They call it a sea. It never was one.
I began coming here in 2021, almost seventy years after a huge explosion near Minsk city, Belarus. Two trunks of dynamite started back then what was going to become the so-called Minsk Sea.
The reservoir was made to contain excess waters of the Svislach River, which flooded Minsk every year. A village of around 50 homes used to be here. The government moved everyone out. Today, the remnants of those homes are still underwater.
Today, coming here feels like entering a time bubble. A bubble that is being slowly burst by outside influences like the newly opened beach with modern bars and upbeat cafés. The Sea turned to a strange mix between past, present, and future – the things sometimes unmixable.
