Embroidering the Present through the Past: Constructing ‘Belarusian-ness’ through Digital- Folk Storytelling

Several Belarusian artists began including re-appropriated folkloric imagery and art-making techniques in response to anti-dictatorial protests, which erupted in Belarus on May 24th, 2020 following the rigged elections. Rufina Bazlova was one such artist, who documented the protest events in The History of the Belarusian Vyzhyvanka (2020-2021). This digitally-native artwork was mechanically embroidered to mimic traditional Belarusian cross-stitch embroidery on linen shirts- vyshyvankas. Using Bazlova as a case study, this paper examines how, and to what extent, the interweaving of digital and folk-storytelling in contemporary Belarusian art contributes to the representation of a post-2020 Belarusian identity, perpetuated across mass- media since 2020. In exploring this investigation through Peircean semiotics and anthropological methodologies, this thesis shows: how folkloric imagery and material heritage contribute to a distinctly Belarusian identity through their indexical and...Show moreSeveral Belarusian artists began including re-appropriated folkloric imagery and art-making techniques in response to anti-dictatorial protests, which erupted in Belarus on May 24th, 2020 following the rigged elections. Rufina Bazlova was one such artist, who documented the protest events in The History of the Belarusian Vyzhyvanka (2020-2021). This digitally-native artwork was mechanically embroidered to mimic traditional Belarusian cross-stitch embroidery on linen shirts- vyshyvankas. Using Bazlova as a case study, this paper examines how, and to what extent, the interweaving of digital and folk-storytelling in contemporary Belarusian art contributes to the representation of a post-2020 Belarusian identity, perpetuated across mass- media since 2020. In exploring this investigation through Peircean semiotics and anthropological methodologies, this thesis shows: how folkloric imagery and material heritage contribute to a distinctly Belarusian identity through their indexical and symbolic meaning, which also gives them anti-colonial agency; and how their contemporary re-contextualisation within the digital creates a historical continuity between former oppositional identities and a uniquely digital, post-2020 identity. In doing so, this research targets a common misconception of a lacking Belarusian culture and identity.Show less

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Embroidering the Present through the Past: Constructing ‘Belarusian-ness’ through Digital- Folk Storytelling