Belarus is alive! (in Poland). The art of solidarity in the Belarusian community.

elective courses

English language skills are welcomed, as well as, but not obligatory, Belarusian or Russian.

Classroom

The class will focus on the ethnography of creative milieus and the work of Belarusian artists who create their art in Poland. We will examine how the Belarusian artistic diaspora operates, exploring whether and how it integrates into the Polish art field and organizes its own performances, exhibitions, readings, etc. Additionally, we will explore the themes around which their artistic activities are centered.

We will also explore the extent to which their activities are directed outward, reaching the Polish-speaking public, and to what extent they cater to the Belarusian or Russian-speaking diaspora in Poland. Our interest extends to both collectives and individual independent artists, as well as those contributing to the field of Belarusian art "in exile" by organizing institutions, prizes, festivals, and associations outside the country, providing alternatives to state-sponsored initiatives.

After the events of the suppressed pro-Russian authoritarian Belarusian social revolution in 2020, when people across the country protested against electoral fraud, Belarusians were forced into mass migration beyond the country's borders. A significant number of them settled in Poland, establishing the foundations of a civic society based on values of solidarity and mutual assistance. They also organically created alternative Belarusian institutions in exile, distinct from official and regime-controlled entities. Today, we observe how, in various ways, they are crafting a new narrative about themselves—a narrative of a society that resisted imperial Russia and the dependent, and therefore non-sovereign, power of Belarus. This is happening not only in intellectual, scientific, and political debates but also in creative practices.

The class will focus on the ethnography of creative milieus and the work of Belarusian artists who create their art in Poland. We will examine how the Belarusian artistic diaspora operates, exploring whether and how it integrates into the Polish art field and organizes its own performances, exhibitions, readings, etc. Additionally, we will explore the themes around which their artistic activities are centered.

We will also explore the extent to which their activities are directed outward, reaching the Polish-speaking public, and to what extent they cater to the Belarusian or Russian-speaking diaspora in Poland. Our interest extends to both collectives and individual independent artists, as well as those contributing to the field of Belarusian art "in exile" by organizing institutions, prizes, festivals, and associations outside the country, providing alternatives to state-sponsored initiatives. The class will encompass a broad spectrum of creative practices and communities, including film, theatre, performance, literature, music, and more.

O. Kopenkina No Time for Art? Strategies of Negation in Belarusian Art During the 2020 Anti-Government Uprising, in: Field. A journal of socially engaged art criticism, 20/2022.

Group from the European Education and Research Centre, Art journalism and art criticism in the Belarusian art world and public space, and the influence of the socio-political context. in: Blok 27.06.2023.

E. Kovtiak Belarusian Artivism: How and Why Art and Activism Merged in the Belarusian Protests of 2020, in: mesofera.org. 1.06.2022.

P. Serafini Performance Action. The Politics of Art Activism, Routlege 2018.

V. Zolberg Constructing a sociology of arts, Cambridge University Press 1990.

K.B. Alexander Etnografia performatywna. Odgrywanie i pobudzanie kultury, trans. Ł. Marciniak, in: Metody badań jakościowych, vol. 1, ed. N.K. Denzin, Y.S. Lincoln, PWN 2009.

H. Foster Artysta jako etnograf, in: Powrót Realnego. Awangarda u schyłku XX wieku, przeł. M. Borowski, M. Sugiera, Universitas 2012.

Literature may be modified during the course.

Has basic knowledge about the types of social ties and the rules that govern them

Understands the social nature of relationships between individuals, social groups and social institutions

Has basic knowledge about cultural diversity of Poland and the modern world

Can interpret past and present social events (political, cultural, and economic) using sociological concepts and theories

Can independently form simple judgments on the causes of selected social processes and phenomena

Can conduct a simple analysis of the consequences of the processes occurring in modern societies

Can describe the role of culture in the life of the individual and society

Can participate in a discussion

Can critically assess sources

Respects dignity of persons participating in a study (respondents, informers, interviewees and other participants)

Participation in discussion, contribution to participatory observation, paper - report on observation.

Permissible number of excusable absences: 3

Re-sit rules: paper - report on observation.