Global art project of documentary theatre The Voices

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

The idea of ​​The Voice project is to research a huge mass of documents, interviews and testimonies to create a series of documentary theatrical plays and texts about people who have become victims of repressive regimes in different countries in the 21st century. The first part of this project, which we started in Helsinki in cooperation with the Artists at Risk program, is dedicated to Belarus. I have researched more than 700 cases of repression in Belarus against politicians, journalists and ordinary people during 2020–2021. Together with Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, president elect Svetlana Tikhanouskaya and many prominent Belarusians I was one of the founders of the Coordination Council of Belarus – the only internationally recognized representative body of the Belarusian people. It made me personal enemy of Lukashenko. For this immersive project I propose a series of events that will offer Finnish writers, directors and audiences an opportunity to investigate how artists can help mobilize citizens fighting for democratic freedoms and bring international awareness to human rights violations. My previous project, Insulted. Belarus(sia), about the elections and brutal crackdown, was presented over 200 times worldwide (from Hong Kong, Nigeria, across the EU, the UK, and North America) in 29 languages from Sept. 2020–Aug. 2021. Many professional and academic performance groups found the work resonant with their own concerns about diminishing democracy, police brutality and State violence, and disinformation campaigns. The main idea of the project is to galvanize artists and activists across Finland and across the globe in solidarity. I plan to make The Voices about Afghanistan and Venezuela, African countries and Myanmar together both with Finnish writers and students and with representitives of those countries. All the texts will be published and presented to Finnish audience during next years.