It Is What It Isn't

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | This exhibition ponders the role of abstract concepts (such as nationality) and their physical manifestations (such as a flag) in the formation of a shared identity. When an abstract notion cannot be reified or exercised it has no option but to live in collective imagination.

In Belarus, the abstract and concrete elements of a unified identity, such as systems of beliefs and values, historical symbols, language, and access to the land, have either undergone gradual annihilation or are yet to be established. They exist in people’s memories and dreams. For the impassioned, the present moment becomes a breach between what used to be and what could be, a flux-state between nostalgia and hope.

The name "It Is What It Isn’t" refers to conditions of existence which are defined by absence rather than presence, and to impossibility as a determining trait of reality.

Opening Reception Details:
Belarusian Church on 401 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn
6/25/22
5:00-7:00 pm
5.30 pm Performance "Dream" by Tatsiana Zamirovskaya

About "Dream" by Tatsiana Zamirovskaya:

People of Belarus sometimes see Lukashenka in their dreams, and sometimes they need to confess by telling this dream (or a nightmare) to someone. Tatsiana Zamirovskaya has collected these dreams for 10 years, observing how Lukashenka’s verbal and visual images are evolving in the collective subconscious of Belarusians. Recent highlights of her collection show dreams as actual dreams - what the people of Belarus dream OF, not ABOUT. She will have a reading of these dreams, animating the collective subconscious by giving voice to it in a meaningful place., A place where you can fearlessly share any dream, violent or happy.

Participating artists:
Alina Bliumis
Tatsiana Zamirovskaya
Andrei Dureika
Henik Lojka
Marta Ščarbakova