Maria Kalesnikava, the flutist, conductor, arts manager, and activist, was one of the leading figures of the 2020 pro-democracy movement in Belarus. After her arrest in September 2020, she spent five years under arrest, held as a political prisoner. In December 2025, she was released as part of negotiations between the United States and Belarus, and now lives in Germany. On October 2, she addressed a conference presented by the Beethovenfest in Bonn. In her speech, she described the importance of art to her inner world during her imprisonment, and how artistic practice can model democratic values.
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