With the support of the grant, the creative work of the band Irdorath was sustained, resulting in the recording of Bestiarium — a fully Belarusian-language album inspired by the mythology of their homeland. Created in the pagan-folk genre, the album features 10 tracks and one bonus track, involving seven musicians from four countries.
Alongside the album, the band produced an accompanying art book in Belarusian and English. It includes song lyrics, illustrations, legends, cultural context, and the band’s own commentary, allowing listeners and readers to experience the characters as figures from dark tales: tragic, ironic, and philosophical. This approach makes the world of Belarusian mythology and culture accessible even to those who do not speak the language.
According to the artists, “the result of this work is about humanity in inhumane circumstances about the experience of recent years, about loss, resilience, and the return to oneself. Part of the material was written in detention. Later, already in exile and with a new line-up, the album took on a different breath — denser, more alive, and more powerful.”
