Key trends:

There is a strong wave of emigration from Belarus.

Throughout the year, processes of unification and strengthening of Belarusian diasporas took place in various cities of Great Britain, Germany, Georgia, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the USA, Ukraine, France, Sweden and other countries.

Organization of many protest exhibitions and protests outside Belarus by disporas.

Institutions are being closed (for example, the most important gallery "Ў") has stopped its work.

Due to the coronovirus pandemic, events continue to be canceled or held under special security conditions.

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Selected events of the year:

Due to the political situation and the risks and persecution often associated with it, Vladimir Gramovich, Valentina Kiseleva, Lesya Pchelka, Anna Chistoserdova and many others are forced to emigrate from Belarus during the year.

March 25

The largest exhibition of contemporary Belarusian art "Every day. Art. Solidarity. Resistance" has opened in the Kiev Arsenal. A curatorial group of 6 people: Aleksey Borisyonok, Andrei Dureiko, Marina Naprushkina, Antonina Stebur, Maxim Tyminko and Sergei Shabokhin have prepared a large-scale exhibition about the protests in Belarus.

26 March

The prosecutor's office of Grodno opened a criminal case against Ales Pushkin. The reason was the placement of a portrait of the leader of the anti-Soviet underground Yevgeny Zhikhar at an exhibition in the Grodno "Center of City Life", which was interpreted as "rehabilitation of Nazism". It is worth noting that the painting was painted in 2014 and was previously exhibited in Belarus and Russia. At that time, the artist himself was in Kyiv, where he participated in the exhibition of Belarusian protest art "Skin Day". Even knowing about the criminal case, Pushkin decided to return to Belarus.

30th of March

Ales Pushkin was detained in the village of Zhilichi, Kirovsky district, Mogilev region, where the artist worked on the restoration of the Bulgakov Palace.

April 1

In Minsk, due to censorship, the exhibition "The Car Breathes, But I Don't" about the coronovirus pandemic in Belarus was closed (curator: SHKLO).

August 7

in The Hague, a Belarusian curatorial group (Lena Davidovich, Evelina Domnich, Dmitry Gelfand, Tasha Orlova) opened a protest exhibition Screams of the Silenced.

August 28

A group exhibition on the role of women in the Belarusian protest "When Forms Become Relationships" (curated by Ilona Dergach) has opened at the Krynka Gallery in Poland.

September 17

Curator Andrei Dureiko opened a festival with public art works by Belarusian artists "Open City. War Art" in Lublin.

October 7th

In Poznan, in the Domie space, a Belarusian curatorial group (Aleksey Borisyonok, Vera Zalutskaya, Roman Trotsyuk) opened the international exhibition "ODKSZTAŁCENIE / DEPHARMACY / UNLEARNING".

End of November

Ales Pushkin was sent for a psychiatric examination, and in December he was finally charged under Part 3 of Art. 130-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (intentional actions to rehabilitate Nazism committed by a group of persons) and Art. 370 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (desecration of state symbols). The artist was offered to write a petition for pardon, but he refused. In one of the letters from the pre-trial detention center, Pushkin talks about the portrait of Zhikhar: “I find people with a real, characteristic Belarusian history, almost forgotten. Yevhen Zhikhar is one of them. "). The portrait of Zhikhar is a collective "image of Belarus in the war of 1939-1945 between East and West, between two totalitarian systems - Soviet and German".

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Purchases of the year:

Gleb Amankulov makes his debut in Belarusian exhibitions.

September 2021

Founding of the "Ambassade of Culture " initiative by Valentina Kiseleva and Anna Chistoserdova in Berlin.

November 20, 2021

The new website of the KALEKTAR platform was officially presented. The artist Maxim Tyminko acted as the developer of the new portal and reorganized the resource into a modern and easy-to-use database.

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Loss of the year:

Gallery of Contemporary Art "Ў" was forced to close.

The Goethe Institute was closed at the request of the authorities due to the political crisis in the country.

The Venice Biennale has been postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 24

Vitebsk avant-garde artist Alexander Solovyov died.

June 16

At the age of 73, the artist and collector Andrei Plesanov died from the coronovirus in Minsk.

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• Context in Belarus:

  May, 23rd

  A Ryanair plane made an emergency landing at Minsk airport due to a false report of a mine attack. On board the plane was Roman Protasevich, editor of the opposition Nexta telegram channel, who was included by the Belarusian authorities in the list of persons involved in terrorist activities.

  Spring

  The migration crisis on the border of Belarus with the EU countries - Lithuania, Latvia and Poland - began in the spring of 2021: migrants from the Middle East flooded into Belarus. The European Union accused Lukashenka of a hybrid war, he denied Minsk's involvement in the crisis on the border. The situation escalated greatly in autumn, when thousands of migrants concentrated on the Belarusian-Polish border.

  June

  The European Union has adopted the fourth package of sanctions, which includes individuals, including Lukashenka himself, as well as institutions and enterprises. In addition, the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Belarus. Among them are partial restrictions on the import of potash fertilizers and oil products from this country.

  6 September

  A court in Minsk sentenced one of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition Maria Kolesnikova to 11 years in a penal colony, a lawyer and a member of the Presidium of the Coordinating Council of the opposition Maksim Znak - to 10 years in a penal colony.

  November 4

  Putin and Lukashenko signed an integration decree.

  November 30th

  Lukashenka announced the recognition by Minsk of the annexation of Crimea by Russia.

  December 2nd

  The Council of the European Union introduced the fifth package of sanctions against Belarus. On the same day, the United States, Great Britain and Canada announced that they would support the EU's punitive measures against the Belarusian regime. In particular, the US sanctions, according to the US Treasury Department, concern the Belarusian sovereign debt.

  December 14

  The sentences were handed down to the defendants in the "Tsikhanouski case". Siarhei Tsikhanouski was sentenced to 18 years in a penal colony. Radio Liberty media consultant Igor Losik - by the age of 15. Other defendants in the case - Vladimir Tsyhanovich, Artem Sakov, Dmitry Popov - received 15 and 16 years in a penal colony, politician Mikalai Statkevich - 14 years in prison.

  Practically all independent editions and mass media are recognized as extremist.

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  Context in the world:

  6th January

  The occupation of the US Congress building by supporters of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. to reject the official results of the 2020 presidential election and support Trump's demand. During the assault, 5 people were killed.

  Jan. 7

  Joseph Biden is elected by the US Congress as the new President of the United States.

  January 23

  Holding protests in support of Alexei Navalny in Russian cities.

  May 10

  The Israeli army began to carry out airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

  3 July

  A complete ban on the use of single-use non-degradable plastic in Europe.

  August

  With the start of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban stepped up their attacks to seize power in that country. As a result, hundreds of people died. The Taliban have seized power.

  December

  The 16-year reign of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany has come to an end. The leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Olaf Scholz, has become the new federal chancellor of Germany.