In 2022 Alhierd Bacharevič’s book Dogs of Europe, often considered one of the most important literary works ever published in Belarus, became the first work of fiction to be banned in his homeland as “extremist". The nine-hundred-page dystopian novel, which was awarded the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding in spring 2025, has been adapted for the stage by Belarus Free Theatre, the only theatre in Europe banned by its government on political grounds. Writer Alhierd Bacharevič will discuss censorship in the arts in Belarus today with playwright and founder of Belarus Free Theatre Nicolai Khalezin. Hosted by Daniella Kaliada.

Alhierd Bacharevič is a Belarusian author who has written many novels, including Dogs of Europe (Sabaki Eŭropy, 2017), Alindarka’s Children (2020), Victory Square (Plošča Pieramohi, 2021), and The Last Book of Mr. A. (Apošniaja kniha pana A., 2020), as well as collections of essays and a book of poetry. His nine-hundred-page dystopian novel Dogs of Europe, “about the power of language and the language of power, about Belarus as a European island and Europe as a Belarusian dream," was adapted into a play and staged by Belarus Free Theatre in London, Paris, Berlin, Minsk, and Adelaide. It was also staged in Poland by the independent theatre Kupalaucy. Today all of Bacharevič’s books are banned in Belarus. He left the country and has since lived in Austria, Switzerland, and recently Germany. His books have been translated into German, English, French, Polish, Swedish, and Russian. He has won numerous awards, including the 2025 Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding for Dogs of Europe, the Erwin Piscator Award, the Belarusian PEN Centre’s Book of the Year Award (2014, 2018), and the Jerzy Giedroyc Prize for the best books of prose written in Belarusian (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018).

Nicolai Khalezin is a co-founder and artistic director of Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) as well as an award-winning director, playwright, designer, educator, political campaigner, and journalist. Prior to co-founding BFT in 2005, Khalezin was editor-in-chief of three of the leading sociopolitical weekly newspapers in Belarus, all of which were shut down by the regime. He was the owner of the only contemporary art gallery in Minsk, which was also closed down by the authorities. Khalezin served time in prison in Belarus for his involvement in political campaigns and was recognised as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. This experience inspired one of BFT’s most celebrated shows, Generation Jeans (2016), an autobiographical duologue about rock music and resistance, which has been performed more than 100 times around the world, including at the home of Václav Havel on his invitation in 2008. Forced into exile for his work as a political campaigner, Khalezin was granted political asylum in the UK in 2011. His playwriting credits for BFT include: King Stakh’s Wild Hunt (2023), Dogs of Europe (2023), and Time of Women (2014), all of which he also directed. In June 2023 Khalezin was awarded the MBE for Services to Theatre in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Daniella Kaliada is a Belarusian-born multidisciplinary artist, activist, and cultural strategist whose life and work are shaped by exile and resistance. Forced to flee Belarus with her parents, she became politically active at an early age; at thirteen she addressed the British Parliament, urging sanctions against Lukashenko’s regime and the release of political prisoners. Since then she has spoken at major international conferences representing Belarus Free Theatre and the We Remember Foundation, and she is the host of Monologue for Two, an online programme created by the Ministry of Counter Culture. Alongside her advocacy, Kaliada has built a distinctive artistic practice spanning theatre, translation, and visual culture. She has translated more than a dozen plays, including an acclaimed adaptation of Alhierd Bacharevič’s Dogs of Europe. In 2016 her work on memory and the Nazi occupation received special recognition in the exhibition EPIC CIC, curated by the Saatchi Gallery. Currently, Kaliada is developing a multi-sensory pavilion designed to reclaim the narrative of Belarus at international art fairs. It is a project that fuses artistic innovation with political defiance and positions Belarusian cultural identity within a global context.