Ode to freedom (Kyrgyzstan)
Team
Author, director and performer Ayjamal BektenDuration: 1 h
Language: Russian
Subtitles: Estonian, English
What is freedom? How can it be measured and perceived? This performance takes the audience into the personal experience of an activist who has fought for over five years for the right to be and feel free—in their home, city, country, body, and life. If you have lived within narrow boundaries, can you recognize freedom when it comes?
The author guides the audience on a chaotic yet sincere journey, where humor and painful truth intertwine. This performance engages viewers, transforming them from mere spectators into co-authors of their own ode to freedom. Together, they explore different ideas and actions in search of an answer to the question: Does freedom truly exist, or is it just an illusion?
Learn more: Behind the Story of “Ode to freedom”. Director and performer Ayjamal Bekten opens up.
1. Why did you choose this topic?
I chose this topic because it’s the one that speaks to me most deeply – identity, memory, freedom, the right to express, and the inner urge to live according to one’s own will. After over 10 years in activism, I’ve witnessed countless stories of people being oppressed, and I myself have experienced arrest and detention. This performance became not just a protest, but my own form of artistic expression – a reflection of everything I’ve learned.
2. Have there been any interesting situations?
After a show in Tashkent, someone told me it was their first-ever protest experience. In Almaty, a woman approached me, deeply moved, and said the performance inspired her to write her own play — which later won a playwriting competition.
3. Is there something else that the audience should know?
This is an experimental performance. The audience will not just be viewers – they’ll be active participants and, in a way, co-authors of their own meaning of “freedom.” Each show depends on the people in the room and their emotional openness.
4. What is freedom to you?
To me, freedom starts with rights – what the state is obligated to guarantee. But beyond that, freedom begins inside a person: in the space where you allow yourself to exist as you are, without fear or shame. Of course, freedom ends where another’s begins – but within that, everyone should have the right to express, or not express, themselves as they choose.
