The first webinar of the series of online workshops

First webinar of the series of online workshops “Raising civil society awareness in Belarus”

Under initiative supported by the 2020 – 2023 Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid to Eastern Partnership countries programme of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

University of Tartu Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies and The Centre for Eurasian and Russian Studies (CEURUS) in cooperation with Belarusian Student Support Association and Honest University successfully held the first webinar in the series of “Raising civil society awareness in Belarus” on 13 April via Zoom. The webinar entailed an online panel discussion of the special Belarus’ issue of political journal “New Perspectives” (SAGE Volume 29 Issue 1, March 2021). The webinar attracted more than 30 participants from Belarus, Russia, and Poland.

Vice Director for Academic Affairs at the Johan Skytte Institute, Ms Olga Bogdanova commented: “This series of seminars is conceived as a communication platform for political activists and representatives of civil society in Belarus.” Bogdanova also mentioned the importance of including students and academic circles to the discussion and expressed the hope that the virtual format would be replaced by face-to-face meetings as the situation with COVID-19 improves.

The team of panelists consisted of the following people: Aliaksei Kazharski (Charles University in Prague), Tatsiana Kulakevich (University of South Florida), Elizaveta Gaufman (University of Groningen) and Piotr Rudkouski (Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies)

Aliaksei Kazkarski analyzed symbols and visual rhetoric of the protests, as well as the process of search and construction of identity. According to Kazharski, during the protests a large amount of people stepped into politics for the first time. Tatsiana Kulakevich mentioned Lukashenka’s denial of COVID-19, excessive self-confidence and use of physical violence, and underestimation of Sviatlana Tikhanouskaya, as having made the Belarusian protests different from the previous ones.

Elizaveta Gaufman, talking about gender iconography demonstrated how patriarchal perceptions about the role of women were reinterpreted during the Belarusian protests. She used samples of the Belarusian traditional art, including embroidery, to demonstrate a non-traditional way of visualizing protests. Piotr Rudkovski discussed several factors of Russia’s influence in Belarus, among which security forces, cultural influence, Soviet legacy, and hindering of pro-democratic movements.

The next webinar of the series, concerning the topic of protest art, will be held on 11 May 2021 from 18.00 – 19.30 (UTC+3). Registration form on project main page.

For additional information and inquiries please contact Jaak Erik Laja at jaak.erik.laja [ät] ut.ee