«She Changed My Life.» Malyavanych Found Love – She is a Belarusian Artist

This happened on December 1, 2025. Malyavanych arrived on the coast near Rome to film the story of a Belarusian artist. A few weeks later, he invited her to Warsaw. Now they live between Poland and Italy, work with children together, and prepare an exhibition.

They Passed Each Other Several Times

Before that December meeting, Aliaksandr and Volha had never met. At least, that's what they thought. Later, going through their past, they began to find strange coincidences, which they spoke about on the morning show on 'Belsat'.

In his youth, Zhdanovich studied for several years in an icon painting workshop. Silivanchyk also studied icon painting: in 2008, she completed a corresponding course at the St. Elisabeth Convent in Minsk.

Before fully transitioning to art, Volha worked as a cynologist for about twenty years. One of her dogs participated in the filming of the detective series 'Zhurau-2'. Zhdanovich also appeared in the same series: in the episode '122 Centimeters', he played the director of an insurance agency. On set, their paths diverged again.

Ultimately, emigration and work brought them together. In 2025, Aliaksandr Zhdanovich became the host of the third season of the project 'Bez Retushy' (Without Retouching). He traveled to different countries and met Belarusians who were trying to establish their lives far from home. Through their fates, the authors showed Sweden, Italy, and other countries — through the eyes of people who now live there daily.

One of the subjects was Volha Silivanchyk. She lives in Tarvajanica on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast, approximately thirty kilometers from Rome. She paints boats, beaches, streets, and buildings that change with the sun.

Thus began a story that was not in the script.

Павялічыць

From 'Kalykhanka' to Forced Emigration

Several generations of Belarusians know Aliaksandr Zhdanovich. For almost twenty years, from 1996 to 2015, he was the host of 'Kalykhanka' (a popular Belarusian children's bedtime show).

Zhdanovich himself is an actor with dozens of theater and film roles. In 1985, he graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Arts and worked for over three decades at the Maxim Gorky National Academic Drama Theater. In addition, he acted in films, directed plays, wrote fairy tales, and worked with children.

Volha would later say on the show: her son grew up watching 'Kalykhanka', but she didn't particularly like the image of Malyavanych. However, she likes Zhdanovich himself. She met the actor Aliaksandr, who is already over sixty, and who had experienced the death of his wife, repression, and several relocations.

Aliaksandr's first wife, puppet theater actress Liudmila Zhdanovich, passed away in 2015. They had two adult sons. After 2020, Malyavanych was detained for participating in protests, sentenced to days in prison, and fired from the theater.

In February 2022, he left Belarus. He lived in Georgia for over two years. In Tbilisi, Zhdanovich participated in Belarusian cultural events, organized classes for children, voiced films, and continued to write fairy tales. He decided to move to Poland when Belarusian cultural life in Georgia began to fade and making new projects became increasingly difficult.

In Warsaw, he once again performs for adults and children, showcases a traditional Belarusian puppet theater (batleika), reads poems, and presents his own books. At meetings, he admits that a little boy still lives inside him.

Павялічыць

A Cynologist Who Learned to Live Through Art

Volha was born in Minsk in 1980. Her path into art was less predictable. Initially, she became a cynologist and worked with dogs for almost two decades. In parallel, she studied painting. In 2008, she graduated from the easel painting department of the Glebov Minsk State Art College, later completed a course in classical animation at 'Belarusfilm', illustrated children's books, and taught drawing at school.

In 2013, Volha moved to Italy. There, art transformed from a hobby into a profession and her main income. Silivanchyk calls herself an Impressionist, paints portraits, still lifes, and landscapes, teaches painting to children and adults, organizes plein airs, and runs the children's studio ArtFabrica.

Павялічыць

In recent years, her works have been exhibited in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria. In 2023, she received the Riccardo Bramante Award in Rome for her contribution to art and pedagogical work.

After the 2020 protests, Volha, together with the 'Belarusians of Rome' community, organized street performances dedicated to the events in her homeland. In September 2026, her works were shown in Bologna at the exhibition 'Horizons in a Suitcase' — four Belarusian artists spoke about life after leaving, memory, the lost feeling of home, and the attempt to take root in another country.

A Peahen and a Peacock Between Rome and Warsaw

After filming in Italy, Aliaksandr invited Volha to Warsaw. Since then, their lives have been divided between the Polish capital and the Italian coast.

The symbol of this relationship became two small melchior birds, a peahen and a peacock, which a friend once gave to Aliaksandr. Now one bird lives in Rome, and the other in Warsaw.

Павялічыць

Aliaksandr Zhdanovich publicly wrote about his new love when preparing for the exhibition 'Belarusian Artists in Exile' in Vienna:

«I am fortunate to have met an incredible person, a woman, the wonderful artist Volha Silivanchyk. She changed my life. She restored my faith in myself, expanded my creative horizons. One of the results of this relationship was my return to painting.»

Aliaksandr Zhdanovich admitted that he does not have an academic art education, apart from a few years at an icon painting workshop. Painting was his hobby for a long time: he taught himself, sometimes participated in exhibitions, and later almost stopped picking up a brush. Volha helped him return to painting.

Volha also began to introduce Aliaksandr into her creative world. In the summer, students of her Italian studio ArtFabrica painted portraits of Malyavanych. Zhdanovich tried on hats in front of the camera, changed outfits, and posed for the children.

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In Warsaw, Volha and Aliaksandr launched a theatrical-artistic laboratory for developing children's imagination. They call it 'Lara-bratory' — with a deliberate play on words. In these classes, children draw, invent characters, work with voice and movement, compose stories, and transform them into small scenes.

An Opportunity to Be Together

The couple's new project is called 'Light-Sensitivity'. The authors themselves explain it very personally:

«An artist and an actor. Two people in love, scattered across different countries by fate. For us, this project is one of the opportunities to be together through art, through creativity.»

The project will take place from November 17 to 30, 2026, at the Museum of Free Belarus in Warsaw. Two artistic worlds will be united in two exhibition halls. The first — the light of Italy in Volha Silivanchyk's plein air painting. The second — Belarusian memory in portraits, posters, and installations.

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