Alina Bliumis

NATIONS UNLEASHED
2018-ongoing, watercolor pencil on paper, 18 x 24 in paper size each

“We are accustomed to living in a disenchanted and designed world – the world of administration, technology, geographical maps, statistical data and abstract painting. In this world almost all wild forms of life are already domesticated and put under control: tigers and lions live in national parks or in zoos. However, there remains suspicion that some strange, alien forms of life are concealed under the familiar surfaces of our world and cannot be totally suppressed. In the polytheistic myths of ancient cultures the flows, woods and mountains became animated. And through this act of animation they became also dangerous and violent. In her art Alina Bliumis applies the same act of animation on the familiar images of our lifeless, soulless, administered world. As a result, the hidden energy of violence and aggression becomes revealed upon which those images owe their aura of tranquility and peaceful stability.

Indeed, when we look at the political map of the world, on which every country is presented by a certain geometrical form, we tend to forget that this form is always a result of bloody wars and oppression. In her series “Nation Unleashed” Alina reveals the “animal” energy of hate and aggression to which contemporary countries owe the shapes of their borders. She shows the peaceful surface of our world as camouflage concealing the violent fight for dominance. Of course, as an artist of Belorussian origin Alina cannot turn her eyes away from the eruptions of violence that currently take place in her region. However, long before these actual events took place, she was attentive to, what one can call, the political zoology of our contemporary world –the descent of national political symbols from mythical animals of the polytheistic past….”

Boris Groys, ART HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

The series Nations Unleashed is inspired by the historical tradition of satirical maps, which employ animal symbolism and stereotypes to convey biting political critique and cover up human actions in the political theater.

The human personification of continents and countries can be seen as early as the 13th century, such as on maps by Opicinus de Canistris. Human and animal metaphors on maps reached a new level in Europe between 1845 and 1945 with political cartoon maps in which political leaders were often caricatured and European nations were given symbolic identities that lent humor and accessibility to geographical maps.

Nations Unleashed comprises watercolor pencil on paper drawings. Delicately toned washes of blue surround loosely sketched landmasses populated by an array of diverse animals, each representing a critical political interest. Bliumis’ interpretations range from the literal – as in the American bald eagle – to the fanciful – as in a two-headed Scandinavian lion. What these maps lack in geographic accuracy is made up in thorough doses of imagination and humor, leaving further interpretation open to the viewer.

The series uses satire and metaphor to comment on politics today and explores the popular political strategy of transferring blame from humans to animals using stereotypes and symbolism. It makes us aware of this rampant strategy of displacement, compelling us to critically reflect on the fine lines between fact and fiction in global geopolitics.