A web ‑based social and cultural magazine. A place of global exchange of ideas and opinions on culture, arts, civil society, multiculturalism, new media and Eastern Europe. Much space has been allocated to the Eastern Section analysing and describing the current developments in Eastern Europe and post ‑Soviet countries. Partners A Report on the Condition of NGOs and Independent Culture in Belarus opens a series of seven special issues published as part of the Report on the Condition of NGOs and Culture in the Eastern Partnership Countries project implemented by the Kultura Enter monthly (www.kulturaenter.pl) in collaboration with the Kultura Enter Foundation. project originator Paweł Laufer executive editor Paweł Laufer editorial board Tatyana Artimovich, Artur Klinov project secretary Katarzyna Plebańczyk translators Sergej Komlach, Konrad Szulga, Swiatłana Kurs, Małgorzata Buchalik, Maryja Łucewicz ‑Napałkow, Katarzyna Bortnowska, Biuro Tłumaczeń „Narrator” language editorship Dorota Stachura (English), Paweł Laufer, Agnieszka Caban (Polish), Taciana Niadbay (Belarusian, Russian) graphic design and typesetting Studio Format – studioformat.pl © Fundacja Kultura Enter, Lublin 2011 isbn 978‑83‑62495‑09‑2 publisher Studio Format ul. Solna 4/9, 20‑021 Lublin, tel. (81) 479 46 48, [email protected] print Petit s.k. ul. Tokarska 13, 20‑210 Lublin, tel. (81) 744 56 59 The project is co ‑financed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland under the cyclic programme Promotion of Knowledge about Poland contents without INVERTED COMMAS……7 Lavon Barshcheuski Why does a Belarusian hear no voice of culture?……11 mariuSz maszkIEwICz – interview european angelologia – Belarusian reality……18 zon taciana niadbay Belarusian independent culture: hori an attempt at differential diagnosis……28 Valiantsin Akudovich…29 Mikalai khalezin…32 uladzimir Matskevich…35 Seviaryn kviatkouski…38 Maria Martysevich…41 Artur klinov Belarusian art “underground,” or the country With no galleries……47 Tatyana Artimovich contemporary Belarusian theater’s struggle for diversity……55 nalysis k.S. independent Belarusian theater: myth or reality?……63 a Sergey Pukst Belarus: uncharted territory on the musical map of europe……71 Margaryta Aliashkevich the pain points culture of the Belarusian literary process……79 Andrei Rasinski daWn at colonial ruins……88 Valentina Kiseliova – interview a place s Where one can Breathe……101 W IgOR LOgvinov – interview state, Writer, puBlication……109 Liavon VOLSkI – interview shoW Business intervie in a country that Bans applause……118 EVgENy Kolmykov – interview i shall make a storm……128 ANDREy kuDINENkO – interview shoot a good film……136 culture MONIkA SzEwCzyk, ANDREI DuREIkA – interview there are still some artists out there……144 Solidarity with Democratic Belarus, Information Office legal frameWork for the activities of political parties and non ‑governmental organizations……155 Vaclau Areshka non ‑governmental sector in Belarus: traditions and perspectives……167 Agnieszka komorowska nalysis Belarusian third sector a held captive By state legislation……175 Marek Młynarczyk, Paweł Prokop the characteristics ngo of social organizations in eastern europe……184 Ales’ Bialatski the history of human rights defense in Belarus……191 Tamara Matskevich the role of education in the return of Belarus to european cultural space……199 s OLgA ShparagA – interview is a Belarusian W a european?……211 ALEh TRusau – interview Belarusian – the language of the élite……220 intervie zhanna Litvina – interview Journalism aWards……228 ngo Irina ALkhovkA – interview Belarusian gender equality……237 Nina ShydloskAyA – interview Belarusians of the World……245 AuThors……255 Without inverted COMMAS Let us talk and think about Belarus no more. Let us suspend our judge‑ ments, expectations, projections, patterns and proposals for solutions, our hermeneutics and policies and deliberations on some or other necessities that Belarus should recognize and accept. Let us put aside our declen‑ sions of Belarus for future lessons. Now, somewhat indifferent, in order to speak Belarusian in a more comprehensible manner, let us take part in the lesson of the Belarusian „language:” A Report on the Condition of NGOs and Independent Culture in Belarus. When you read about Belarus on a daily basis, on its phenomena, prob‑ lems or achievements, the punctuation mark that prevails in a newspaper column, or in the voice of a TV anchorman, is inverted commas. Inverted commas indicate „irony”, mark „incompatibility”, emphasize the „unnatu‑ ral”, „deviations” from the standard, „apostasy”, „metaphor;” it is a conscious emphasis on „irrationality” of what is happening there. Even „Belarus” is written in quotations. During this lesson, we will use inverted commas to highlight a notion that we address as the know‑not’s. Before