Belarus Free Theatre to Present Venice Biennale Exhibition on Art Under Authoritarian Rule

The Belarus Free Theatre, an underground performance collective that has operated in exile since 2020, has revealed plans for a collateral exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale. Titled 'Official. Unofficial. Belarus.', the presentation will be held at the historic La Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia, opening on May 9 with previews from May 6-8 and continuing through November 22. The exhibition is organized by the theatre's art projects curator Daniella Kaliada and co-founder Natalia Kaliada, both of whom have lived outside Belarus since 2011. The show will examine artistic creation, censorship, and reception within authoritarian systems marked by pervasive monitoring. Natalia Kaliada stated that the project asserts the cultural authority of Belarus's independent artistic community rather than its government, highlighting a collective of exiled creators who represent their nation through their own perspectives. Featured works include new altar panel paintings by Sergey Grinevich, an organ composition called 'Sounds of Silence' by Olga Podgayskaya, and a large sphere made from banned books compressed by construction equipment, created by Nicolai Khalezin. An adjoining cemetery will host a sound piece featuring accounts from freed political prisoners, alongside sculptures fashioned from prison bars by Vladimir Tsesler that reinterpret traditional straw folk art. Outside the church, an installation named 'Surveillance Crucifixion'—a cross constructed from security cameras—will be displayed, intended to blur lines between observer and observed. Belarus has been governed by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994 under conditions widely characterized as oppressive. The theatre was established in 2005 by human rights activists Natalia Kaliada and Nikolai Khalezin to oppose state censorship, initially performing secretly in private residences. They relocated to the United Kingdom in 2011, managing productions remotely. Following extensive protests disputing election outcomes in 2020, remaining company members were driven into exile, with many finding refuge in Warsaw or the UK.