Belarus

Artist: Igor Ermakov

* 1964 in Slusk, Weißrussland

1983-1988 Student at the Belorussian State Theatre and the Academy of Art (Designer)

1988-1989 Co-operation with the artist V. Vasjkeviet in Minsk

1989-1990 Works in the Centre of Culture in Moscow

1990-1994 Works in an artists' village

1993-1994 Head of the first Gallery of Modern Art in Minsk

Has been working in Germany since 1994

Since 1989 various international exhibitions

Interpretation

Berlin is the city that was love at first sight for me and has become my second home since. Painting Buddy Bears like a child would paint them, are meant to be a present for the city that I live in, showing something from my other home: the city of Sluzk in the region of Minsk, where I grew up, the village Stragi in the region of Glusk, where my grandmother lived, the village Losy in the area of Uschatschi. The choice of style wasn't accidental, I have very warm and pleasant recollections of my birthplace and my childhood. That's how the idea developed: the little pioneer bear. Tying the knot of the pioneer's scarf, offering the place on the bus to the elderly people, clearing up the school during the "Subbotnik", celebrations on 1 and 9 May and much more was part of the daily life of a pioneer. The belief in a better future when I was a child was honest.

Should my bear make the people smile that look at him, or even create the desire to get to know my home better, I've achieved my goal.

Welcome to White Russia!

Igor Ermakov

Sponsor: Botschaft der Republik Belarus, Berlin