Biographie
Sasha Velichko is an artist researching political themes, post-truth, collective memory, trauma and especially traumatic experiences.Trained in radiophysics at the Belarusian State University, she applies her scientific background to her artistic practice, creating works that fuse technology and art. After being politically persecuted (2020) in Belarus and forced to flee in 2021, she relocated to Warsaw, where she continues her practice.
2021-2023 // The Academy of Documentary and Art Photography Fotografika
2016-2017 // Belarusian State University Master’s Degree: Hardware Support and Program-technical Means of Information Protection
2011-2016 // Belarusian State University: Bachelor of Radiophysics
2024 // Singapore International Photography Festival, Singapore, Singapore
2024 // Bunkier sztuki Gallery, Krakow, Poland
2024 // Festival Circulation(s), Paris, France
2024 // Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
2023 // AI-art night, Warsaw, Poland
2023 // Winner of the annual Konrad Pustoła Award from Krytyka Polityczna, Warsaw, Poland
2023 // National Cultural Centre "Gaude Polonia”, Warsaw, Poland
Sasha was published in several media incl. Magnum, The Steidz, PHmuseum, OROŃSKO sztuka młodych, Dodho i innych.
Présentation
Sasha is a political exile from Belarus. In her country, a repressive dictatorship prevails, suppressing freedom of expression. Government-controlled media conceal information about the growing number of political prisoners, the alarming rate of disappearances and the ineffectiveness of laws and the constitution in protecting individual rights.
In this project, she explores the phenomenon of digital everyday life through the interaction between human and media channels.
The project consists of two parts: the first is a series of staged photographs based on absurd and frightening stories of arrests of people accused of taking part in peaceful demonstrations in Belarus.
In the second part, it uses the headlines of press articles published on the precise date of these arrests. The neural network used the title of each article as input to generate the corresponding images. Many irrelevant and strange press articles appeared on dates coinciding with those of the arrests. To remedy this problem, she put together a set of 12 articles for each case of detention or trial. She seeks to demonstrate how the agenda seeks to divert our attention from the crucial issues. In addition, she wants to explore our tendency to sidestep important issues and occupy our minds with superfluous entertainment content.