Cult Protest: We Urge All Art People To Join Us To Build Free Belarus!

The manifesto of cultural figures.

Many Belarusian cultural figures have announced the #cultprotest action.

The full text of the manifesto of the said action was published on Facebook by famous poet and translator, ex-head of the Belarusian PEN Center Andrei Khadanovich.

Charter97.org provides the full text of the manifesto:

- Dear friends! We, cultural workers, hereby announce the #cultprotest.

We protest against the fact that on the streets of our cities, unknown people abduct and beat our fellow citizens, and the bodies that are supposed to protect us, in doing so, remain inactive, or even contribute to this. We protest against the arrests of presidential candidates under ridiculous reasons. Our #cultprotest is against total lawlessness, when they even deny lawyers access to the citizens, who are arrested and tortured. Among us are talented, courageous and strong women, and we protest against the fact that they are called “poor things”, unable to rule the state. Our #cult protest is against the absolute disrespect for our citizens, and against threats of execution; against the arrests of the one-armed for applauding, and the numb for shouting slogans.

Our #cultural protest is aimed at uniting all people of creative professions, because it is also a protest against touring certificates, which are the #lowartisticlevel. Our #cultprotest is against frantic duties on any imported equipment, against the tax on "parasitism", endless asking for permits for mass events. We are tired of censorship and instructions of what and how we should say, tired of coercion to perform with a phonogram.

Our #cultprotest is against constant and useless events where cultural organizers should create a "mass". Against the Belarusian Republican Youth Union and early “voting” with threats to evict from dormitories. We protest against the open and secret prohibitions of the Free Theater and "objectionable" musicians. We are against the dismissal of artists who had the courage to openly voice their opinions. Our culture is not phonograms with barbecue and “mechomania”, but the TEART festival, and Eva of Chaim Soutine.

Our #cult protest is offended by painting over the beautiful, but “undesirable” graffiti, the ugliness of our cities, tasteless boxes and the destruction of historical values. We want to be able to play music in the underway passages and on the street for those who return from work, or pensioners who would not be forced to trade in order to survive. We want to love and be proud of our Nobel laureates no less than our athletes. We want our doctors and teachers to earn no less than our policemen.

We refuse to take part in any state events, provide light and sound there, do “design” for their posters, make up artists who decided to attend them. We will not pretend that COVID is # psychosi3, Vasil Bykau is a poet, Belarusians are some folks but not a nation, and our capital is a little town.

Under the hashtag of our #cultural protest, we will do what we can do best - create art. And it’s not some art council that will evaluate it, but the awakened people of Belarus. Our #cultprotest will sing, shoot videos, draw pictures, hold events for free citizens, and not for those who have taken the power. Our business is to inspire, so let us show an example of solidarity and hard work!

We urge all people of art to join us in an effort to build up free Belarus!