Art-Manor: Some officials did not like our activities
The founder of Art-Manor, Pavel Belavus, has explained why it was being ousted: "Who likes active people expressing themselves now?".
Euroradio: What did the organizers of Art-Manor do to be ousted?
Pavel Belavus: We do not really know what the problem is. I have been summoned by the owner of the room today. They said that we will have to leave the office by July 23 and that our contract that had to expire at the end of October has been cancelled. The reason for it was the fact that we violated fire safety and many other regulations and that the room has suddenly become not suitable for our weekly events.
Euroradio: It is written that the visitors smoked a lot. It is true?
Pavel Belavus: We have been controlling it strictly recently. There were signs prohibiting smoking everywhere. But there are many other offices next to ours and their employees smoke near office and shift the blame onto us. We have always been to blame for everything bad although we have been trying to put this strange room in order. I think there are other reasons to oust us.
Euroradio: What reasons?
Pavel Belavus: Who likes active people expressing themselves in various ways in our country?.. We claimed that we are a cultural platform and did not want to interfere into politics. We wanted to demonstrate cultural diversity and versatility to the Belarusian youth. Of course some officials dislike it when you are active and it is not controlled - we decided who would come, recite verses or sing.
Euroradio: What will you do now?
Pavel Belavus: We have posted an appeal to our visitors in social networks. We have asked them to write to the administration and explain why we are useful and why we should not be closed. We are hoping that the appeal will have some response. There is still time until July 23 - we will organize the events that have already been planned and then we will look for something else. Maybe some private businessmen or structures have some office we could rent or we will look for one ourselves. We are not going to lose hope - we have our own organization, friends and a wealth of experience.
Euroradio: Which events are you most proud of?
Pavel Belavus: We invited Palina Respublica for the first time and she sounded livelier. We had a number of charity actions for sick children - famous musicians like Vaitsyushekvich, the band "Reha", "Bosaye Sontsa " and others performed there. Ales Marachkin displayed his pictures here, there were many young bands and bards from Russia and Ukraine, there were interesting young literary men from Minsk and Ukraine. The last happening was the 10th anniversary of "The Library of Freedom" where Lyavon Volski sang his famous songs for free. We had film shows and street art expositions. We have made our contribution and created a precedent - maybe somebody will pick up and we may organize it in a new way too.
