Rufina Bazlova, Obornik, 2020

silkscreen, paper, 100 x 70 cm, ed. 34/35

The stylized officers are transformed into swastikas - a symbol of fascism and cruelty - as many of them became executors of the brutal orders of a mad dictator. Initially, the work was created on the situation in Belarus, where the name "Manure" as fertilizer was conceived rather symbolically, but after February 24, 2022, the work took on a literal meaning, when the Russian army left thousands of fallen soldiers in Ukrainian fields.
Look at the image more openly. There, the sad and weary eyes of the spirit of Dzed* cry swastika tears. Our ancestors have already had similar experiences. It is important to remember these dark times with all their horrors, and not forbid talking about them or allowing history to be rewritten. In this way, the manure fertilizes the soil for a new world that grows like a flower.
* Dziady - "grandfathers, great-grandfathers", sometimes translated as Dziady.

BIOGRAM:
Rufina Bazlova is a Prague-based artist working in illustration, social art, set design and performance. Bazlova earned a master's degree in illustration (FDU LS, ZČU. 2015) and a second bachelor's degree in scenography (KALD, DAMU. 2020). Rufina gained international fame with her series The History of Belarusian Vyazlova /vyzyvanka.com/, which uses traditional folk embroidery to depict the peaceful protests in Belarus in 2020. The artist is also known as the author of the fully embroidered comic book Zhenokol (Feminatura), which explores the theme of feminism present in folk traditions. Bazlova is the co-author of an installation on the Women's Belarusian Triumvirate by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo, created especially for the famous 2022 Charlemagne Political Prize in Aachen. In August 2022, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zheleznykova opened Independence Week wearing a shirt with Bazlova's ornament.
Together with curator Sofia Tocar, Rufina founded the art group Stitchit and addresses pressing socio-political issues using the traditional embroidery technique as a tool for resistance and dialogue. Stitchit involves different communities and individuals in the creative process and blurs the boundaries of authorship. Stitchit's current project "Framed in Belarus" / framedinbelarus.net / is dedicated to political prisoners in Belarus.