manchmal halte ich mich auf der luft fest

manchmal halte ich mich auf der luft fest

Artists:  Alexander Adamov, Rozalina Busel, Anastazja Palczukiewicz, Vasilisa Palianina, Lesia Pcholka, Nadya Sayapina, Antanina Slabodchykava, Varvara Sudnik, Aliaxey Talstou

With poetry by Volha Hapeyeva

Curators: Katharina von Hagenow, Uladzimir Hramovich & Paulina Olszewska

Galerie im Körnerpark
Schierker Str. 8
Berlin

03.02.–29.05.2024

Co-operation: Prater Galerie, Berlin & Goethe Institute in Exil

Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza

In 2020, massive civil protests erupted in Belarus, a country between Russia and Poland that was barely on the radar for the West at the time. Directed against the rigged elections and repressive policies of the corrupt head of state, the protests became a cry for freedom and an expression of the desire to live in a democratic nation. Artists and cultural workers were deeply involved in the protests; many were arrested and imprisoned. When released, they fled to Vilnius, Warsaw, Tbilisi, and Berlin to escape further punishment.
They had hoped to return soon, but weeks of waiting became months, and months have become years. They have since remained in a state of limbo between two worlds — determined to contribute to change in their homeland while not being physically present and living in a country where their existence is not officially recognised. In the exhibition sometimes i hold onto the air, young Belarusian artists reflect on the contradictions of their situation, looking back at the protests that radically changed their lives and their subsequent years in exile.