In his artistic practice, Hramovich draws on the history of modernist art and architecture, the history of ideology and political movements and transformations of urban space. Trained as a professional graphic artist at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts, Hramovich’s work alludes to an increased demand for realist drawing skills in the 3D modelling and CGI market. Before 2020, one of the main employers in the IT sector was Wargaming, a company that developed the online game World of Tanks. Within a historical framework, the game recreates tank battles through an online multiplayer structure and is highly popular in Eastern Europe. This game is part of what Hramovich calls a spectral temporality, where various historical narratives are mixed with the imperialist perception of space, 3D modelling and elements of contemporary cyber warfare. His installation Усё забыта, што зямлей зарыта (Eng. All that is forgotten is buried in the ground), borrows its name from a Belarusian folk proverb. In it, he uses various fragments of 3D models (in collaboration with Andrii Akhtyrskyi) of the borderland landscapes between Belarus and Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Latvia. Over the last 3 years, the Belarusian border has become a place of crossing and historical ‘rifts’. Political refugees from Belarus, refugees from other countries (instrumentalised by the Belarusian government) and Russian troops that attacked Ukraine from Belarus on February 24th all crossed the border. The digital, speculative and real maps and compasses follow the logic of disorientation, where the political frameworks of sovereignty and agency are obsolete. The border has now become a kind of ‘rampart’, as Ukrainian forces have blown up roads and bridges, and EU countries have fortified their borders. The rolled scrolls refer to the dialectics of the visible and opaque in the ongoing cyberwar, and its imperial and post-colonial production of space.

Uladzimir Hramovich is a Belarus-born artist, who currently lives and works in Berlin. He graduated from the Gymnasium-College of Arts named I. O. Akhremchik in Minsk, Belarus (2009) and the graphics arts department of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts in Minsk, Belarus (2015). Member of the Problem Collective since 2016. Uladzimir works with installations, graphics and video. In his artistic practice, Uladzimir draws on the history of modernist art and architecture, the history of ideology and political movements, and the transformation of the urban space in Minsk. He is interested in the tension between the past and the present and studies monuments and rituals of memory that are overloaded with ideological meanings and embodied in material objects. Uladzimir has been presenting his work at various international venues, including Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria; Gallery of Contemporary Art «Ў», Minsk, Belarus; Brno House of Arts, Brno, Czech Republic; Mysteckiy Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine; ABF, Stockholm, Sweden; Galerie Intershop, Leipzig, Germany and more.