{"id":565713,"date":"2026-08-05T17:46:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=565713"},"modified":"2026-08-05T19:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:43:14","slug":"from-bialiatski-s-address-to-volski-s-performance-and-the-day-of-dignity-a-cultural-guide-to-the-new-belarus-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/from-bialiatski-s-address-to-volski-s-performance-and-the-day-of-dignity-a-cultural-guide-to-the-new-belarus-conference","title":{"rendered":"From Bialiatski\u2019s Address to Volski\u2019s Performance and the \u201cDay of Dignity\u201d: A Cultural Guide to the New Belarus Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The annual New Belarus Conference will take place in Warsaw on Aug. 8\u20139. While the forum traditionally focuses on political and strategic issues, a significant part of its programme and side events is dedicated to culture, independent art and preserving Belarusian identity in exile. Here is an overview of the cultural events.<\/p>\n

The cultural programme leading up to the New Belarus Conference will begin with the roundtable discussion \u201cLanguage, Culture, Education and Media: The Invisible Front for Belarus\u201d<\/strong>, which will take place on Aug. 7<\/strong> from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. During the event, representatives of the national revival movement \u2014 Pavel Barkouski<\/b><\/strong>, Irena Katsialovich<\/b><\/strong>, Andrei Lauruhin<\/b><\/strong> and Ksenia<\/b><\/strong> \u2014 will present policy papers on four key areas. The experts will share concrete forecasts and proposals on how Belarus can preserve its national identity under current conditions.<\/p>\n

The official opening of the conference on Aug. 8<\/strong> (starting at 10:00 a.m.) will feature opening remarks by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/b><\/strong>, as well as special video messages from the Chair of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, Ivonka Survila<\/b><\/strong>, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate and political prisoner Ales Bialiatski<\/b><\/strong>. After a day of political panels and debates, the first day of the forum will conclude with music: following the closing session (6:45\u20137:15 p.m.), Lavon Volski<\/b><\/strong> will give an acoustic performance.<\/p>\n

The organisers also remind participants about the \u201cNew Belarus Playlist\u201d initiative, through which Belarusians can submit songs reflecting on the country’s future and contribute to a shared musical album.<\/p>\n

The final and largest event of the forum will be the Day of Dignity<\/strong>, beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Aug. 9<\/strong> near the Nicolaus Copernicus monument. Representatives of the democratic forces and international guests will deliver speeches, while the cultural programme will feature performances by Volny Choir<\/strong>, Kriwi<\/strong>, Aliaksei Shkurapatski<\/b><\/strong> and the Javaryna Fire Show<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

An important cultural venue during the conference will be the Museum of Free Belarus (11 Foksal Street), which is hosting the exhibition \u201c2020: Minsk Speaks\u201d<\/strong> from Aug. 5 to 23. In August 2020, Minsk spoke the language of freedom, solidarity and hope. Photographs of protest art in the city, white-red-white flags accompanied by personal stories from Belarusians, and video installations will immerse visitors in the atmosphere of a city united by its belief in change.<\/p>\n

How to Attend the Events<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Aug. 7 side event is free of charge, but advance registration is required via the online form<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The exhibition \u201c2020: Minsk Speaks\u201d<\/strong> is open at the Museum of Free Belarus from Aug. 5, with free admission for all visitors.<\/p>\n

The Day of Dignity event on Aug. 9 is an open-air public gathering near the Copernicus monument. Those wishing to support the event and its organisers can contribute through a dedicated fundraiser on the BySol platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The conference will be streamed online<\/a> on Aug. 8 and 9. The full programme is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please note that the Belarusian security services are attempting to gather information about the New Belarus Conference. The Viasna Human Rights Centre has reported attempts by security officers to contact Belarusians<\/a> via messaging apps and ask about their participation in the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual New Belarus Conference will take place in Warsaw on Aug. 8\u20139. While the forum traditionally focuses on political and strategic issues, a significant part of its programme and side events is dedicated to culture, independent art and preserving Belarusian identity in exile. Here is an overview of the cultural events. The cultural programme […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":565712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6a7368267faa7.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"From Bialiatski\u2019s Address to Volski\u2019s Performance and the \u201cDay of Dignity\u201d: A Cultural Guide to the New Belarus Conference"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142375,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}