we retreat to our pre‑defined positions that we have adopted in Belarusian affairs, and before we take away inverted commas, listen to those who are at the source. Let us give the floor to the best teachers – Belarusian intellectuals, practitioners and artists. The barely articulated and somewhat covert framework of their lecture rests with three basic questions: What is it like now?, What do we expect from one another?, How can we achieve this? The knowledge which underlies the cooperation strategies with Belarus is based on scarce and rare publications and analysis. They offer little in terms of grasping current trends and the actual status quo in the area of culture and NGOs in Belarus. Hence, it does not help draw up competent Without and inclusive programmes of cooperation with the cultural community and inverted commas NGOs in Belarus that would address the most vital issues. A Report on the Condition of NGOs and Independent Culture in Belarus aspires to be such a response to these shortcomings and to the lack of knowledge about the Belarusian cultural reality, Belarusian independent culture, the third sector (NGOs) and the setting in which they are deemed to operate. A Report has been so designed as to be affordable in its form and as a widely available tool for reliable identification of the aforesaid realities, a tool that enables the most effective action in these areas. Such knowledge and tools for effective action are also craved for by Belarusians themselves; therefore, A Report is available in three languages – Belarusian, Polish and English – on the website of Lublin’s Kultura Enter on‑line monthly (www.kulturaenter.pl), and has been printed in Polish and English. A Report on the Condition of NGOs and Independent Culture Belarus opens a series of seven reports to be produced under the project, A Report on hori Independent Culture and NGOs in the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia. Through this large‑scale project, we wish to highlight what should particularly be brought to the forefront when gazing towards the post‑ Soviet countries today. This is, no doubt, the burgeoning partnership and coexistence of the peoples who have a common future and who are fully aware of that. Paweł Laufer We wish to express our gratitude to all who, with their valuable advice, opinion and creative support, have contributed to the final shape of this report. Further thanks go to: Marcin Romanowski, Katarzyna Plebańczyk, Eliana Kisielewska, Anna Kominek, Piotr Zieniuk, Agnieszka Caban, Grzegorz Kondrasiuk, Sebastian Mac, Paweł Kazanecki, Małgorzata Buchalik, Mariusz Maszkiewicz, Andrei Dureika, Taciana Niadbay, Agnieszka Wojciechowska, Siergiej Kowalovov, Konrad Szulga. hori zon A Belarusian‑speaking culture activist has next to no chance to turn political leader. Is the Belarusian intelligentsia to blame for the attitude of many of its fellow citizens? Certainly yes – no different attitude of the Belarusian society is possible. Lavon Barshcheuski Why does a Belarusian hear no voice of culture? 19 December 2010 marked the presidential elections in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko “won” again. I put this word in quotation marks because, as in the previous election, the voting took 5 days and the entire procedure resembled a special operation (it was the duty of every student, militia officer, serviceman, school or university teacher, and virtually every working citizen to cast their vote before 19 December). The opposition representa‑ tives were admitted to observe the process of counting votes only on the last voting day, and only in a dozen out of more than six thousand polling stations distributed countrywide. The results of individual presidential can‑ didates in the observer ‑monitored stations in Minsk, as well as in the oblasts of Vitebsk, Grodno, and Gomel, were as follows: Alexander Lukashenko received from 35 to 52 percent of the vote; as regards his main opponents, the former deputy foreign minister and one of the coordinators of the Euro‑ pean Belarus campaign, Andrei Sannikau, received from 16 to 23 percent, vice president of the United Civic Party, Yaroslav Romanchuk, from 5 to 11 percent, and the prominent Belarusian poet and leader of the Tell the Truth! civic action, Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, from 5 to 8 percent. Why does It is worth noting that as a politician, Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu officially a Belarusian hear no launched his campaign in early 2010 by taking the leadership of the said voice of action, which was garnering publicity throughout the past year. However, culture? he has been a well ‑known Belarusian figure for more than ten years. Already in the 1980s, Nyaklyaeu won renown as a lyrics writer to great music hits; their popularity crossed the