The festival will last from August 5 to 7 in Sofia Kyivska and the Golden Gate.
© Bouquet Kyiv Stage
On Friday, August 5, the fifth high art festival Bouquet Kyiv Stage opened in Kyiv, which will last until August 7. The locations of the event were Sofia Kyivska and the Golden Gate.
This year, the Bouquet Kyiv Stage takes place in a more restrained wartime format and taking into account all the necessary security measures, but also offers guests a complete musical and visual program, intellectual conversations and the a special atmosphere when like-minded people gather under the protection of the thousand-year-old walls of Sofia.
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The theme of this year's festival is “For the sake of life”. And the through-and-through idea is the expression of personality. And also the search for support, support and faith. And also gratitude.
“Last year, we held the Bouquet Kyiv Stage in the conditions of a pandemic and quarantine restrictions, in order to allow ourselves and others to feel that the world is not destroyed and that there are things in it that you can always rely on, such as art,” says the ideological inspiration and co-founder of Bouquet Kyiv Stage Iryna Budanska. — This year we need this support even more, finding it in ourselves, in those around us, in art. And also – in our unity and gratitude to all those who defend us today at the front and in the rear and do everything possible for the sake of life.”
The organizers of Bouquet Kyiv Stage – the team of the Dom Meister Klas cultural center – explain: this year's festival is a thank you to all our defenders. The theme of war — visible somewhere, and somewhere barely perceptible, metaphorically, illusory — is present in every event of the festival.
The event began with the concert “Sisters: Telnyuk”. In Sophia Cathedral, Lesya and Halyna Telnyuk performed songs based on new texts, in which the prayer component was clearly manifested. Next, Bohdana Pivnenko and Anna Khmara performed in Khlibna with the concert “Dedication”, and the musical program of the first day was completed by the performance of the band Root Fruit Combo and Ola Chernyshova in the space of “Golden Gate”.
“When forming the music program, we thought about who the musicians are now and why their choice is exactly this: to stay in the city, go on stage and present this or that music. Because this is no longer just a choice of another program, for every musician it is a civic position. Now every orchestra member is perceived as a soloist, now everyone has become a notable personality,” explains Hanna Hadecka, co-curator of the festival's musical direction.
Three chamber concerts will take place every day in three locations – Khlibna, Sophia Cathedral and the Golden Gate. . In the program: a duet born already during the war — Yevhen Gromov and Igor Zavhorodniy, a concert “Reconstruction” by Anton Degtyarev, a concert for two harpsichords by Olga Shadrina-Lychak and her student Paola Prokopenko, concerts by the “Kyiv Camerata” and the Classical Music Ensemble named after Borys Lyatoshynskyi with a choral program that thoroughly conveys the idea of addressing the forces that support, inspire faith, and give consolation. Jazz evening programs at the Golden Gate, including the Nazgul Shukaeva Trio concert “Lullabies”.
“Now the feeling of every moment, especially the musical one, has become very acute. The perception of the classics has completely changed. Today we need music that has healing properties,” says Yevgen Gromov, co-curator of the music program.
On the first day of the festival, three photo exhibitions opened. “War” by Oleksandr Glyadyelov – documentary photos taken by the author in the period from February to May in Kyiv, Buch, Irpen, Borodyantsi, Gostomel, Moschun, Chernihiv, Kharkiv… “For the sake of life” by Elizaveta Klyuzko – photos of Ukrainian women bearing children during war And the project of the Master Class House “Warriors of the World – Warriors of Light. Portraits” — video and photo portraits of foreign volunteer legionnaires.
This year's Kinobouket program is dedicated to the theme “Culture vs war”. The documentary series of the same name, dedicated to artists who went to war, will include two films directed by Kadym Tarasov. These are tapes about cinematographer and photographer Serhiy Mikhalchuk and actor and director Akhtem Seitablayev. There are also more than 20 short films in the program.
This year, there will also be traditional conversations under the Ash tree, dedicated to the theme of war and culture.
“The theme of our first Bouquet Kyiv Stage was “Sounds of the City”. Around us and inside us sounds not just a collection of waves of different frequencies, but the sounds of Music with which we lived, rejoiced and experienced in our native Kyiv. Nowadays, other sounds have appeared in the City. Sounds of pain, suffering and hatred. How and why this is possible in the modern world, we will talk under the 200-year-old ash tree with philosophers, historians and cultural experts,” says Yevhen Utkin, co-founder of the festival and author of the idea of conversations under the ash tree.
Also in the festival program are sightseeing tours of St. Sophia Cathedral, the Golden Gate and the Metropolitan's House.
Entrance to the festival is traditionally free, you only need to pay an entrance ticket to the territory of Sophia of Kyiv or “Golden Gate”. Also this year, pre-registration for all events of the music program is mandatory. Registration is not required for film screenings, conversations under the ash tree, and photo exhibitions.
Organizers emphasize that all safety rules will be observed. In the event of an air alert, events will be suspended until it is lifted. Guests of the event will be invited to go to a safe shelter on the territory of Sofia of Kyiv or go down to the subway at the Golden Gate.
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You can follow the news and find out the detailed program of the festival on the official website or Facebook page.
