Maria Kalesnikava knows all too well how authoritarian regimes repress art: The Belarusian flautist and activist spent five years in detention as a political prisoner, three of which were in solitary confinement.
Speaking at this year's Beethovenfest, she said: "A person's external freedom can be taken away, sometimes almost entirely. Their freedom of movement, contacts with other people, and access to information can be limited." She pointed out that it is, however, much harder to control what has already become part of one's memory, imagination and inner experience. "And it is precisely in this that I find the explanation for why culture is so important for a free society and why authoritarian systems so often view it with distrust" she concluded during the keynote speech.
A key figure of the Belarusian opposition, the artist and political activist was arrested by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko in the summer of 2020, after the regime had violently suppressed the peaceful revolution for democracy and freedom. Across the country, mass protests and a democratic civil rights movement took place after the controversial presidential election on August 9, 2020.
Kalesnikava recalled how, during her imprisonment, she had carried her world and her experiences, with her all along. This enabled her to remain free, and not to feel like a victim. To Kalesnikava, this is precisely the power of art and also the reason why all dictators — whether Stalin, Hitler or Putin and Lukashenko — hate independent arts and culture, even if it's not overtly political.
During a panel discussion in Bonn, Kalesnikava stressed this point directly:
"The question often arises: what are we defending in Ukraine? Why do we need so much money and new weapons? For me, it is completely clear: the war Russia started is not just against Ukraine. It's a war against European values and European culture. It is a war against our civilization." Kalesnikava realized this immediately when she heard about the Russian war against Ukraine in February 2022, while she was imprisoned.
Music saved her
Kalesnikava was released and has been living in freedom again for ten months now — a miracle that she didn't think was possible and an achievement of international diplomacy. The fact that she emerged and returned to her life full of resilience is thanks in part to Beethoven and Bach, as Kalesnikava, who studied the flute and earned a degree in early and new music in Minsk and Stuttgart, recalled. "I spent a lot of time in complete silence. But this silence was almost never empty, because music constantly played in my head," Kalesnikava said in Bonn. "We musicians know this state very well — sometimes a melody or a musical phrase gets so stuck in your head that it's simply impossible to get rid of it. In normal life, this can even be annoying. In prison, I realized for the first time that this could bring great happiness."
During her visit to Bonn, the Belarusian activist also visited DW and appeared as a guest on the DW Russian language show "DW Novosti." Kalesnikava currently lives in Berlin following an invitation by the German government, where she is also recovering from the horrors she experienced. She sees it as her responsibility to remind the world about what is happening to more than 800 political prisoners in Belarus, as well as the importance and fragility of free artistic expression. On October 2, 2026, she held her keynote speech at the Beethovenfest in Bonn as part of a conference titled "Cultural Events as Political Spaces?," organized with the support of the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
The concert hall as a space for freedom
More than 200 representatives from concert institutions and music festivals from across Germany came to the newly renovated Beethovenhalle in Bonn for the final weekend of this year's Beethovenfest. Together, they debated innovative forms and formats for music, as well as issues that stretch far beyond the music industry and urge on to think outside the box.
"Arts and culture are not responsible for taking on specific opinions from political parties, or for making explicitly political statements," Steven Walter, artistic director of the Beethovenfest and host of the conference, told DW. "What art always creates, however, is spaces for encounter, and places where people can tolerate ambivalence. And that is such an important part of our society, that we're able to handle making collective experiences." To Walter, this is precisely where arts and culture come in, as artists create spaces for independent thought, subjective interpretations, as well as doubts. "Perhaps it's true that there is something like a DNA of freedom in the nature of art," Walter explained in an interview with DW.
The most successful Beethovenfest in years
The festive closing of the 2026 Beethovenfest took place on 3 October, which is also German Unity Day. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Anja Bihlmaier, performed Johannes Brahms' "A German Requiem," an iconic piece that evokes reconciliation and trust.
After four weeks of Beethovenfest 2026, the festival recorded the highest number of visitors in a decade. Around 35,000 people came to experience, celebrate and discuss art together at more than 100 concerts and events.
