Stories - Беларуская Рада культуры

“A free city is a city where people dance in the streets”: how Aliaksei Sialenka returned to music after prison

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:25:00 +0000

We continue our series of stories about projects supported by ArtPower Belarus with funding from the European Union. Before his arrest, Aliaksei Sialenka combined his work in architecture with his passion for music. He performed with Belarusian bands, taught music, and, together with friends, developed their own recording studio in Minsk. After his imprisonment, he lost almost everything he had spent years building: his band, the studio, his instruments, and the opportunity to play regularly.…

Books begin long before they reach the printing press: how Gutenberg Publisher is building a sustainable belarusian publishing house

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:42:11 +0000

We continue our series of interviews with projects supported by ArtPower Belarus, funded by the European Union. When readers hold a newly published book in their hands, they rarely think about everything that happens behind the scenes. Editing, design, typesetting and printing are only part of the process. There is also fundraising, planning, division of responsibilities, partnerships, communication and countless day-to-day organisational decisions without which no book would ever come into…

Bialiatski / Unbroken: how a film about a Nobel peace prize laureate was made while he was in prison and completed after his release

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:34:44 +0000

We continue our series of interviews with projects supported by ArtPower Belarus, funded by the European Union. The documentary BIALIATSKI / UNBROKEN took more than three years to create. What began as an idea for a film about Ales Bialiatski following his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize gradually evolved into something much larger. As the filmmakers immersed themselves in archives, testimonies, and conversations with people who had known Bialiatski in different countries and at different…

Irdorath: How an ArtPower Belarus Grant Helped Create Bestiarium and Bring It to the International Stage

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:58:43 +0000

We continue our series of interviews with projects supported by ArtPower Belarus with funding from the European Union. The band Irdorath emerged in Hrodna from street performances featuring bagpipes and drums. Then came studio albums, concerts across Europe, tens of thousands of kilometers traveled in a tour van, and appearances at major festivals where Belarusian music had rarely been heard before. “We grew from playing on the streets for tips to performing at Wacken, becoming the first…

People of Salt: from Idea to installation: a project about Belarus made possible by ArtPower Belarus

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:18:52 +0000

We continue our series of interviews with projects supported by ArtPower Belarus with funding from the European Union. The project People of Salt is a large-scale work by artist and curator Uladzimir Hramovich, developed from long-term research into the salt mines of Salihorsk as both an image and a metaphor for Belarusian history, economy, and ethics. In this success story, we explore how the idea evolved over the years, why support from ArtPower Belarus became a practical necessity, how…

Northern Lights: how an ArtPower Belarus grant helped sustain the Belarusian programme and strengthen the festival’s online platform

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:07:51 +0000

We continue our series of interviews with projects supported by ArtPower Belarus with funding from the European Union. The Northern Lights Film Festival has existed for more than 11 years and has repeatedly changed its form and format during that time. The most significant transformations took place after 2020, when the team was forced to continue its work in exile. Since then, the festival has effectively been re-invented each year: screening formats, technical solutions, financial models, and…

“It was my exhale.” How forced emigration and an ArtPower Belarus grant helped rebuild a theater and a life

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:22:55 +0000

Aliaksandr Yandzheyeuski is an actor and director who worked for over 20 years at the Hrodna Regional Puppet Theater. In 2020, he staged his first production for adult audiences together with his wife, a set designer. Then everything turned upside down: protests, dismissal, inability to work, detention, and forced emigration. Today, he’s directing plays again not in his hometown, but in Białystok. What matters most is that he does so with passion and for an audience. ArtPower Belarus helped…

Volha Mzhelskaya’s video project as an archive and a voice of belarusian culture

Fri, 09 May 2025 08:48:28 +0000

“Conversations of a Little Hedonist” by Volha Mzhelskaya is not just a video project — it is a personal archive of an era, a gesture of solidarity, and an artistic statement about the reality of Belarusian culture beyond the country’s borders. In its third season, supported by a mini-grant from ArtPower Belarus, the project evolved further — now with English subtitles, new dynamics, and deep conversations with artists. Volha Mzhelskaya is a curator and cultural manager who has been living in…

Hope Without Fear: How a Belarusian Artist’s Project United Three Italian Cities

Mon, 05 May 2025 08:31:54 +0000

The story of Nadzieya Buka is one of an artist who, through her work, not only maintains a connection to her native culture but also forges new paths for the Belarusian voice in the world. Her journey is an example of how, through a combination of artistic courage, professional perseverance, and support from the ArtPower Belarus mobility grant, one can accomplish a major project and reach a new level. In 2023, Nadzieya held a series of exhibitions in Italy. These were not only exhibitions and…