Masha Maroz, Spider, 2020

acrylic, plastic, silicone, 100 x 75 x 75 cm

"The object Spider is part of the project Long Way Home. The project is an investigation of the influence of social, ideological and visual norms of contemporary Belarus on the behavior of folk culture.
The installation brings together incompatible codes from different eras, under conditions of coexistence, whose "practice of presence" becomes a process of transforming the permanent failures of the system into the energy of life potential.
Folk culture is the culture of tradition, its subject is the people - the collective personality, which means the unity of all individuals of the collective in the general cultural ties and mechanisms of life. Since traditional culture is illiterate, the centrality of tradition as a means of transmitting relevant information to the public is of central importance.
The special form of aestheticizing the space of the artificially created interior of a Polesie house while maintaining its general ornamental identity is meant to influence those who "enter" the interior.
The formality of the nature of preserving the inherent qualities of space is a feature of the modern moment, which began long ago in the past and does not end with the cyclicity of repetition. It distorts the essence of phenomena, distancing the observer from understanding their original nature. Agrotkanina and banner cover the surfaces of objects, behind which they become not only invisible, but may disappear forever. Private and public lose their clear boundaries, the socio-political dries up the individual, the metaphysical replaces the rational. Being at home, you continue the long journey home." Masha Maroz

BIOGRAM: Multidisciplinary artist, designer, ethnographer.
Born in Brest, Belarus (1991). Graduate of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts

Masha Maroz explores the relationship between mythology, ritual, collective memory and escapism.
Inspired by quantum physics, Eastern philosophy and the ancient worldview of the Slavs, her practice is based on the parallels between these concepts. The artist works with the Belarusian context through a synthesis of the archaic and the post-industrial. She reflects on the transformative potential of tradition and culture in the dominant socio-political matrix.
Maroz is the founder and curator of Past Perfect, a platform dedicated to the preservation and
popularization of the ethnographic heritage of Belarus. Expeditions to Polesie, among others, are an
an important part of her research. She communicates through installations, textiles, photography, analogue
and digital graphics, objects.
Since 2012 art director, costume designer, set designer, illustrator
2014 - 2016 costume designer at the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater in Minsk, Belarus
2016 - 2020 lecturer at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts (Costume and Textile Department), Minsk, Belarus
Since 2017 founder and designer of Masha Maroz handmade accessories studio
Since 2018 founder and curator of Past Perfect platform
Solo exhibitions
2020 Long Way Home, National Center for Contemporary Art, Minsk, Belarus
Selected group exhibitions
2021 When Forms Become Attitudes, Krynki, Poland
2021 Screams of the Silented, Gray Space in the Middle, The Hague, Netherlands
2021 Voices of Belarus. Chapter Two: Restoring Connections, Punt WG, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
2021 Voices of Belarus, Rietveld Pavilion, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2021 Farewell to the Season, Concetto Di Casa, Minsk, Belarus
2020 Dictionary of Polesia, Kult. center "Corpus", Minsk, Belarus
2020 Zerno and Pupa, Zerno, Minsk, Belarus
2020 Heart of a Birdwatcher, National Center for Contemporary Art, Minsk, Belarus
2019 Holiday Anthology, National Center for Contemporary Art, Minsk, Belarus
2019 Running with Scissors, National Center for Contemporary Art, Minsk, Belarus
2018 Unfashionable. Chapter Two, National Center for Contemporary Art, Minsk, Belarus
2018 More Colors Project, Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus
2017 Inner page, Museum of Minsk History, Minsk, Belarus
2016 Non-fashion, National Center for Contemporary Art, Minsk, Belarus
2015 70th anniversary of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts, Palace of Arts,
Minsk, Belarus
2013 Dual, Expoforum, St. Petersburg, Russia
2012 Origins, gallery of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts, Minsk, Belarus
Films
costumes, set design
2021 "Mara", documentary, directed by Sasha Kulak, produced by Les Steppes Productions,
France, 2022, 62', winner of Silver Eye Award 2021
Selected theatrical projects
costumes
2017 "Froken Julie," directed by Tsimafey Ilieusky, Academic Drama Theater, Brest, Belarus
2016 "Macbeth," opera directed by Mikhail Panzhavidze, National Academic Bolshoi Opera and
Ballet Theater, Minsk, Belarus
2016 "The Marriage of Figaro," opera, assistant costume designer, directed by Mikhail Kisliarov,
National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater, Minsk, Belarus
2014 "The Queen of Spades," opera, assistant costume designer, directed by Plamen Kartalov,
National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater, Minsk, Belarus
Art Fair
2020 ОVLADEY online auction.
Selected publications / interviews / mentions
Calvert Journal (August 2021) / Gerrit Rietveld Academie (2021) / Vogue Polska (2021) / Calvert
Journal (July 2021) / On Air (print edition, February-March 2021) / Dadalog (limited print edition on
PAST PERFECT project, April 2021) / Garage Museum (2020) / Saliva (2020) / Pupa mag (2020) /
Mastactva (print edition, July 2020) / Village Беларусь (2019) / 34mag (2018) / Green Belarus
(2017) / Timer Magazine (print edition, June 2014) / Papeles De Cultura Contemporanea #23,
"Professional Textile Art in Belarus at the Beginning of the 21st Century" by Chryssina Vysotskaya, [pp.
59-60], (2021) / "Belarusian bedspreads and carpets: the anthropology of traditional things" by Volha
Labacheuskaja, "Belaruskaya navuka" publishing house, Minsk, [pp. 55, 57-58], (2021)