Ales Pushkin’s paintings were not allowed for exhibition in Sweden

• 2.12.2009, 10:48

The Ministry of Culture of Belarus allowed the famous artist to take only 3 out of 17 paintings.

Euroradio learnt this from the artist.

“She (an official) has allowed only three landscapes “My Bobr”, “Winter Bobr,” Ales Pushkin noted. “She said: ‘You’d better glorify your country with landscapes, you shouldn’t disgrace the country with policemen, barbed wire, all those locks, axes and starling-houses.’”

The remaining 14 paintings will be considered by the Ministry of Culture within 10 days. Meanwhile, the exposition in Kalmar (Sweden) will open on December 4. If the paintings do not get to the ferry today, they will not be displayed at the exposition.

It is notable that Ales Pushkin displayed the paintings “rejected” by the Ministry of Culture in Oslo in late April 2009 without any problems.

Ales Pushkin is known for his performances on public and political themes. One of the most famous performances is one of 1999, when Ales Pushkin turned over a wheelbarrow full of dung in front of the Lukashenka’s administration building. The artist was given a 2-year suspended sentence.