Artist
Alexey Shlyk
Alexey Shlyk (b. 1986) was born in Minsk, Belarus. He lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. In 2008 he graduated with honors from the Belarus State University, specializing in Mathematics. In 2018 obtained MA degree in photography at Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp.
Since starting to work in photography in 2009 Shlyk has had solo exhibitions in Belarus (Museum of Modern Fine Art, Minsk), Russia (Russian Museum of Decorative and Applied Art, Moscow and Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art, Saint-Petersburg), Belgium (Extra City, Antwerp), China (Duloun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai) and participated in several international photo festivals (Breda Photo 2016 in Netherlands, Format 2017 in Derby, Belfast Photo Festival the UK, Photo Phnom Penh 2018). Since 2016 he is collaborating on multiple projects with Ben Van den Berghe. In 2017 his work was shortlisted for Prix Levallois, Shlyk became a laureate of Carte Blanche at Paris Photo and won ArtContest (Belgium). In 2018 he won Prijs Roger De Conynck and became the Public Prize Winner of ING Unseen Talent Award.
The Appleseed Necklace
Every time I think of my homeland (Belarus), I am reminded of how wonderfully resourceful and creative the people are. Probably those qualities were inherited - together with tolerance - from the Soviet period. As I was born in 1986, I was a citizen of the Soviet Union for part of my early childhood and I still remember my passport with the hammer and sickle on it and the empty racks in the stores.
This series is based on once predominant DIY culture in the country of my origin that developed in the time of my childhood. As I stage my photographs today, I refer to my memories and nostalgic feelings for the things that I have seen and heard in the past, events that I have participated in.
I am talking about creativity, craftsmanship, diligence and typical recycling that were natural to the people living in conditions of constant shortages. It was a time when one had either to find a way to “snatch” what was needed or to make it out of the accessible materials.
Although today this lifestyle is more often seen in domestic decorations, I am trying to revive in my photographs what once was a vital necessity.