Vernissage – Andrei Liankevich – Traditional Belarusian Interiors / Paganism

We cordially invite you to the vernissage of the exhibition ‘Traditional Belarusian Interiors / Paganism’ on 1 August at 8 pm in the nEUROPA gallery. The artist Andrei Liankevich will be present at the opening.

The exhibition presents Liankevich’s current photography project, in which he documents the disappearing interiors of traditional houses in Belarus. His project archive now comprises more than 100 interiors, and he plans to expand his digital online archive by-traditional-interior.org, where users will be able to upload their own photos of additional interiors and houses to complement Liankevich’s images. The photos in the archive will form the basis for future research on the traditional way of life of the Belarusians. In addition to the interiors, Liankevich also shows the inhabitants, mostly in their (traditional) everyday clothes.

The photographs are complemented by Liankevich’s long-term documentary project on the rituals, festivals and myths of Belarusian paganism, which reveals the spiritual connection between people and their environment. His haunting portraits and depictions of traditional living spaces invite the audience to discover a fascinating and endangered part of Belarusian identity: pagan customs that are still alive today in the country’s villages.

The exhibition takes an anthropological and artistic look at Belarus – between past and present.

“Over the last 60 years, Belarus has undergone a profound transformation, with rapid urbanisation reshaping the demographic and cultural fabric of the country. Today, only 25% of the population live in rural areas and many villages are at risk of depopulation or abandonment. The rural interiors captured in my project are not only living spaces, but also repositories of memories and traditions. The embroidered textiles, hand-carved furniture and fading family photographs reflect a way of life that is disappearing. These houses were once the centre of family life, places where generations lived together, cared for each other and passed on traditions. Now that children are moving to distant cities, many older people have to spend their twilight years in isolation, often as widows. In Belarus, 74% of older women live alone.

The decline of the traditional Belarusian village is not just about physical space, but is also a story of cultural loss. Younger generations rarely use their parents’ rural home as a family centre and the intergenerational ties that once defined rural life are weakening. These frozen interiors are a poignant reminder of a way of life that was characterised by resilience, hard work and attachment to the land. But they also reflect the difficulties of ageing in solitude, where economic hardship, health problems and lack of support take their toll.

The decline of rural Belarus reflects global trends, but is also rooted in the country’s unique history, which was shaped by Soviet collectivisation.”

Andrei Liankevich

The Belarusian photographer Andrei Liankevich was born in 1981 in Grodno, Belarus, and now lives in Minsk. He has worked with the European Press Photo Agency (EPA) and the Anzenberger Agency, among others. In 2008 he joined SPUTNIK, a collective of young photographers. His work has been published in numerous international media, including The New York Times, Le Figaro, Newsweek, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, GEO, Vanity Fair, Readers Digest and International Herald Tribune and has been shown in more than 60 exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the USA. In 2010 he published his first book on Belarusian pagan traditions. Andrei was ranked among the 15 most influential Belarusian artists from 2000 to 2010. He organised a World Press Photo exhibition and initiated the Month of Photography in Minsk.

Photographs: Andrei Liankevich (BY)
Curation: Matthias Schumann (DE)

Das Projekt wird gefördert durch das Staatsministerium für Soziales und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt. Diese Maßnahme wird mitfinanziert mit Steuermitteln auf Grundlage des vom Sächsischen Landtag beschlossenen Haushaltes im Rahmen des Förderprogramms »Wir für Sachsen«.