ZburazhBY
The village is located in the southwestern part of the Brest region, not far from the Polish and Ukrainian borders (about 20km away), and 5 km from the city of Malaryta.
Zburazh is surrounded on all sides by forests, mostly pine and birch trees. The surroundings of the village are known for their rich mushroom and blueberry places, and small swamps where cranberries are harvested. The village is located on a large chalk block, so chalk quarries are being developed here, from which sand is also being extracted for the construction of local roads, and the manufacture of building blocks at a factory in the neighbouring village of Khotislav.
Previously, about 3,000 people lived in the village; there was a bank, a post office, a cultural centre, a clinic, a school, a kindergarten, a sauna and a market. Now only the post office, the school, and the clinic remain. There are two shops in the village, state and private. Moreover, there is an Orthodox Church, but the priest is not local, so services are rarely held, only several times a year.
Administratively, the village is under the control of a local agriculture town called Oltush, and all forest land is subordinated to the forestry of the village of Gvoznitsa. There are two barns belonging to the Oltush collective farm (Kolhoz).
The population of the village consists of mainly elderly permanent residents, and the younger generation who buy or build housing here for summer residences, to garden or just to come on holiday.
Pigs and cows are bred here, and a wide variety of poultry. But the most popular and profitable activity now is the cultivation of bog blueberries, which are exported even to neighbouring countries.
Most of the population goes to work in Malaryta. The men mostly work in the Malaryta forestry (leshoz) or leave to work as truck drivers in neighbouring countries; the women work in the local hospital or school in Malaryta. Before the closure of the borders, many people were engaged in border trade.
| Region | Brest |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
|
| Population | About 300 |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Bog blueberries, pumpkins, potatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, pigs, cows, rabbits, chickens, turkeys |
| Tradition | Сarol festivities, Easter, Ivan Kupala (Midsummer) |
| Scent | Smell of pine needles, moss, limestone |
| Distances from Zburazh | Distances
|
Zburazh art coop has designed a series of pillowcases inspired by local myths, nature, legends, techniques, and landscapes from Zburazh. Below you can find more stories about each of the pillowcase designs.
Snake king
The mythical snake, inspired by the Belarusian mythical tale of Vuzhyny Karol, which is also used in the coat of arms of Zburazh (with a mermaid on another pillow). Kind, wise, harmonious and playful - the snake is the spirit of creativity and respect for nature.
You can see the story at our instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/DNNr5WUobcR/
Mermaid from Zburazh
This is a pillow with a story about a little Mermaid from Zburazh told us by a local little girl who believes that she saw the Mermaid. It's a Mermaid that lives in the fields even though she has a tail. Once you see the Mermaid you are happy for your life!
You can see the video story at https://www.instagram.com/zburazh_art_coop/reel/DNAT4uco-B-/
Zburazh Guziki
“Zburazh Guziki” are homemade buttons made entirely of threads that replaced scarce factory-made ones. Soft and in the color of the main cloth knitted from them, the buttons had a practical and symbolic meaning. The thread was wound on a woman's finger and then the ring was sewn in a circle from the center to the edges with the same thread, like the rays of the sun, a star or a flower. The design of the pillow was inspired from a round shape, graphics, design and manufacturing technique of traditional buttons. Here “Guzik” is enlarged in macro scale, on the back it crumbles into micro-constellations. Thus creating a kind of Universe, with embroidered meanings, thoughts and colored emotions in the process of meditative sewing.
Gable of a country house of Zburazh
The gable of a village house is the triangular section of a wall created where the two sloping sides of a gable roof meet. This type of gable is a traditional form for wooden houses in Belarus.
We wanted to convey the landscape of the village with the name of ЗБУРАЖ in Belarusian language on the one side and used the design of the gable of the real house on the other side. The two birds flying towards each other symbolize love and this is the word written vertically in Belarusian.
We used the local materials in a patchwork style and traditional embroidery for this pillowcase.
Stork & Flora prints
Stork is one of the symbols of Belarus and sometimes our country is poetically called "the land under white wings". Usually you can meet the storks everywhere in the fields and along the roads, in villages they make nests on poles or roofs.
We created a mask of a stork as one of the characters in the traditional celebration of Kalyady (as you can see in the movie). Therefore, it is not surprising that this symbol appeared on our pillows.
Flora prints
On the other side of the pillow there are cyanotype prints. We used this technique of photo printing on fabric to preserve images of local flora. Here you can see flowers and plants that grow in Zburazh. Summer motifs were created by us at one of the workshops in the village, where we gather and connect with nature.
The Poster-Flag of Zburazh art coop
This poster-flag is an association or a summary of all the different activities and states found and felt in Zburazh by us.
The base is homespun flax - a real patch, created around 50 years ago by hand.
The idea and the beginning of the work belong to more than one person and the work was passed from one to another. As the main implementer, Nastasy set herself the task of collecting fragments, the mood and color of the area, borrowings from traditional crafts and the author's imagery and symbolism of each participant in the project into a single statement.
There are several different techniques here that we mastered and used; and traditions in the form of a reconstruction of the lace of the Zburazh old towel.
Designs are made by members of Zburazh art coop:
- Lena Nemik
- Bazinato
- Leleftina
- Svetlana Husakova
- Alina Dzeravianka
- Yauhen Scharbach
- Karina Paprotskaya
- Nastasy Rick Gancharova
You can see the pillows at the exhibition Rerooting in the Polder at Casco Art Institute, Lange Nieuwstraat 7, Utrecht
During our gathering in May 2025 we decided to try the traditional Belarusian Folk Painting on Glass, also known as vidzik (plural: vidziki).
It is a type of traditional decorative painting that was widespread in Belarus from the late 19th century until the 1980s. These are paintings created with paint applied directly onto glass. This form of folk painting originated and spread in rural communities. It is often classified as naïve art and exhibits features of kitsch.
Inspired by some examples we produced a series of our own Vidziki and exhibited them at local bus stop for some hours.
Exhibition «Глыбіннае кола» (The Deep Circle)
As usually we gathered in Zburazh in the last days of January - beginning of February 2025.
Inspired by the round tube space near the Sauna (Banya) house, we decided to prepare some exhibition. It was spontaneous and reflective to the world around us.
«Глыбіннае кола» is an evocative exhibition that invites you on a contemplative journey into the depths of human experience, memory, and connection. Through a random selection of works across video, sculpture, installation, and mixed media, the show explores the recurring motifs and cycles that shape our inner and outer worlds. The exhibition examines the circles we traverse in life — emotional, psychological, natural — and how they echo inwardly.
You can see some documentation from this site specific exhibition that only lasted one day.
Some documentation you can find in instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFlGgL1IPyY/
| Region | Brest |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
|
| Population | About 300 |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Bog blueberries, pumpkins, potatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, pigs, cows, rabbits, chickens, turkeys |
| Tradition | Сarol festivities, Easter, Ivan Kupala (Midsummer) |
| Scent | Smell of pine needles, moss, limestone |
| Distances from Zburazh | Distances
|