On March 30, 2021, the opening of the exhibition “The machine breathes, but I don’t” took place in the art space “Mesca”.
On March 31, the exhibition space had a scheduled day off.
On April 1, inspectors from the sanitary station, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, as well as people in civilian clothes who did not introduce themselves came to the art space where the exhibition was held. The tenants of the premises were given a written order stating that the space did not meet sanitary, and fire safety standards, therefore the visitors were not allowed to enter.
In this way, the exhibition was open for exactly one day.
On April 2, a search warrant was issued for the Zvyano’s office and private apartments of the association’s activists.
On April 3, a planned open online interview was held with intensivist-anesthesiologist Uladzimir Martov, who, in the first wave of the pandemic, made public the information about the “accident” with the supply of oxygen which led to deaths of patients with COVID-19. After that he was fired.
On April 5, five activists of the association were detained and their houses were searched on suspicion of committing a criminal offense (“financing of protests”, “preparation of persons for actions that flagrantly violate public order, or active participation in such actions”).
“The machine breathes, but I don’t” is a project about the politicization of the medical sphere, about the COVID-19 pandemic and about doctors who continued to fight for the lives of patients despite the fact that the Belarusian authorities denied the problem. The idea of the project arose after the analysis of the data about the state of the healthcare system gained through monitoring which was carried out by Zvyano in the spring and summer of 2020.
When we started working on the project, the curatorial group were faced with the fact that there were not so many projects by Belarusian artists on the topic of the pandemic, and even more so those which dealt with doctors and their working conditions. Undoubtedly, artists and photographers were reacting to the new conditions of the spring of 2020, but they were mostly exploring their personal state and reactions to a new way of life.
At the same time, Belarusian society was undergoing a radical transformation of consciousness. When the authorities denied the problem and did not take any measures to protect the population, people took responsibility and saved the situation themselves (they self-isolated, wore masks, supported civil initiatives that helped medics). The study of these changes in society was the main motive of the project.
The project “The machine breathes, but I don’t” included an exhibition that presented five projects, online meetings with doctors, offline discussions and other activities. The name of the exhibition was inspired by the project “Notes of patients on mechanical ventilation” by doctor Galina Krasnapyorauska. She took photos of the notes that were written by people who spent a long time on mechanical ventilators and did not have the opportunity to fully communicate. Writing notes was the only means of conveying their thoughts and wishes. For some, these messages became their last words.
The chosen phrase emphasizes the vulnerability of human life and its dependence on external support, as well as the state of Belarusian society throughout 2020.
The exhibition presented:
– The project “Where have all the flowers gone?” by Maxim Sarychau;
– The photo report “Red Zone” by Ales Piletski from the Vitebsk City Emergency Hospital (made with the assistance of the head of the resuscitation department at the time, Vladimir Martov, who was later fired);
– The project “Stories of Doctors. 2020” by Masha Svyatogor, Veronika Lazarevich and Julia Vauchok;
– “Manifesto” by the art group, Vasilisa Polyanina and Andrey Arno, “Who Except Us” which calls on the Belarusian society to continue to stand in solidarity.
