Biography
August 6, 1965 – born in the town of Bobr, Minsk region, Belarus.
1978–1983 – studied at the Republican School of Arts named after Akhremchyk in the class of Pyotr Sharypa.
The beginning of the artist's creative path.
1983–1990 – studied at the Academy of Arts (then BDTMI).
1984–1986 – during his studies, he was drafted into the army, served in Afghanistan. After two years of service, he resumed his studies in the second year at BDTMI.
I was a Soviet occupier from 1984 to 1986 in the Republic of Afghanistan as part of the 181st Helicopter Squadron Regiment.
[From the interrogation protocol in court, 2022]Since 1986, he has regularly participated in the annual republican exhibitions at the Palace of Arts in Minsk.
1988 – actively participated in the student movement. On October 30, the “Dziady-88” action took place, which became the first mass anti-Soviet rally in the recent history of Belarus. Two days before this, Pushkin was detained for spreading information about this action. In the same year, he participated in the Second Grand Sejm of the Belarusian Youth Associations in Vilnius.
March 25, 1989 – an art manifesto dedicated to the 71st anniversary of the proclamation of the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic. He was arrested along with the other participants (about 130 people). Sentenced to 2 years of conditional imprisonment and five years of deprivation of rights.
1990 – diploma work: monumental mural "The History of My School" in the foyer of the Akhremchyk School-Internat. The painting occupies an area of 215 m².
1990–1997 – the Vitebsk period in the artist's creativity.
I am now "Pushkin from Vitebsk." Wherever I am, I will always return here. And my symbols will always be here – the lion, the snake, and the motto “Contra spem spero” (“I hope against hope”).
1991 – joined the Belarusian Union of Artists.
1992–1996 – restoration of the Cathedral Church in Mogilev.
1994 – participated in the production of the play “King Lear” (scenography, costumes, graphics) at the Y. Kolas Theater (Vitebsk). Pushkin was periodically invited to work on theatrical productions as a stage and costume designer.
March 23, 1993 – one of the first private art galleries in Belarus, "At Pushkin" opened in Vitebsk. The gallery existed until 1997.
1995 – 1998 – painting of the Bobr Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker.
1999 – became the laureate of the second National Award "Charter '97" in the field of human rights for "Courage in Art"
July 21, 1999 – a loud performance "Gift to the President," for which the artist was sentenced to two years of conditional imprisonment.
– ...performances are the artist's reaction... to what is happening today. It is an attempt to express, in some artistic form, through some incomprehensible, logically unexplainable, mystical actions – like voodoo, like a fool – to show these events in a multifaceted way...
2007 – director Andrzej Fidyka filmed a documentary about the life and work of Aleś Pushkin titled "Belarusian Waltz."
2016 – an exhibition titled "National-Radical Aleś Pushkin" took place in Poznań. An album "Narodowo-radykalny – Alexander Pushkin" was prepared for the exhibition.
2019 – awarded the “100 Years of BNR” medal by the Council of the Belarusian People's Republic.
2021 – at the exhibition in the "Center for Urban Life" in Hrodna, the author exhibited a portrait of the anti-Soviet underground fighter Yauhen Zhyhar. The investigative committee initiated a criminal case against Aleś Pushkin "for the rehabilitation of Nazism."
30.03.2021 – despite the criminal case, the artist returned from Kyiv, where he had an exhibition. He was detained in Belarus, and a year later was sentenced to five years in a strict regime penal colony.
11.07.2023 – political prisoner artist Aleś Pushkin died due to lack of medical care in Hrodna prison.
– I do not deny what I said. But now much has changed, and I support Belarus becoming the United States of Europe. Let Chechens sell cigarettes, let Jews shave beards and trade, let communists defend their views, let homosexuals live as they wish… And I also want all conflicts to be resolved peacefully: through words, debates, exhibitions, actions. But never with gunfire. I have a work that I painted with my blood. So, its title is “From the Past.” This is to ensure that blood remains only in the past.
[from “Vitebsk dossier,” 2006]