My photographic series explores state celebrations in Belarus, where the Soviet tradition of mass festivities is still recognizable in carefully choreographed processions, ceremonial street decorations, and displays of collective unity.
I was interested less in the celebrations themselves than in the elaborate staging and preparations behind them, which often take far longer than the festivities themselves. Familiar facades disappear one by one behind banners, buildings gradually become entangled in ever more scaffolding, and streets fill with barriers, temporary supports, stages, and decorative structures. People rehearse processions, taking turns and becoming part of a carefully staged spectacle, alongside flags and banners.
The city seems to be undergoing an endless “major renovation” of reality. Temporary decorations merge with the everyday urban landscape. Old banners are replaced by new ones, and the boundary between everyday life and the staged celebration gradually disappears. It seems the city has long been living inside the decorations for a holiday that is always just a day away.
