Advertisement
Featuring Rusya (Maryna Shukyurava), Ingo Petz and Nina FrießZOiS anniversary logo: 10 years ZOiS
+ Live set by the electro-ethno project Šuma (Belarus)
In the run-up to the 2020 Belarusian presidential elections and during the peaceful protests against their flagrant rigging, music was omnipresent. Prominent Belarusian bands and musicians gave concerts in support of the independent candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was standing against Belarus’s long-standing authoritarian ruler Aleksandr Lukashenka. With their instruments, these artists joined the ranks of the protesters and were ultimately among the victims of the brutal violence with which the Belarusian regime sought to crush demonstrations and the spirit of protest. Many of them were arrested and sentenced to years in prison in the course of the repression, which continues to this day.
Persecuted and silenced in their homeland, many Belarusian musicians are continuing the struggle for their culture and for a free Belarus from their places of exile.
Together with the musician and artist Rusya (Maryna Shukyurava), founder and singer of the music project Šuma, and dekoder editor Ingo Petz, who has been exploring the role of Belarusian music under dictatorial conditions for many years, Nina Frieß (ZOiS) will discuss the role music played in the run-up to and during the unfinished Belarusian revolution, how musicians in exile are getting involved, and what sounds are being made in Belarus itself.
Following the discussion, we invite you to a live set by Šuma, with their distinctive blending of folk songs with genres like deep house, ambient, downtempo and dub techno.
Rusya, whose real name is Maryna Shukyurava, is a Belarusian singer, musician, activist, producer and vocal coach. She first gained recognition as a singer with the rock band Indiga. In 2011, together with Alexey Budzko and the producer Alexis Scorpio, she founded the ensemble Šuma, where she blends traditional Belarusian music with electronic sounds
Ingo Petz is the director of the Belarus project and a partner at the non-profit media platform dekoder.org. His book ‘Rasender Stillstand: Belarus – eine Revolution und ihre Folgen’ [‘Racing to a Standstill’] was published in March 2025.
Nina Frieß is a scholar of Slavic Studies and Literature and research associate at ZOiS. Her research focuses, among other things, on Belarusian literature and culture in exile.
This event forms part of a series marking the tenth anniversary of ZOiS. During our anniversary year from October 2026 to September 2027, we will be reflecting on significant events in Eastern Europe and the field of Eastern European studies, in collaboration with some of our longstanding partner organisations.
Free entry.
Advertisement
Event venue
PANDA platforma, Knaackstr. 97,Berlin, Germany
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.