Top graffiti painted over by Belarus officials
A new mural in town depicts a Belarusian boy with flowers in his hands and a Russian girl holding a container with bubble soap. The Minsk City Administration came up with the idea and Russian street artist Artur Koshak, famous in his country for his patriotic graffiti, did the job.
The new 'masterpiece' triggered a storm on social media with critics claiming that officials had once again created a truly tasteless piece while modern street art objects had been painted over…
Euroradio reminds us about the most high-profile 'pain-overs' recently.
Cat in a scarf
WHERE?
In Minsk along with other cats on transformer booths in backyards near the Central Children's Park.
WHY?
Ales Kontra's cat with a scarf was a hit that attracted crowds of Minskers to take selfies. But in early May, the graffiti, which in fact had been approved by the authorities, disappeared: it was painted over. The officials pretended they were not involved.
“Prior to the Victory Day, we received an order to check all backyards to make sure everything was beautiful Our workers spotted this graffiti, it had crumbling paint and the traces of cigarette ends... Unfortunately, the graffiti was damaged and had to be painted over. We welcome everything that beautifies the city. The only thing is that graffiti has to be approved by us first," Yury Mishuk from Minskenergo, the owner of the building at Sakharava 19 told kyky.org.
Vasil Bykau
WHERE?
On a transformer booth neat Victory Square in Minsk. The grafitti was painted over. The artist got a Br18 million fine.
WHY?
Officials treated the grafitti as a non-authorized act by four Minsk-based street artists from the HoodGraff group. They claimed Bykau an ideology matter, which had no place in Minsk without their approval despite celebrations of 90 years since the writer's death.
Дацэнт з фільма Гайдая “Джэнтльмены удачы”
ДЗЕ?
Год таму ў Віцебску таксама на трансфарматарнай будцы. Выява Дацэнта ў момант, калі ён пагражае аўтарытэту Ніколу Піцерскаму “парваць пашчу” і “выкалаць маргалы”, была створаная віцебскай стрыт-арт-камандай "HoodGraff”.
ЧАМУ ЗАМАЗАЛІ?
Па-першае, не быў узгоднены, па-другое, з-за малюнка… не бачна расколінаў:
““Ёсць такі момант, за гэтымі партрэтамі не бачна расколінаў, — тлумачыць намеснік дырэктара ўстановы Віцебскія электрычныя сеткі Андрэй Квачонак. — Калі стары будынак, то мы адсочваем расколіны, каб, не дай Бог, фундамент не пайшоў. Але зразумейце правільна! Мы ж не варвары якія! Калі прыгожа, то яно прыгожа! Але калі пачынаюць прымалёўваць розную брыдоту…”
The Small Plane
In early June, several buildings, including the house of aviation college with the 'small plane grafitti' were demolished in Aeradromnaja street. The mural by Pinsk-based street artist Mutus symbolized his nostalgy for the city's past and the airport which was to disappear soon. According to Urban Myths coordinator who curated the mural, the author was aware what awaits his mural in the future. At the moment, the artist has an idea for a new mural, which will probably appear in Minsk soon.
According to Aleh Larychau, Housing and Communal Services painted over thousands of street art objects across Belarus. Here are some of the most interesting objects:
