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A solo exhibition “A Step Forward” by artist Nina Margaieva has opened at the Museum of Free Belarus in Warsaw. Nina, who has fallen seriously ill, is the focus of the show, which was organized by the Belarusian Council of Culture along with her friends and colleagues.
In January 2023, in Warsaw, Belarusian artist Nina Margaieva — who had been forced to leave Belarus in 2022 with her son and dog — was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Nina Margaieva was born in 1984. In 2007, she graduated from the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, specializing in folk crafts (ceramics).
Since 1997, while still a teenager, Nina actively participated in art exhibitions and plein airs. In 2015, in Minsk, she founded the children’s art studio PLOT, which operated for seven years.
After the 2020 presidential elections, Nina signed the “Open Letter of Cultural and Artistic Figures Against Violence and Electoral Fraud.”
Pressure began to mount on her in Belarus, and in June 2022, Nina was forced to leave the country with her son Miron and her spaniel, nicknamed Chloe.
In October 2022, in Warsaw, Nina Margaieva launched a new project called Glieba. Classes with children were held at the Museum of Free Belarus in Warsaw.
“I really hope that over time I will be able to unite artists who are still in Belarus with those who were forced to leave, because our Glieba still exists within us,” Nina wrote about her new project.
It seemed that life in Warsaw was gradually settling, but in January 2023, doctors diagnosed Nina with a serious illness — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The Belarusian Council of Culture, along with Nina’s colleagues and friends, upon learning about her illness, announced a Week of Solidarity with the artist and launched a fundraiser for her treatment and support.
“Solidarity and the desire to help someone who is far worse off than yourself — these human qualities are especially strongly expressed among Belarusians who have found themselves in forced exile,” says Sergey Budkin, chairman of the Belarusian Council of Culture.
“Over four years, we have carried out many campaigns and solidarity actions. Not a single fundraiser has ever failed! That’s encouraging. Life abroad is hardly easy or comfortable for any of us, yet people still find ways to help others, to give and sacrifice their last,” notes Sergey Budkin.
Nina’s colleague and friend, artist Lera Lazuk, could not attend the exhibition opening from Vilnius but sent a video message:
“Nina is genuine, sincere, and in her works you can see the full spectrum of human emotions. She does not strive to create refined landscapes; sometimes her work borders on abstraction, and it is highly expressive.
I am grateful to the secret musicians from Belarus who created a half-hour soundscape specifically for the exhibition. The sound is full of the sense of beauty in Nina’s works and the pain of what she is going through…
Special thanks to Nina herself. I realize that I cannot truly understand how difficult it must be for her to take such steps… But she was able to take a step toward us, and I am very happy about that,” Lera Lazuk says emotionally.
Art historian and guide, author of the project “By Culture”, Mikita Monich, also sent a video message from Madrid:
“Unfortunately, I have never seen many of Nina’s works in person, side by side. But even when you are flipping through a folder of reproductions, you want to keep looking. These large series, where more or less the same perspective unfolds again and again in different color schemes, in different proportional and structural solutions — it’s a thrill!” — Mikita Monich openly shares his admiration for Nina Margaieva’s works.
The exhibition features about 50 of Nina Margaieva’s original works in oil pastel, executed by the artist herself.
These works are from the series “Life on the Fifth Floor” (2019), created when the artist moved to Lomonosova Street in Minsk; projects “Baranovichi”, “Flowers of Last Summer”, and works from the plein air “Domashkavichy” — all of these reflect Belarus. Unfortunately, the project “To Love Warsaw in 100 Days” remains unfinished.
Nina Margaieva’s exhibition “A Step Forward” will be on view at the Museum of Free Belarus in Warsaw for a week, until October 22; afterwards, some of the works will be available for purchase.
It is planned that in the coming days the exhibition will be supplemented with works by other Belarusian artists, which will be offered for charity sale, with proceeds going to support Nina.
Original article: svaboda.org
