Zones of
Repression

Or Displacement Zones


The cycle is based on the dating practices of the gay community in men's toilets, using Belarus as an example. In the context of a patriarchal, conservative authoritarian state, all public spaces are literally scrubbed and deviant forms of behavior are alienated from society. Even the inscriptions on the walls of public toilets are quickly erased. That is why men have learned to leave messages for each other on the seams between the tiles – unnoticed by the cleaning services. Since 2006, the artist has had an impressive collection of such hidden inscriptions and drawings of what was depicted in the toilets, and reproduces this collection in the form of installations: fragments of walls or entire rooms are pasted over with ceramic tiles and the entire archive is placed on the seams. This cycle is an image of public space in Belarus: sterilized, aggressive to any different forms of behavior, where everything that does not fit into the norms of the patriarchal and conservative Belarusian state is pushed out into hidden zones: clubs, apartments, toilets, and back alleys. These seams, according to the authorities, are covered with dirt, but they are a symbol of freedom of speech, the social grid, and the framework of a civil society. The cycle is the first part of a queer trilogy, dedicated to contrasting the conservative patriarchal culture of Belarus with the "dirt" of a marginalized queer community. 

Read more about the cycle