Free Theatre and Charter’97 won prestigious international Freedom to Create Prize

Winners of the prize, founded by ArtVenture international organisation and Article 19, human rights organisation focusing on defending rights of journalists, took place in London. Belarusians were awarded in the main nomination Freedom to Create.

930 groups and individuals out of 86 countries applied for the prestigious prize. Awards were given to five nominees, including Belarus Free Theatre. According to the rules, a winner may nominee a human rights organisation for the award. The Free Theatre nominated Charter’97 initiative.

Besides the Free Theatre, main prize was also given to Zimbabwean playwright Cont Mhlanga for his satirical play The Good President about Mugabe’s regime and Pakistani-Norwegian singer and human rights activist Deeyah, nicknamed ‘The Muslim Madonna’.

Outstanding British playwright Tom Stoppard awarded heads of the Free Theatre Mikalai Khalezin, Uladzimir Shcherban and Natallya Kalyada and international coordinator of Charter’97 Andrei Sannikov.

“We were happy to learn that issue of Belarus was raised both in the context of creativity and problems of expression of creativity, human rights in fact, as we are the only country in Europe where human rights and freedoms are violated. A special pleasure was that the ceremony took place in London, as the Free Theatre has a good reputation and many friends in the United Kingdom. Here we had our successful tours. The fact the prize was awarded by Tom Stoppard proves that this man, who can be considered a moral leader in Great Britain and in the world, remains a friend of Belarus and a consistent fighter for freedom of expression.

We decided to nominee Charter’97 for this award, as moral position dominates in its activity. This unites us, as in our view, ethics must rule any process,” head of the Free Theatre Mikalai Khalezin said after the ceremony.

“Like the Free Theatre, we think that after democracy wins in Belarus, the whole European continents will be free from dictatorships and totalitarian regimes for the first time in its history. That is why the support, expressed by the founders of the prize, is so important for us today. Defending dignity and human rights we will be able to gain freedom for our country,” Andrei Sannikov, international coordinator of Charter’97 and one of the leaders of the “European Belarus” campaign, said.

ArtVenture is a philanthropic organisation which seeks to harness art and culture to improve lives in meaningful ways. It supports creative projects and organisations that are working through art and culture to highlight social development issues and build bridges between cultures.

Freedom to Create Prize is an international award, granted to honour artists who defend their freedom of expression and confront discrimination and oppression.