Alena Kish

Alena Kish (Але́на Андрэ́еўна Кіш, 1889 or 1896–1949) was a Belarusian primitivist painter from the surroundings of Slutsk.

Life
Kish earned her living by making carpets for local buyers. She gained attention and recognition as an artist at the end of 1970s, three decades after her death. A collection of her surviving works are preserved in the museum of Zaslawye.

Kish was found drowned in the river. It may have been an accident, but she had difficulties in addition to her poor finances. The income from her designs was undermined when manufactured goods arrived in the area. Kish and her work were featured on a stamp and in an exhibition in Minsk in 2013.

She was born in 1889 in the village of Ramanau not far from Sluck. She moved to the settlement of Hrozau with her siblings to live with her sister after the death of her parents in the German-Soviet war. A wandering artist, she spent most of her life going from village to village and painting carpets for a loaf of bread or a potato. People liked her carpets, and they let Alena into their homes while she worked. While creating her drawings, Alena sang folk songs. But over time, the villagers' the demand for her art production slowed down, and Alena was left with no resources to survive. In 1949, she committed suicide by throwing herself into a river.