All stories about "Minsk"

The world forgot about Belarus after the March 2006 presidential election when the winners beat up the losers, literally. Now it seems the whole country is in a deep freeze until President-for-life Lukashenko next goes rollerblading and just maybe falls on his head. Russian rumors report that the leader is somewhat offended by his nation's axis-of-evil status and is taking strides to make Belarus more tourist-friendly. Politics aside, Minsk is admittedly a lovely little city of about 2 million Minskians (minions?). Within it lies the purest collective of Stalinist architecture on earth, and you can't help but feel impressed by the size and style of such imposing urban vistas. And so let us away to the Pyongyang of Europe! Come taste the current vibe in a city where Lee Harvey Oswald completed his junior year abroad.

Photo: Andrew Evans

  Comments

From the 1970s until the fall of the Soviet Union, the young and disenfranchised across the Eastern Bloc used graffiti to rebel against political domination and cultural and economic injustice. The plethora of illegible scribble lining the streets of cities like Zagreb, Belgrade, and Warsaw attests to the art form cum misdemeanor’s enduring popularity. In the Soviet Union itself, however, fear and the government’s ironclad grip on what constituted “art” kept this particular form of expression deep under wraps. The downtown areas of Kiev and other cities are still relatively free of telltale spraypaint, but one may venture a bit further afield and find a flourishing graffiti scene sweeping the region. The upcoming elections in Ukraine, in which over 30 political parties will fight for seats in the new parliament to either defend, finish off, or marginalize the heroes of 2004’s “Orange Revolution,” has afforded Ukrainian street artists an ideal opportunity to speak their minds. From opinionated stickers to elaborate campaign posters, the coming months will likely see an unprecedented amount of political art. For more traditional train bombings, tags, and cartoons from Ukraine, the folks at graffiti.org.ua have painstakingly catalogued work by artists from several cities and provided each with her or her own page to post their work. Abandoned Magazine, published by Russian web project Visual Artifacts and covering street art across the FSU, features stark photographs of pieces found in unlikely places like industrial bathrooms and dilapidated greenhouses. The image above is from the totalitarian haven of Belarus, whose capital, Minsk, is often described as eerie in its near-oppressive cleanliness; it seems the cultural liberalization that shook Eastern Europe may just be headed East after all.

graffiti.org.ua [Official site, in Russian]
Visual Artifacts [Official site, in Russian]

[Whitney Kassel]

Previously: L’Art du Robot, Everybody Loves Clinton, Killer Wabbits, Frangipani Tokyo Gallery, Tembokbomber Tag-a-Go-Go