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8:00 PM
Stones That Breathe - Wind That Sings - A Living Archive From Belarusian Palessie
Organ Concert and Exibition at Sophienkirche|Каменні, што дыхаюць. Вецер, які спявае – жывы архіў беларускага Палесся.
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Sophienkirche
- Price Free entrance
On the second day after the celebration of Holy Trinity, a specially prepared candle—made from wax contributed by different families—is carried in a procession of villagers. The candle remains in the home of a respected villager for one year, where the entire community gathers to pray, sing, and celebrate the renewal of the life cycle. The following year, the candle is transferred to a new home.
The path of the candle is laid with embroidered handwoven linen towels adorned with young green foliage and the first spring flowers—symbols of unity, freedom, prosperity, and protection.
Like other Palessian rituals—such as Kaliady, Tiareshka’s Wedding, Kupalle, or Dazhynki—this ceremony seamlessly merges deeply archaic beliefs with Orthodox Christian holidays, reminding us that what we often perceive as irreconcilable opposites may, in fact, share a common origin.
On the evening of November 7th, at Sophienkirche in Berlin, the Palessian photo archive of artist and photographer Andrei Liankevich will come to life, in dialogue with the quintessence of Christian hymnody: the selections from the organ canon of J.S. Bach, performed by composer and organist Olga Podgaiskaya.
Proving that stones can breathe, and the wind can sing.
Contributors:
Organ – Olga Podgaiskaya
Soprano Saxophone – Vitali Darashuk
Photography / Pagan Archive – Andrei Liankevich
Visual Mapping – Sergey Novitsky
Curator – Anna Karpenko
Set Production – Maria Znachonak
Graphic Design – Alina Derya Yakaboylu
Presented by the Goethe-Institut in Exile, with kind support from Kultur Büro Elisabeth.
Artists
Anna Karpenko was born in Minsk (Belarus) and currently lives in Berlin. She is a curator and author. Karpenko studied Philosophy at Belarusian State University (Minsk), Visual Studies at European Humanities University (Vilnius), and Curatorial Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts (Leipzig). Additionally, she is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). As a curator, she has organized exhibitions and research projects with ifa Gallery (Berlin), Göethe Institute in Exile, Badischer Kunstverein (Karlsruhe), Museum of Contemporary Art, GfZK (Leipzig), Halle 14 (Leipzig), Muzeum Sztuki (Lodz), Gallery Arsenal (Bialystok), Labirynth Gallery (Lublin), Future Laboratory (Luxembourg) and others.
As an author, her texts have been published in Springerin magazine, BLOCK magazine, Dwutygodnik, RTV magazine, Magazyn SZUM, Kulturaustausch magazine, and Berlin Art Link.
Andrei Liankevich is a Belarusian photographer, born 1981 in Grodno and based in Minsk (Belarus).
2004-2005 He studied at the World Press Photo seminar in Yerevan (Arminia). 2005-2010 he has cooperated with the European Press Photo Agency (EPA) and in 2007-2012 he worked with the Anzenberger Agency. In 2008, Andrei joined a collective of young photographers, SPUTNIK. His works are published in international media as The New York Times, Le Figaro, Newsweek, Die Zeit, Spiegel, GEO, Vanity Fair, Readers Digest and the International Herald Tribune.
In 2010, published the book “Pagan” - the first book about Belarusian Pagan traditions. In 2009 Andrei wins prize at the Humanity Photo Awards with his work about “Pagan traditions in Belarus”, late that year the project was among finalists of “Magnum Expression Award”. Later Andrei wins 1st Prize at the Polish Photography Contest dedicated to 170 Years of Photography. And in 2010 Andrei won OSCE photo contest and got 1st prize in Belarus Press Photo contest in “People in news” category.
In 2020, Andrei won the “Gender Photography competition “ ( London) with the photo from the “Traditional interiors” project.
Andrei Liankevich has presented his photographic oeuvre in more than 60 exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the USA; e.g. collective exhibitions such as “She has female name” was presented at the Museum of Modern Art (Vienna, Austria) and the Zacheta Gallery in Warshaw (Poland), and he showed “Unknown Country” photo project as part of the Third Month of European Photography in Uferhallen, Berlin (Germany).
Andrei’s photographs are in private collections in Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Lithuania.
Olga Podgaiskaya (b. 1981) is a Belarusian composer and organist.
She studied composition at the Belarusian State Academy of Music in Minsk and has since written a wide range of works, including operas, music theatre, choral pieces, orchestral and chamber compositions, and music for film, which are performed worldwide.
Her favourite genre is symphonic works, but she particularly excels in compositions for solo organ or organ in combination with other instruments.
Podgaiskaya’s works have been performed at festivals such as "Mute Nights," Beethovenfest Bonn, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, the Salzburg Festival, and others. She is a fellow of the Polish Ministry of Culture’s "Gaude Polonia" program (2016, 2022) and was a finalist in the film composers’ program "Envision Sound" (Kyiv, 2019). In 2021, she collaborated with the dance company “Sasha Waltz & Guests” during a composer residency, which resulted in the dance project “In B.” Her critically acclaimed opera “King Stakh’s Wild Hunt” (commissioned by the Belarus Free Theater and Barbican Centre) premiered at the Barbican Centre in London in September 2023.
Since 2021, she has been a resident of Poland and lives in Warsaw.
