Minsk

Anyone arriving in Minsk for the first time is likely to be confused and overwhelmed by the enormous boulevards, the endless parks downtown, and the numerous places adorned with curious décor. Designed by the Soviets as an ideal city and the realization of the communist utopia, Minsk has transformed into a space of the absurd: the architectural monument of a »city of happiness« and an expression of the impossibility of reaching it at the same time. This is where the battle for the future takes place, democracy, which has always torpedoes the construction of an ideal city, edges itself in. The Belarusian artist, architect and writer Artur Klinau portrays the »sunny city of dreams«, talks about resisting Lukashenko’s dictatorship and notes Europe disappearing into the twilight zone that is Belarus.

Minsk, 1965. Artur Klinau comes into the world, into a divided world. Minsk, the »sunny city of dreams« in the »Land of Happiness«, i.e. the Soviet Union, reveals itself to the eyes of the young boy. Through a series of chronologically narrated personal anecdotes and depictions of everyday life in the Belarusian capital, Klinau sheds some light on his relationship with his home town. The somewhat child-like and innocent narrative tone emphasizes the depth of the author’s affection towards the city. But this aesthetical bias goes further, its strength operates elsewhere: while portraying Minsk as a marvelous place, as the tangible outcome of the initial Communist project, Klinau also provides us with a bittersweet criticism of that same ideology.

Selected Foreign Editions

French edition released by Signes et Balises >>

Swedish edition released by Ersatz >>

Polish edition released by Czarne >>

Hungarian edition released by Kairosz >>