This exhibition brings together the works of Belarusian artist and previous Beyond Borders 1325 Women in Conflict Fellow, Kseniya ‘Xisha’ Angelova, as she reflects on her exhibition, ‘Martyrology of Belarus’. Grounded in the real events that have taken place in Belarus since 2020, this ongoing project has featured over 1100 portraits of Belarusian political prisoners, shown in ex

hibitions across Europe, including 200 portraits displayed at St John’s Church in Edinburgh last January.

This year, at the Beyond Borders International Festival 2025, Xisha has developed a new framing of the exhibition, taking advantage of the magical Traquair House maze as it symbolises a labyrinth. Drawing from her backgrounds in both iconography and activism,

she intends to reinterpret the ancient Greek myth of the Labyrinth, with the Minotaur as a symbol of dictatorship and Theseus as the voice of freedom – an ever-evolving figure who inspires introspection in the search for one’s own truth. Ariadne’s thread, once a tool to escape the labyrinth, is reimagined as a metaphor for the pursuit of humanity amid violence and oppression.

With this story as a framework, Xisha will display over 200 portraits from the Belarusian Martyrology within the hedge maze, alongside life-size artworks that bring to life this mythological re-conception of resistance. This exhibition has the potential to be a powerful and immersive experience – blending visual art, myth, and political reality – where audiences will physically as well as emotionally engage with the themes of confinement, resistance, and the quest for freedom!