OSLO, NORWAY (May 26, 2023) – The Human Rights Foundation (HRF)’s Art in Protest program is excited to announce Voices of the New Belarus, an art exhibition by renowned Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik and translated by John Freedman. The exhibition brings attention to the struggle of the Belarusian people against a brutal despot who, unchained by any moral constraints, relentlessly attacks dissidents.
Since 2020, Alexander Lukashenko has imprisoned thousands of individuals who spoke up against his regime. In the last three years, Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, has pushed hundreds of thousands of Belarusians — from factory workers to IT programmers to once apolitical citizens — to flee their home country. In 2023, political persecution not only continues, but it has increased.
Voices of the New Belarus features 16 monologues of Belarusian political prisoners, including Maria Kolesnikova, Ales Bialiatski, Nikolai Statkevich, Marina Zolotova, and Igor Losik. Some of the talks come from ordinary people repressed for speaking up against a brutal regime and who suffered grave consequences as a result, others are prominent Belarusian opposition figures who spent years opposing Lukashenko. The exhibition also features the voices of several actors and professors at Yale University, including that of prominent American historians, Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore.
This exhibition will be displayed on Thursday, June 15, from 11:00-12:45 at SALT (located at Langkaia 1, 0150 Oslo) during the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum.
When dictatorship is on the rise worldwide, and the Lukashenko regime continues to repress ordinary people in Belarus, it’s paramount we continue to remember those who suffered under dictatorships.
“Sometimes the truth requires nothing more than to be told verbatim.”
– Andrei Kureichik, Belarusian playwright
“Voices of the New Belarus” was created in partnership with HRF’s Belarus Solidarity Fund, which supports pro-democracy advocates and civil society organizations in Belarus. The project is also supported by the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and the Fortunoff Archive for Holocaust Testimonies of Yale University.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.
For all media inquiries or interview requests, please contact media@hrf.org.