Partisan strategy or "underground" art is a necessary measure of Belarusian artists. In the mid-nineties in Belarus in the spheres of public life there was a division into official and unofficial. This led to the absence of non-state cultural institutions, the complication of the work of foundations and galleries, the freezing of foreign funding programs and the tabooing of topics unprofitable for the government. The current political situation has greatly slowed down the development of contemporary Belarusian art. As a protest against the restrictions, independent artists, architects, writers, directors, musicians turn to the idea of guerrilla strategy. Underground exhibitions and apartment houses were held. There were ideas to make exhibitions in the forest, in the swamp, in city basements, in attics. For artists, this is a necessary struggle for the existence of contemporary art.

The forerunner of the partisan strategy is considered to be the project Quiet Partisan Movement by Igor Tishin, created in 1997. It was this project that opened active discussions and created attempts to rethink the ideological figure of the Soviet fighter – the Belarusian partisan.

One of the first independent platforms for discussing contemporary and free art was pARTisan magazine. It was created in 2009 by the artist Artur Klinov, and in the very first issue he published the "Partisan Manifesto" written by him. The journal publishes research materials, interviews with artists, critical articles and philosophical essays. Now this project includes an almanac, the collection of which contains more than 500 original texts, a media project, a series of albums by Belarusian artists "Collection of PARTizan" (issued since 2009) and an Internet portal (launched in 2012). About the chosen title of the magazine, the creator says the following: “Just 15 years ago, there was not a single gallery in Minsk, an independent platform for the presentation of the latest ideas and trends. The author was, but there was no “stage”, there was no structure for the dissemination of artistic and cultural products. So our writers used the same guerrilla survival strategies and self-presentation. Everything matched. That's why pARTisan quickly became a cultural brand."

Apartment dwellers, "runs out of the city", avant-garde movements, rejection of direct criticism towards artistic rebellion are the characteristics of the partisan strategy, which is rooted in the Belarusian public culture. Partisanship is identical to the concept of underground, underground culture. An important art platform for the dissemination of contemporary art was the gallery, which just bore the telling name – Podzemka (Underground). The gallery existed from 2004 to 2009, was the most important platform for the presentation of contemporary art, and became the basis for the creation of a new larger institution – the Ў contemporary art gallery, opened immediately after the closure of the Podzemka. The main goal of the gallery was direct acquaintance of the Belarusian public with both Belarusian contemporary art and foreign art, which at that time was a unique experience. More than 100 exhibition projects were held, including international ones, which covered almost all areas of contemporary art. Gallery "Ў", which aimed to continue the trends outlined by the work of Podzemka, was the only platform in Belarus with an atmosphere of free culture. Was closed in 2020.

In 2010, after the suppression of protests against the falsification of the next presidential elections and the politicization of society, there was a need to change the paradigm in the system of Belarusian art from partisan strategies towards activist practices, politicization of art, appeal to public space, protest strategies, and feminist optics. Such changes were marked and cultivated by Sergei Shabohin, whose artistic activity reflects this transition from partisanism to art activism. For this purpose, the artist launched a portal about Belarusian contemporary art and modern theater – Artaktivist.

In 2020, at a new stage in the politicization of society, contemporary Belarusian art faced unprecedented censorship and the almost complete purge and destruction of the system of independent culture, which brought back underground strategies and made partisan practices vital.