Whosoever Liveth and Believeth in Me Shall Never Die (2020-2021) is Palianina’s group embroidery project that was unveiled to the public at the exhibition When Shapes Become Shadows (2021), curated by Ilona Dergach. The exhibition took place in Krynki, Poland, on August 27, 2021. In the current political environment of Belarus, the medium of embroidery speaks to the advent of the collective female subject in the protest movement of Summer-Fall 2020. In this four-meter canvas, artist Vasilisa Palianina humorously explores the imaginary agrarian myth that holds that Belarus was born from the potato root and cultivated as the embodiment of the patient peasant class. The project's participants include the following individuals: Mariam Astryam, Sasha Dorskaya, Sashen Galerik, Kristina Brukshpyn, Polina Siriska, Katerina Itnashevich, Anna Kruk, Ulyana Dulkina, Tatiana Karpacheva, Masha Maroz, Ira J, Tasha Katsuba, and Aleksandra Osipovich. Curator Ilona Dergach describes collective embroidery labor as a form of group trance and psychotherapy.
