The College of Europe in Natolin was privileged to host again an artistic performance by the Free Choir of Belarus (Volny Chor).
On 25 August 2020, the Independence Day of Belarus, the Free Choir staged its first singing action and performed at the Stolitsa Shopping Centre in Minsk. The Choir is a community of musicians, artists, and people whose voices were heard throughout 2020-21 during the flash mobs organised in various venues in Minsk: on the steps of the philharmonic or the opera house, in shopping malls, at the train station or in metro stations.
Dozens of the Choir members were detained, served 10 to 30 days in prison, or paid massive fines for their singing rallies. Criminal proceedings were instituted against some of the singers, threatening them with terms of 8 to 20 years. Wearing masks is not merely part of their stage image. The artists do it for fear of reprisals against their dear ones in Belarus.
Despite all the difficulties and repressions, the Free Choir lives and continues to sing! It has become a symbol of the Belarusian protest. It carries the Belarusian song like a flag.
The College of Europe in Natolin stands for Free Belarus.