Exiles really feel at dwelling on the ‘Karma’ bar in Warsaw

There’s now a bar in Poland for individuals who’ve left repressive nations to come back and really feel at dwelling. At present, a lot of the shoppers on the Karma bar in central Warsaw are from Belarus and Ukraine. They will specific themselves creatively by way of discussions and artwork exhibitions.

Belarusian co-founder Gleb Kovalev has needed to transfer from nation to nation.

“It is just about a migrant bar now, not solely like an artwork bar however we’re welcoming everybody who’s sharing our values right here,” he stated. “It is nonetheless like artwork, music, tattoos, a sure means of democracy, and freedom that we did not have within the locations we escaped. And in addition peace that Poland can simply provide us now.”

The primary “Karma” bar opened in Minsk in Belarus 5 years in the past and a neighborhood of artists, musicians and partygoers instantly shaped round it. However when Belarus was overwhelmed with clashes between protesters and the police after the presidential elections two years in the past, Gleb determined it was time to depart the nation.

“It was the evening that modified the whole lot in our lives,” he defined. “For me, it was simply the final day once I lived in Belarus as a result of these three months that I further stayed there I had just one factor in my head: I’ve to depart proper now. “

In 2021, Gleb opened one other “Karma” bar in Kyiv, however when the Russian military invaded Ukraine, he, like many others, ended up in Poland. Now there are two bars within the nation with the identical title and the Latin motto Sibi et Hominibus – “For your self and for the individuals.”

The bars have more and more develop into locations of consolation for these trapped away from their homelands.

Veronika Lindorenko is a Belarusian exile and says the bar has helped her. “For me, it is like group remedy, as right here I can meet individuals with the identical pains and troubles,” she stated.