Despite the weather, you found the time and willingness to be with us. We sincerely thank each and every one of you for your support!
Opening the exhibition, Natalia Zadziarkouska, Director of the Free Belarus Museum, spoke about the “Depatriation” project and the museum’s cooperation with people in Belarus. We believe that together we are preserving not only material heritage and testimonies of recent history, but also maintaining living connections between those who were forced to leave and those who remain in Belarus.
Guests were also welcomed by Roland Chajnacki, Director of the Department of Cultural Diplomacy and Promotion of Poland at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
Several contributors to the exhibition also shared their stories:
• Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk – a Belarusian civic activist from Brest and former political prisoner who has become a symbol of resilience in the face of state repression. She succeeded in transferring to the museum ballot papers from the 2020 election that the regime had attempted to burn in a boiler room.
• Katsiaryna Karpitskaya – a journalist. The exhibition features her press card, which still bears traces of an attempt by a security officer to tear it apart.
• Uladzimir Laptsevich – a Belarusian journalist and civic activist from Mahilioŭ. The exhibition includes part of his private archive: documents and publications from the 1990s and early 2000s, materials documenting violations of civil rights in Mahilioŭ, records of civic and political organisations including the Belarusian People’s Hramada, regional independent press, and evidence from the first election campaigns in independent Belarus.
We thank everyone who helps preserve history.
The exhibition “Depatriation” will be on view at the Free Belarus Museum until 26 June. We warmly invite you to visit.
The exhibition is organised with the support of Belarus Beehive and the European Union.
