On 24 August we will gather in Warsaw to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the Anarchist Black Cross Belarus collective. We have been doing anti-oppression work for 15 years.
Struggle, repression and exile have become a reality for many of us. In these difficult times, we want to meet our comrades who continue to support our work and the prisoners against all odds. We want to highlight the undying solidarity inside and outside our movement. This helps us to continue to organise resistance against dictatorship, capitalism and empire.
The celebration will take place on 24 August at the ADA Puławska Social Centre (Warsaw, Puławska 37) from 12.00 to 24.00.
We plan to combine socialising, new acquaintances, reflections on solidarity, fun and fundraising into one day.
The programme includes: tattoo circus, concert, auction, food and drinks, discussions, exhibition, market and more. This page will be updated regularly.
Day schedule:
12:00 – 18:00 Tattoo circus
12:00 – 23:00 Exhibition
12:00 – 21:00 Market
14:00 – 14:30 Overview of ABC-Belarus’ 15-year history
15:00 – 17:30 Panel discussion “Solidarity Inside Out”
18:30 – 19:30 Auction
20:00 – 23:00 Сoncert
TATTOO CIRCUS
A tattoo room will be open throughout the day, offering benefit tattoos provided by various artists. All proceeds will be donated to support prisoners.
The list of tattto artists will be published soon. If you want a tattoo, wait until we announce the registration and show you what tattoos you can get.
MARKET
The courtyard of the ADA Social Centre will host a market. This is a place where you will find some friendly distros, as well as creators selling clothes, jewellery, artwork and other things. You’ll be able to buy ABC-Belarus merch there too. We’ll also have tables with things that you no longer use and can donate to us. We’ll collect them at different events in Warsaw and Vilnius (watch for announcements) and then sell them at the event for a recommended price.
If you have USEFUL and FUNCTIONAL items in excellent condition (books, appliances, unique clothing, etc.), please consider donating them to the market. Donations can be made on August 24 or at other public events at the ADA Social Center (Warsaw) or the RADA Market (August 10, Vilnius). This would be your in-kind contribution.
If you would like to book a table at the market, contact us to learn about the conditions.
AUCTION
An auction will kick off in the evening. According to the plan, it will be held offline at ADA and online for those who can’t make it in person. Information on lots and online participation is available on this page.
EXHIBITION
Against Fatherland
In 2020 after the election fraud, Belarusians went to the streets to protest the dictatorship and the police state they are living under. This exhibition follows events on the Belarusian streets in 2020 through different phases of protests and solidarity. We see how peaceful protests turned to riots, brutally repressed by the state. In the face of growing ruthlessness of state apparatus, people adjusted their strategies. Women in White marches against police violence, neighborhood assemblies and street art replaced big demonstrations. Also the protesters changed, when grandmothers replaced their arrested daughters and granddaughters on the streets to only later join them in prison cells. The unprecedented presence of women in the streets spoke to the need to overcome patriarchal violence through collective disobedience. Traditions of village organizing and collective embroidery art were inspiration both for protesters and artists telling the stories of rebellion and punishment.
The response of the dictator was the same: the strengthening of repression. Thousands were arrested, beaten, charged with heavy crimes like treason, and sentenced to years in penal colonies where the lives of political prisoners are made miserable. The exhibition gives insight into the repression and the grim reality of the Belarusian prison, with a special focus on women prisons. Through the personal stories, photos, drawings, interviews and everyday objects, we get a glimpse into the harsh prison life as well as the everyday hopes and despairs of those imprisoned.
Another part of the exhibition shows how collective experience of repression and resistence is being unveiled, recorded and given voice through art. Naked ugliness of the dicatorship is amplified, but also ridiculed by the artists of young generation who had to decide early wheather they will bend their necks or fight and face repressions. There is also hope in the return of many artists to healing collective practices, like women embroidery-storytelling, where the red thread signifies not only blood, but also life.
At 13.30 and 17:45 there will be guided tours through the exhibition with participation of ex-political prisoner Mia Mitkevich, who will talk about her prison experience.
DISCUSSION
This day is not only a holiday for us but rather a culmination of challenging work over the past 15 years, without respite or hope for the best. However, repression is not limited to Belarus, and solidarity is not a phenomenon exclusive to 2020. We aim to facilitate a panel discussion on the experience of anti-repression and prisoner solidarity work. It is widely acknowledged that imprisonment is an unpleasant experience. However, there is a paucity of information about the reality of being an outside supporter.
Solidarity inside out
As anarchists and radicals we often want to believe that “Solidarity is our weapon”. But what happens, when the groups we support make choices we don’t agree with? When the internal dynamics becomes violent or toxic? When we don’t have enough information to understand specific situations that are not our reality? When solidarity hunt becomes the weapon of the state? When the movement you rely upon stops existing or sees you as a specialised solidarity and fundraising task force?
By publishing our text about the anarchist book fair in Berlin that blocked our participation over our anti-war stance, we initiated a discussion about the process of solidarity that we would like to continue on this event.
This is just one example of specific challenges that solidarity work demands from those, who struggle to continue with it, against all odds. Focusing on the ones in need, we rarely think about those behind the scenes, who put their energy into supplying necessary support. With 15 years of solidartity work behind us, we see a need to look back at our experience from a more reflective perspective.
We have invited Solidarity Collectives (Ukraine), Szpila (Poland), Solidarity Zone (Russia) and Tameio (Greece) to take part in the panel discussion during our anniversary celebrations. The discussion will focus on the challenges and difficulties of solidarity work, and most importantly – ways out of dark corners in which we often find ourselves, tools and solutions that worked and successes we have had over the years.
Discussion will be held in english with simultaneous interpretation into ukrainian and polish.
CONCERT
There will be a punk concert and dancing for sure!
Get ready for delicious food and cold drinks. Probably even a cake, it’s a birthday after all!
Concert line-up:
– Poprawczak (Wawa, experimental/egg-punk/warsaw punk stars mix)
– Deathknell (Wawa, slut metal/grind/sludge) https://www.instagram.com/deathknell_slut/
– Dj Botanic (Berlin, industrial hard techno) https://soundcloud.com/savasduzdas
Contacting us with any questions is best done via email at belarus_abc@riseup.net or on any of our social networks.