The Belarus Free Theatre (BFT), an underground performance group currently in exile, has announced its first major visual art exhibition titled "Official. Unofficial. Belarus." as a collateral event for the 61st Venice Biennale. Staged at the historic La Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, the show features site-specific works by exiled artists including Sergey Grinevich, Vladimir Tsesler, and Nicolai Khalezin. The installations range from paintings functioning as altar panels to a massive sphere of banned books and a crucifix made of CCTV cameras, all designed to critique the surveillance and censorship of the Lukashenko regime.
This exhibition is a significant moment for Belarusian independent culture, asserting its presence on the global stage despite state-sponsored repression and the forced exile of its creative community. By securing a spot as an official collateral event in Venice, the BFT shifts from underground theater to a multidisciplinary platform for political resistance. The project highlights the role of art in documenting authoritarianism and provides a high-profile venue for voices that have been systematically silenced within their own borders.