On 7 October 2008, “Visual code of the time: post-Soviet poster art in Belarus” has opened in Warsaw’s Zoya gallery. The Polish capital is the first European city that hosts the travelling exhibition, organised by the Office for a Democratic Belarus with the help of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
In the framework of this project, works of prominent Belarusian designers are going to be seen by audiences in various cities across Western Europe and will, hopefully, travel to North America.
The exhibition focuses on works of fifteen prominent masters of the poster art whose works received numerous awards and critical acclaim in various international competitions and festivals. Among the authors whose work is presented in this exhibition are Uladzimir Tsesler, Sergei Voichanka, Tatsyana Hardashnikava, Zmitser Surski, Uladzimir Krukouski, Alena Kitaeva and many others.
In selecting posters for this exhibition we focussed on works of the 1980s and 1990s to demonstrate the impact the important socio-political transformation taking place in Belarus at that time had on poster art, leading to the creation of new artistic techniques and forms.
The exhibition has attracted great attention. Familiar symbols of the countries’ communist past have evoked memories and generated vivid discussions. The audience has shown significant interest in works on the Chernobyl catastrophe.
On Thursday, 9 October, the organisers of the exhibition presented a catalogue featuring forty-four posters accompanied by an additional explanatory text about each work.
The exhibition is on display in Warsaw until 21 October and will then travel to other venues in Europe, including Berlin, Dresden, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Trieste, and some other cities.
The Office for a Democratic Belarus expresses its gratitude to all partner organisations who helped make this project possible. ODB extends its special thanks to the Belarusian Union of Designers and the Zoya gallery that has agreed to host the exhibition.
