Marina Naprushkina

Marina Naprushkina was born in Minsk. Between 1997 and 2000 she studied at the city's National Glebov Arts Academy, which she later described as "a very traditional art school",^[3] before moving on to the Fine Arts Academy in Karlsruhe.^[4] Staying in Germany, she pursued her studies at the Städelschule (fine arts academy) in Frankfurt am Main between 2004 and 2008, where she was taught by Martha Rosler, an American artist whose specialities include video-art and photography, along with installation and performance art.^[4]

Naprushkina's own work covers installation art, painting and video-art.^[3]

She is above all concerned with the political dimensions and scope of art,^[5] devoting herself to reworking the power structures in the nation state through the prism of art. She sees Belarus, where she was born, as one example of a contemporary dictatorship, and of how western democracies address the problem it represents.^[5] To communicate this she often uses genuine texts, such as propaganda leaflets, produced by institutions that operate under the aegis of the Belarusian government.^[3]

Naprushkina created the "Büro für Anti-Propaganda" in 2007. This is a long-term research and documentation project which investigates how manipulation and control are used to retain power.^[5] The Büro für Anti-Propaganda also involves itself in political activity, launching in 2011 "Self # governing", a news journal in Russian and English, which in its first edition elaborated on the ways in which manipulation mechanisms are applied, in order to provide the reader with at least a measure of immunity against them ("....wenigstens ein bisschen dagegen zu immunisieren").^[6] The objective of the newspaper is to develop a future path for Belarus beyond the power blocs of Russia and the European Union, and also to develop alternative state structures worldwide.^[7] The Russian language version was widely distributed inside Belarus.^[7] The Second edition offered a feminist perspective, containing an analysis of the patriarchal government system in Belarus, showing how women themselves support the structure, but also identifying possible alternatives.^[7] This edition became Naprushkina's contribution in the Seventh Berlin Biennale (2012). Despite positive responses, finance for the news journal was exhausted in 2015, and at present it is not clear when the next edition will appear.^[6]

In the judgment of Jutta Schwengsbier the "Büro für Anti-Propaganda" has mutated since its inception from an art project into a kernel of political opposition.^[8]

"The President's Platform" (2007) is a sculpture. It is a copy of the large red podium used on important state occasions by the Belarusian government. According to the lengthy explanatory notice that accompanied it when it was presented at the 2009 Istanbul Biennial, it represents an instrument of propaganda which President Lukashenko and senior colleagues use to build up their importance and to divert attention from political themes. The notice also invited reflection over "the absurdity of this solitary red pedestal [which] reflects on the excessive use of the term 'platform' as an imaginary basis for dialogue and freedom of speech, whilst at the same time this freedom of speech is stifled in most 'democratic' societies".^[9] The large podium was also offered as a "stage where subjects that are otherwise suppressed can be discussed and reflected upon in a way that is beyond real politics".^[9]

"My Daddy is a Policeman" (2011) applies a colouring book format. It was designed by Marina Naprushkina and then printed and distributed via activists across Belarus by a non-government organisation called "Nash Dom" ("Наш Дом" / "Our house".^[10] It was also displayed at an exhibition, with spare copies of the work, on which visitors were invited to draw, attached to the wall,.