are being persecuted. Currently, there are more than 700 political prisoners whose sentences range from 2 to 18 years. In the past year, more than 40,000 people have been imprisoned on politically motivated charges for 10 to 45 days or have been fined significantly. The law does not work in Belarus today, and there is only repression, torture in jails, and endless fear.
Lesia Pcholka

Der englische Klarinettist Gareth Davis bewegt sich in Aufnahmen, Projekten und Aufführungen mit einem eklektischen Musikgeschmack von zeitgenössischer Klassik und Orchestermusik über freie Improvisation bis hin zu Rock, Noise und Electronica. Er spielte Uraufführungen u.a. von Bernhard Lang, Peter Ablinger, Toshio Hosokawa und Jonathan Harvey, arbeitet als Solist u.a. mit dem SWR Symphonieorchester, den Warschauer Philharmonikern und dem Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid zusammen, kooperiert mit Gruppen und Interpreten wie den Neuen Vocalsolisten und dem JACK Quartet bis hin zu den Improvisatoren Elliott Sharp und Frances Marie Uitti, den Elektronikkünstlern Robin Rimbaud und Merzbow, und er ist in Multimedia-Arbeiten von Künstlern wie Christian Marclay und Peter Greenaway involviert.

Biografie Stand Februar 2020