The international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect” prepared by the National Center for Contemporary Arts together with the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings
The international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect”, prepared by the National Center for Contemporary Arts in cooperation with the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, was opened on March 26, 2021. The opening of the exhibition was timed to a significant date for the archive industry – the 80th anniversary of the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, which was founded on March 29, 1941.
The author of the idea and curator of the project is D. V. Danilovich, a leading researcher at the National Center for Contemporary Arts.
The Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings has provided 118 photo documents, 1 audio document, and 1 film document. The collection of archival documents presented at the exhibition is a unique testimony to the tragic events of 35 years ago and their aftermath. The evacuation of people from contaminated areas, the burial of villages, the medical rehabilitation of the injured, and life on the territory contaminated with radionuclides are well illustrated in archival photographs and newsreels.
The archival photo documents, which form the basis of the exhibition, are supplemented by installations and author’s photographs of the NOVA Gallery of Visual Arts (photos by A. Kleshchuk “Radaunitsa. Charnobyl Zone”) and the National Photo Club “Minsk” (photos by Yevgeny Kozyulya from the cycle “Barred Zone of Palesye”). The sound design used in the project was provided by D. Lades. The accompanying program of the project is supported by the National Film Studio “Belarusfilm”.
The art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect “explores how memories have changed over time, what tools are used by contemporary artists to tell about the accident and its consequences, on which texts, images and plots they base their story and analysis. The project authors interact in different ways with archival documents, borrowing documentary evidence of the past and using their own materials.
The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus A. E. Tsvetkov, Director of the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings A. N. Gonchar, Director of the Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records Yu. E. Prozorovich, Deputy Head of Organizational Work, Information and Use of Documents at the Department for Archives and Records Management M. N. Skomoroshchenko.
The exhibition is on view at the National Center for Contemporary Arts in Minsk, 3 Nekrasova Street and runs from March 26 to May 2, 2021.
Photo documents from the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings at the exposition of the international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect”
Photo documents from the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings at the exposition of the international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect”
Artistic design of one of the exhibition halls of the international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect”
Alexey Tsvetkov, Deputy Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus at the opening ceremony of the international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect”
Photo documents from the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings at the exposition of the international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect”
Andrei Gonchar, Director of the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings during his welcoming speech at the opening of the international art project “Chernobyl. Sleeper Effect”. In the center is Alesya Inozemtseva, Deputy Director of the National Center for Contemporary Arts