“If you're going through hell, keep going!” Testimonies of Imprisoned Women in Belarus
Video installation and reading
Maryja Kalesnikava, © PALOMA FILMS
In the summer of 2020, women became the face of the Belarusian revolution. After the rigged presidential elections, they catapulted the country into the global headlines with their protest marches. The regime responded with brutal repression. Ever longer prison sentences for ever more absurd “offenses” are now common. As is the complete isolation of many of those imprisoned, including well-known musician and campaign manager Maryja Kalesnikava, with whom there has been no contact since February 2023.
In 2023, Cordelia Dvorák managed to smuggle a selection of political activists’ letters, diary entries, and final words in court out of the country and publish them. In the midst of a prison life full of violence and terror, these testimonies express the incredible dignity and perseverance of female resistance in Belarus.
A coproduction of KUG – University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and ORF musikprotokoll
6.10., 13:30
Theater im Palais, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz
Leonhardstraße 19
8010 Graz ♿
Free admission
Reading: Miriam Bahri and Lasse Kühlcke
Artistic support: Kerstin Werner
A coproduction of KUG – University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and ORF musikprotokoll