Photo provided to Hangzhoufeel
Alesia’s work
The exhibition Beyond Horizon
Story
By Daria Fominykh
“Perapyolka…
Perapyolka…
Don’t make your nest
too close to the road…”
Alesia Issa sang this Belarusian folk song with a bright yet soft, slightly melancholic voice. She stretched the vowels in a gentle, rhythmic way, repeating perapyolka -- the Belarusian word for “quail”.
She performed with a band of four musicians, standing before white walls displaying a variety of artworks. The setting was simple and charming -- wooden beams overhead, long white fabrics hanging down to the concrete floor, and warm afternoon sunlight filling the space. Guests around the world moved around the gallery, chatting, smiling, and enjoying the mix of music and art on the exhibition’s opening day.
This welcoming and creative atmosphere came together thanks to the joint work of Alesia and three other curators -- Mikhail Roshchanka(Alesia’s husband and photographer), Zhang Keyu(Kevin), and Xia Donghui(Shana) -- who brought the Beyond Horizon exhibition to life at the Dongchao Rice Mill Art Center in Hangzhou. Running through July 1, it brings together 14 international artists, each of whom has lived and created in China. Through photography, painting, sculpture, and mixed media, they reflect on life between cultures and across languages.
Alesia is a multidisciplinary artist from Minsk, Belarus. She creates paintings, ceramics, book illustrations, and even tattoos -- and a selection of her paintings, which feel like vivid, beautiful, and sometimes unsettling dreams, is also featured in Beyond Horizon.
Alesia moved to China nearly two years ago to work as an art teacher. Hangzhou was the first city where she began exploring the country -- and it might also become the site of her future exhibitions, including one she quietly hinted at during our interview.
Her journey to China began unexpectedly -- just months earlier, she had not even thought about it. In her words, the story is “a little magical”. Alesia shared, “We were flying back from Nepal -- Mikhail and I had been living there for a while before coming to China. As we were sitting in the airport, Mikhail suddenly said, ‘You know what would be amazing? Going to China to learn more about the culture of Chinese tea.’ I didn’t take it seriously at the time -- I thought, sure, sounds cool, but it’s far and complicated. China isn’t exactly around the corner from Belarus. But just a few months later, the opportunity came up. I guess his love for tea worked a bit of magic!”
These days, Alesia and Mikhail sip Chinese tea daily and make it a point to never miss tea-picking season, visiting plantations whenever they can. Alesia jokes that they call themselves “tea-holics”, raising a tiny Chinese teacup with a grin. “I’m drinking it even now, while talking to you,” she laughed through the screen, making me smile too. Though they now live in Nanjing, Alesia speaks about their time in Hangzhou with fondness and warmth.
She genuinely shared many kind words about Hangzhou -- how the city’s canals remind her of Amsterdam, how ancient pagodas surprisingly blend in with the modern skyline, and how the architecture feels both grand and alive. But what struck me the most was this: despite not speaking Chinese, and most locals not speaking English, the first thing she mentioned when asked what she loves about Hangzhou was the friendliness of its people. She told me how she and Mikhail love visiting Longjing Village: “We go there to paint, take photos, and chat with local grandmas who pick tea. The language barrier doesn’t stop the communication. It’s one of those magical things about China.”
Raised in a family deeply rooted in Belarusian culture, Alesia finds great meaning in the folklore and myths of her homeland. “For the past six months, I’ve been working on a series inspired by Belarusian mythological months,” she said. One of her recent pieces, Zazovka, is featured in Beyond Horizon. It depicts a forest nymph who lures unsuspecting young men with her beauty and enchanting voice -- something like a Slavic siren. “After hearing Zazovka’s voice, the young men lose their minds or disappear forever,” she explained. “But to me, she’s not just a villain or a demon -- she’s an archetype. She represents a choice. Whether to follow her is up to each person. That’s the power of such images -- they test you, but don’t force you.”
Maybe it is because Alesia is an artist that she has learned to appreciate small moments -- and capture them through her work. Whether painting a tea plantation or illustrating a Belarusian myth, she draws inspiration from the beauty around her. “I hope people do what they love, and find greatness in small things. The world is breathtaking -- we just need to slow down and notice it,” she said.
It is this belief -- that meaning lies in the quiet, emotional undercurrents of life -- that also shapes her next project. This autumn, Alesia and her team are preparing a new exhibition titled The Mirror Doesn’t Blink. As she explains, the project explores how art reflects something deeper than cultural backgrounds or language -- it taps into shared human emotions. “No matter where we come from, we all feel joy, loss, love, fear,” Alesia said. “Art becomes a mirror -- not just of the world around us, but of our inner world.” The exhibition will reflect those universal experiences through works that speak directly to what we carry inside. “Sometimes,” she added, “you watch a film, or hear a song, and suddenly you feel the power of art -- it mirrors us back to ourselves.”