Exhibition Dedicated to Banned Belarusian Books Opens at the National Library of Latvia — Photo Report
Reform.news Editorial Team · 21 October 2026, 17:26
https://reform.news/en/exhibition-dedicated-to-banned-belarusian-books-opens-at-the-national-library-of-latvia-photo-report/Today, October 21, an exhibition titled “Aizliegto grāmatu balsis” (“Belarus. Voices of Banned Books”) opens at the National Library of Latvia, also known as the Castle of Light. The exhibition, created by Belarusian PEN and coordinated by the Latvian Belarusian community Supolka, is dedicated to books that have been labelled “extremist” by the regime or banned in their homeland.
The exhibition presents the stories of authors and their works banned in Belarus, as well as the mechanisms of contemporary censorship.
“The books collected here differ greatly in genre and subject matter, but they share one distinctive feature: they refuse to accept the worldview of a totalitarian state. They show other ways of life and alternative realities, placing no limits on thoughts or emotions — and that is precisely what makes them ‘dangerous’ to the regime,” said Taciana Niadbaj, head of Belarusian PEN, describing the regime’s policy towards literature.
The exhibition will be on display in the gallery on the library’s M floor until February 27, 2027.
It should be recalled that earlier this month, the Ministry of Information expanded its list of “banned” books to 271 titles.