Inside this display in a Prague exhibition hall, the plight of political prisoners in Belarus is being highlighted in an art form usually associated with traditional Slavic clothing.
The exhibit, titled Framed In Belarus, uses cross-stitch embroidery to profile those arrested amid the police crackdown that followed Belarus's disputed 2020 presidential election. The work is part of the Matter of Art Biennale in Prague's National Gallery.
Rufina Bazlova (pictured) is the Czech-based Belarusian artist behind the project, which she began with art historian Sofia Tocar.Framed In Belarus is a compilation of 681 embroideries stitched by volunteers from around the world who followed designs created by Bazlova.
Each artwork highlights an individual prisoner.This cross-stitch illustrates the case of Minsk woman Anastasia Kukhta who ran a hairdressing business until her arrest and imprisonment in 2022 after taking part in anti-government protests. She is serving a five-year sentence for charges that include association with an "extremist formation."
A detail of one panel showing protesters clashing with riot police in Brest.Bazlova says the textile political art, which mimics the patterns used on traditional vyshyvanka shirts, is impactful precisely because it is not shocking. Unlike distressing documentary imagery of the postelection violence, cross-stitch depictions are "nice, even though they're speaking about hard topics," the artist told RFE/RL.
