Theatre director, actor, playwright, cultural manager, theatre teacher Aksana Haiko is the founder of Free Theatre in Brest in 2001 (renamed to Kryly Khalopa in 2011) and one of the founders of cultural center KX Space. She created 15 theatre productions which have performed in nearly 50 international theatre festivals in Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Denmark, Germany, France. Theatre “Kryly khalopa” (from 2001 till 2011 Free theatre) was founded as an activist project joining art and a critical view on the social and political situation in Belarus.

Its mission: implementation in the performative form of the critical view on the problems of society, the development of contemporary theatre art of Belarus and innovative theatre practices. Aksana is currently the director of KX Space (KX – from Cyrillic ‘Крылы Халопа’), an independent cultural space in Brest. It was opened in 2014 by the collective of Kryly Khalopa theater. KX Space is created as a platform for education, presentation, research and communication in the field of theater, contemporary art, non-formal education. KX work is aimed to activate the cultural life in the region and Belarus, to support local initiatives. KX space is opened for the implementation of local community projects, aimed to form the active position of the involvement and influence on own lives and life of the community.

Professional Background

2015-present – director of KX Space
2011-present – director of Kryly Khalopa theatre
2001-2011 – director of Free theatre

Educational background

• Urbanity and city planning, Brest Polytechnic University, 1993/1998
• Economic Cybernetics and Business Law, Belarusian State University, 1997/1998

Awards

• Special mention of jury (Goods-Money-Goods), Festival Lodzkie Spotkania Teatralne, Lodz, Poland, 2008
• Award for best performance (Trial by F. Kafka), International Theatre Festival Drabyna, Lviv, Ukraine, 2010
• Award of Euroradio and 34mag.net for civil activity and achievements in the field of human rights, 2016
• The community development best initiative ZRABILI (Brest Stories Guide), Belarus, 2017
• Gold Dove, 2018
• The best cultural project aimed at the preservation and use of historical and cultural heritage in Belarus (Brest Stories Guide), contest of ICOMOS, Belarus, 2019
• Award for the best cultural project in Brest region (Brest Stories Guide), Forum of Civil Initiatives in Brest, 2019