--- description: Wry portraits of the best milkmaids, fitness queens, hunters, potato farmers and other winners of the quirky propagandistic contests organized by one of last remaining dictatorships in Europe. title: Portraits of Belarus' Best, the Winners of Quirky Government Contests image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9973d626f86a2513/6987e4e63c16394929454cde/iam_00036398_resize.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Portraits of the Winners, the Best and Better in Belarus by [Sara Distin](/author/sara-distin/) ## Sara Distin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2014 9:00 AM CUT  Arri, the multi-champion in dog beauty contests. Volozhin, Belarus, Sept. 20, 2011. Arri, the multi-champion in dog beauty contests. Volozhin, Belarus, Sept. 20, 2011.Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE by [Sara Distin](/author/sara-distin/) ## Sara Distin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2014 9:00 AM CUT In October, Belarusian journalist Iryna Khalip was awarded the 2013 PEN/Pinter prize, a major freedom-of-speech prize established in honor of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter. Khalip won for her ongoing investigative reporting on President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, for which she’s been intimidated, detained, and beaten. But she is not one of _The Winners_, documented by photographer Rafal Milach, a project made possible with assistance from the Magnum Foundation, as part of his ongoing work about propaganda in post-Soviet bloc countries. Unlike Khalip, who was under house-arrest last year, Warsaw-based Milach was warmly welcomed and shown the very best of Belarus. Milach met and photographed the winners of regional and town competitions put on by the state: the best National Library worker; the best welder of the Republic of Belarus; the best maid of the Belarus hotel (her personal best in changing sheets is 33 seconds); the best milkmaid of the Slutsk region (her personal best is 1160 liters of milk); and the president of AOA Otichestvo (the most productive potato farm of the Republic of Belarus), among many others. As he worked, Milach noticed that the potato farm sponsored swimming pools and schools and appeared to be quite prosperous despite an economy that’s generally on the decline. But Milach, who has been working in Central Europe for more than 10 years—approaching ideas about propaganda from political, social, and visual perspectives—is well aware that appearances in post-Soviet countries like Belarus, often called the last remaining dictatorship in Europe, are usually just that: facades. Likewise, Milach’s subjects—sometimes partially, if not totally obscured—are just stand-ins, mere ideas or illusions. They are no one in particular, as exceptional as they may be. Outside of Belarus, journalists like Khalip receive due respect—in 2005, she was recognized by TIME as a European Hero for “changing the world for the better.” In Belarus, as Milach’s work makes conspicuous, the welders, milkmaids, potato farmers, and fitness instructors are feted. Milach notes he has not shown _The Winners_ in Belarus. “\[The photos\] will certainly be received differently in Belarus than somewhere outside.” He expects a book in early 2014. --- [**_Rafal Milach_**](http://rafalmilach.com/ "undefined") _is a photographer and bookmaker based in Warsaw, Poland. He is represented by INSTITUTE and was a participant in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass, 2007._ [**_Sara Distin_**](http://www.sldistin.com "undefined") _is a writer and editor based in Boulder, CO, and Brooklyn, NY. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@sldistin_](http://www.twitter.com/sldistin "undefined")_._ ---  Arri, the multi-champion in dog beauty contests. Volozhin, Belarus, Sept. 20, 2011. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Sasha, the best welder of the Republic of Belarus, winner of the "Brotherhood of Russian and Belarusian Nations" contest. Baranovichi, Belarus, Feb. 26, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Olga, the winner of "The Best Nurse of Minsk" contest.Municipal Hospital No. 6, Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 20, 2011. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Natalya and Konan, the best couple in love. The contest is organized by local structures of BRSM (Belorussian Youth Association). BRSM is a state organization recruiting the most active people under the age of 35\. Many of them become the political elite of Republic of Belarus. Zhodino, Belarus, May 22, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Vitaly, the best student of Suvorov Military School.Minsk, Belarus, Nov. 5, 2011. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Stas and Vlad, award-winning twins.Bobruysk, Belarus, Feb. 27, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Elena, the best National Library worker. The new National Library building was finished in 2005 under a special supervision of the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. At the opening ceremony he stated, that the building represents the power of Belarusian nation.Minsk, Belarus, May 28, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Ania, fitness queen. Grodno, Belarus, Feb. 23, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Yuri, the best hunter of the Ivacevichi region.Ivacevichi, Belarus, March 26, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Xenia Degelko, the president of BRSM pioneer association in Aktyabrsky willage. She is the winner of the "Leader of the year" contest in the Mogilevsky region. She received a pen engraved with her name from president Lukashenko and dreams of a two floor cottage.Aktyabrsky, Belarus, March 25, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  First grade student Yana posing for a portrait in the Union café. SPTK (Slutsk Technical Food College), awarded the best public canteen of the Republic of Belarus. The contest is organized by the Belarusian Ministry of Trade.Slutsk, Belarus, March 26, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Sasha, a BRSM beauty contest winner.Gluboke, Belarus, May 26, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Ania, fitness queen.Grodno, Belarus, Feb. 23, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Vasily, the best policeman of Minsk.Minsk, Belarus, May 11, 2011. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Olga, the mother of the best large family of Smorgon region holding a peacock.Asinovshina, Belarus, Feb. 21, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Yuri, the last champion of the USSR in "Boiovaya samba," a fight without rules, in 1989\. The former commando officer got injured in Chechnya in 1993 where he broke his 7th neck vertebra in a fight. He is a multi-champion of bodybuilding in Belarus and runs a fitness club.Grodno, Belarus, Feb. 23, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Anastasia, winner in BRSM beauty contest. Slutsk, Belarus, March 26, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Elena, the best milkmaid of the Slutsk region. Personal best: 1160 liters of milk. Staryca Agro, Belarus, March 2, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Sogchev family, the winners of "Lord of the village" contest organized by BRSM.Agrogorodok Borsuki, Belarus, Feb. 28, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Yulia, Miss Bust of Belarus 2013\. She is a lecturer at the Minsk Technological College.Minsk, Belarus, Feb. 22, 2013. Rafal Milach—INSTITUTE  Vladimir, the president of AOA Otichestvo, which is the most effective potato farm (kolkhoz) of Republic of Belarus.Agrogorodok Kobylovka, Belarus, Sept. 23, 2011. 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