Experts: Monitoring street music is a very strange and absurd know-how of officials

Photo: velvet.by

Bands will be admitted to play in the underground walkways but only in the 12 permitted areas under the control of the police and with the agreed repertoire.

"Minsk police is not against the recent initiative of Vitalina Rudzikava, the city administration ideologue,  - told journalist Siarhei Budkin, creator and coordinator of the project "Tuzin Hitou" in his interview with the "EuroBelarus" Information Service. – If one wants to perform at these official outlets in the walkways, one must obtain a special permit after a commission of the Minsk city executive committee listened through their repertoire. If the Commission approves the playlist, they would be able to play it in as much as 12 places of the capital."  

Siarhei Budkin notes that the control procedures remain unclear: "Imagine the ways police can check the permit of the Commission to perform and if the songs played are the approved ones". Although the coordinator of the "Tuzin Hitou" admits that some other cities around the globe have the practice of performance permits for street artists: street musicians pay for a special document allowing them to play for a while in the street.

"However necessity to obtain an approval of the repertoire is a know-how of the Belarusian officials exclusively. Officials want to appeal to the young people, but they can not afford them being fully free"- emphasizes Siarhei Budkin.

According to Siarhei Budkin this initiative will make it impossible, for example, to see another impromptu concert of Liavon Volski at some random walkway: "the state will already have grounds for administrative proceedings at least."

Aleh Khamenka, the leader of the band Palace is slightly more optimistic: "I don’t know how the situation will develop. Perhaps this is a step to the side, but it is at least a step."