This series of drawings is titled “The portrait of Kuropaty”. Working on this project I wanted to show the great loss of all Soviet countries. A huge number of people died during Stalinist repressions, and many intellectuals were murdered. Belarusian people have a dreadful night called “The Night of the Murdered Poets” which took place on the night of 29-30 October 1937 in Kuropaty. 108 people were executed, including statespeople, artists and scientists; 22 of these people were writers. This horrifying wound didn’t leave its mark only on Belarusians - bodies of people from other countries were also found there. I wanted to depict this tragedy by showing a comb that was found during excavations. There are very emotional carvings on it:
«Tough times of prison. Minsk 25.04.1940. Thinking about you is driving me crazy»

«26 IV I broke down crying - tough day».

Through these portraits I wanted to convey the emotional intensity, that’s why the faces resemble skulls or skull masks, with white eyes and a black background. The clothing is distinguished, suitable for intellectuals. The background symbolizes death, and white eyes - their pure, unstained souls. Each portrait was made with mixed media on 100x70 cm paper.
Right now, the Belarusian government wants to cover up these murders and tries to humor the tragedy of Kuropaty in every way possible, lying about German participation, destroying crosses and building restaurants on that spot.