“We are witnesses. We are participants. We are all protagonists of this book.

Musicians, actors, factory workers, teachers—we stood side by side in the protests, united by a shared dream of a better future, driven by a hunger for change and a deep sense that something new was coming.

We were not victors, but neither were we defeated. We are a people still writing our own history. We may not always speak about it, but we will remember—and carry every moment of what we lived through deep inside.

And life goes on—with those who remain behind bars. With the pain of waiting, and a life not yet whole until every political prisoner is free.

I was part of that cultural uprising in 2020. I remember how the Belarusian song rang out — in the streets, in supermarkets, in courtyards. That voice could not be silenced."

 —Siarhei Douhushau,  Belarusian musician, founder of the Spieuny Shod initiative and co-founder of the Volny Chor

“Belarus: Faces of Resistance is both a record of events and an act of memory and defiance. Against censorship and disinformation that erase, distort, and remove from the narrative the voices of those who refused to live in fear and silence, this book restores their presence.

Through texts, photographs, art, and conversations, we encounter living Belarus–a country striving to reclaim its dignity, freedom, and hope.

These are the stories of those whom the regime tried to make disappear. And yet they testify: Belarus lives in resistance to violence and repression.

And once we listen to them, we can no longer live as if we hadn’t heard.

This book speaks to all who believe in the power of the human voice in the face of evil. It is not only about Belarus–it is about dignity as a form of politics, and solidarity as an act of love.

In reading it, we become part of this testimony.”

—Taciana Niadbaj, poet and human rights defender, PEN Belarus

"At the heart of this book, are people of Belarus, captured through the empathetic lens of their compatriots—photographers who witnessed and recorded a historical moment that was as exhilarating as it was precarious. Humanism of photography as art and witness lies in a photographer’s ability to direct the technology, almost prophetically, toward a moment to come, to anticipate a revelation of life that is not yet there. This process’s outcome, never completely controllable neither by a camera nor by a photographer's hand, is always a matter of awe and mystery. This book’s haunting photography is overwhelming in its receptiveness to those elusive moments when the camera’s light and freedom of the human spirit met as allies to face up to unimaginable adversity of the unhuman."

—Gudrun Stockinger, Austrian photographer

"Resistance can take many forms, from boycotts to marches, sit-ins, and strikes. But archival scholarship, the preservation of the past, and the prevention of the erasure of history is equally important. Belarus: Faces of Resistance directly counters the efforts of totalitarian regimes to erase the evidence of their crimes in Eastern Europe. It is crucial reading, both for its contents and methods. Highly recommended."

—W. J. T. Mitchell, University of Chicago

“Belarus: Faces of Resistance brings together an invaluable range of perspectives on, and responses to, the protests of 2020. As well as documenting the events and securing their memory for future generations, this carefully assembled collection contextualises them masterfully: the 2019 interview with human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, for example, brings out the enduring struggle of Belarusians. The insights of emigrants, artists, and scholars give us a rich picture of the 2020 protests, their causes and consequences, and underscore their global significance. The protests may not have dislodged the dictator, but, as the editor notes in her introduction, there was a ‘revolution of consciousness’. This volume is a remarkable testament to the commitment and energy of Belarusians who want to see social and democratic change in their country—and a poignant series of photographs brings the reader eye-to-eye with some of them.”

—Paul Hansbury, author of Belarus in Crisis: From Domestic Unrest to the Russia-Ukraine War

Acknowledgements

Preface

David R. Marples

My Existential Journey through the Belarusian Revolution

Andrei Kureichik

Introduction

Olga V. Solovieva

Part 1

Belarusian Protests in a Local and Global Perspective

“What Is Happening in Belarus?” Roundtable with Ales Bialiatski, Michael McFaul, and David R. Marples

Olga V. Solovieva 

Part 2

Representing Belarusian Protests

Belarus—Faces of Resistance. Photographs, Drawings, and Film Stills from the Exhibit at Southspace Gallery, June 24–September 30, 2022

Oliver Okun 

Mapping Belarusian Protests: “Be Water” (August 11, 2020) and “Women’s March” (August 29, 2020)

Julia Turner and Geoffrey Goldberg

Part 3

The Art of Resistance in Belarus

Belarus: Photography, Art, and the Faces of Resistance. Catalogue of the University of Chicago Regenstein Library Exhibit 

Megan Browndorf

Part 4

Belarusian Protests in Local and Transnational Contexts

The Cultures of Protest in Cotemporary Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia

Olga V. Solovieva

“Work of Archives and Cultural Institutions as Protest”—2019 Roundtable with Serguei Parkhomenko, Ales Bialiatski, and Vasyl Cherepanyn

Yuliya Ilchuk and Olga V. Solovieva

“About the Local and What All Hold in Common”: Interview with Ales Bialiatski

Olga V. Solovieva 

Part 5

Aftermath: The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize

Ales Bialiatski, Together: On the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and East Slavic Solidarity

Olga V. Solovieva 

Knowledge—Memory—Freedom: The Relevance of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize 

Adam F. Kola

Part 6

The Future of the Past: Envisioning Belarusian Democracy

“Diasporic Narratives and Memories”: University of Chicago Students Designing a New Concept of the Museum of Multi-Ethnic Belarusian Emigration 

Bożena Shallcross and Olga V. Solovieva, with Theodor Anderson, Joy Chan, Esha Deokar, Kaila Etienne-Best, Theresa Fonseca, Arianne Nguyen, Katherine Sinyavin, and Aaron Unger