Lesson 5.3: Creative resistance

2. Creativity in shrinking civic spaces

In contexts where civic space has collapsed – such as Belarus after the 2020 protests – creative practice often becomes the only possible form of dissent. When feminist and queer organisations were forced to close, activists turned to coded artistic expression: theatre, poetry, photography, art and small private exhibitions. These projects documented experiences of repression and solidarity, preserving collective memory even when open activism was impossible.

Creative resistance thus functions as a cultural archive. It keeps stories alive that authoritarian regimes attempt to erase, ensuring that communities retain their history, grief, joy, and political imagination.

Creative resistance works because it shifts emotional climates, makes hostility ridiculous rather than frightening, and allows people to participate without exposing themselves to high risk.