A Long-Term Public Artwork by Belarusian Women Artists
On 1 June 2024, a group of Belarusian women artists planted an apple tree somewhere in Belarus. The exact location of the Tree of Democracy will remain confidential until it is safe to reveal. The Tree of Democracy is a living public artwork whose ending is not determined by time, but by freedom. It will continue until Belarus is free and people can gather beneath its branches once again.
Background
In 2023–2024, Ludmila Christeseva and her Belarusian colleagues created an artists’ book. As the project neared publication, they realized that releasing it could put the participating artists still living in Belarus at risk of arrest. They decided to wait until it was safe to publish. While they waited, they planted an apple tree that would grow alongside their waiting. Since then, the Tree of Democracy has been growing somewhere in Belarus as a living symbol of hope, peaceful resistance, and the belief that one day it will be safe to publish the book – and to return home.
A Living Artwork
The apple tree is both a public artwork and a living witness to history. It grows while Belarus continues to live under dictatorship. Every new branch, blossom, and fruit marks another year of waiting for freedom, for justice, and for the possibility of returning home. Unlike most artworks, Tree of Democracy has no predetermined end date. Its duration is not measured by years, but by freedom. The project will continue until people can gather beneath the tree in a free Belarus.
Every blossom, every apple, and every passing season marks another year of waiting for a free Belarus.
My Apple Tree Behind Bars
The story of the artwork is told through the animated short film My Apple Tree Behind Bars (2024). Directed by Ludmila Christeseva and illustrated by visual artist Liliya Busarova, the film explores memories, recipes, and stories of nostalgia, resilience, and trauma shaped by migration and exile. Only in the film’s final scene do viewers discover the existence of the apple tree – a quiet act of resistance growing somewhere in Belarus.
Annual Ritual
Each year, the project is renewed through a public gathering.
Participants are invited to:
- bake apple pies using recipes shared by Belarusian political prisoners;
- share stories of exile, memory, and hope;
- leave one chair empty for those who remain imprisoned in Belarus;
- reflect on democracy, freedom, and the responsibility to remember.
These gatherings become part of the artwork itself.
Long-Term Commitment
No one knows how long the project will continue, just as no one knows how long the dictatorship will endure. But we believe that one day we will return home, visit our apple tree, and bake apple pies from its fruit. On that day, the tree will no longer stand as a symbol of exile, but of freedom, hope, and the courage to keep believing.
Timeline
1 June 2024
- Tree of Democracy is planted in Belarus.
2024
- The animated film My Apple Tree Behind Bars is completed.
Every year
- Annual apple pie gathering.
- Stories are shared.
- One chair remains empty.
- The tree continues to grow.
One day…
- Belarus is free.
- We gather beneath the tree.
- We bake apple pies from its fruit.
- The artwork reaches its conclusion.
About the curator
Ludmila Christeseva is a Belarusian-Swedish visual artist whose practice explores democracy, memory, migration, and participatory public art. Through artistic research, storytelling, and community participation, she creates long-term projects that preserve cultural memory and imagine democratic futures.
A grant recipient of the Swedish Institute, Christeseva has created opportunities for Belarusian women artists to develop their artistic practice, collaborate internationally, and present their work to new audiences. Drawing on her own experience of exile and personal loss, she transforms private memories into collective acts of remembrance, dialogue, and healing.
Since leaving Belarus, Christeseva has developed projects that advocate for democracy, amplify the voices of Belarusian artists and political prisoners, and foster international dialogue on freedom, human rights, and cultural resilience.