Files
Abstract
In this thesis, the 2020 Belarusian protests are analyzed visually. The central argument of this work is that many elements of the protests exemplify a collective and aesthetic restructuring of the authoritarian, patriarchal order. The Belarusian protestors acted as creative and political agents by engaging in a collective performance of political dissent. The protests are theoretcally explored as an art spectacle with relationship to social media and digital technology. This thesis bridges ongoing conversations in anthropology, media studies, art history and Belarusian studies to critically engage with Belarusian experiences. The 2020 Belarusian protests exemplified acts of contemporary decolonization through the participation in a collective act of performance art. The theoretical analysis of the Belarusian protests goes on to offer insight into the creative and interpretative potential for political resistance that exists in the entanglement of digital and material realities everywhere.