In the premises of the Belarusian State Theater and Art Institute (Modern Academy of Arts, 73 Independence Ave.) Organizer — Adam Globus. Among the participants were students of the institute, fans of art, artists: Alena Bialiayeva, Uladzimir Lapo, Hvedar Soroka, Genadz Khatskevich, Maksim Klimkovich, Uladzimir Stepan, Leonid Yevtukh, Ihar Tishyn, Valyantsin Dzialendzik and others. The participants exhibited their works, which were purchased by other artists and their friends for symbolic prices.
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From the memoirs of Adam Globus:
"Auctions are not the beginning of the history of the Belarusian avant-garde. Even from my own experience, I can name the year 1979, when we, first-year students of the Institute of Theater Arts, organized an exhibition dedicated to the 140th anniversary of Franziska Bogushevich in the cinema "Kastrychnik". And the rector of the institute herself came, to remove our paintings. She carried them along the avenue, and we watched from the other side and thought: well, now the rector knows our paintings. That is, it was already a protest.
As far as auctions go, the story is very simple. At that time, I was studying at the Institute of Theater Arts, and often, when I was standing near the garbage can, I saw how artists threw away their paintings after the exam viewing. They throw them into the trash one by one — drawings, sketches, everything. And I realized that if it all goes to the dump, it will go irrevocably. And if we collect all this, arrange it, hang it up, reassess it again and offer it for conditional money - 20 kopecks for a picture, a drawing or a sketch, a ruble for a picture - then it will be a shame to put it in the trash, it will already be worth something.
We collected these paintings in our workshop at the institute, each of us also brought our friends and girlfriends, and we started the auction. I jokingly praised all the paintings, because the most important thing was to praise. People started buying, and then what they bought, they brought home and hung up. These paintings are still preserved. Then we held a second auction, then a third - already in the workshop on the then Lenina avenue, which was already attended by more than a hundred people. Neighbors then became indignant and called the police. But everyone was sober, the artist's paintings were hanging on the walls, so no one saw a crime in this. The only thing is, they called me to the department and told me not to hold auctions anymore. I promised that I would not spend any more time in the workshop of the institute. Because the artists had a different form - an apartment worker, that is, if I exhibit in an apartment and invite friends, then this is my business. There was nothing they could do here. That is why the last, fourth auction was held for the apartment in 1983. Volya Sazykina, Vova Lapo, Gena Khatskevich and others were there, the auction was small, because it was held in an apartment, but at the same time, everything was sold and kept like that." - © " Minsk. Nonconformism of the 1980s", 61 p., "Guerrilla Collection" series, 2016