To mark the third anniversary of the large-scale Russian invasion, the Ukrainian Culture Days in Palermo – to be held between late February and early March 2025 – will offer a snapshot of the resilience and ongoing evolution of contemporary Ukrainian culture. Over the past three years of war, the Ukrainian cultural scene has suffered countless losses and undergone profound transformations; it has faced numerous challenges posed by the conflict, yet has proved resilient and thriving. Amidst the arduous struggle for freedom, Ukrainian artistic production continues unabated, and the aim of the event is precisely to share with the Italian audience a belief in the preservative and nurturing power of culture, drawing their attention once again to this country situated on the borders of Europe.
Under the patronage of: Consulate General of Ukraine in Naples, City of Palermo, Ukrainian Institute.
With the support of: Studyon Institute, City of Düsseldorf.
In collaboration with: Farm Cultural Park, ‘Wilder’ cultural association, Cinema City Palermo, 89 books, ‘Area Madera’ social promotion association, ‘Église’ socio-cultural association, Palazzo Bonocore, Coop Culture Palermo, Alessi Pubblicità, C.A.B.A. Ukraine Department, Ucraina Mediterranea, Aza Nizi Maza.
Printing: Fotograph Palermo
Wine: Tasca d’Almerita
Curators: Kateryna Filyuk, Olena Moskalenko
Dates: 28 February – 6 March 2025
Poster exhibition by the Aza Nizi Maza studio (Kharkiv), free admission
Project Launch, Free Admission
Palazzo Bonocore, Piazza Pretoria, 2
28 February at 17.30
Aza Nizi Maza — is an art studio for children and adults based in Kharkiv and founded in 2012. When the war began, it became an air-raid shelter, whilst lessons for children were moved to the underground.
The studio’s name refers to Federico Fellini’s film *Eight and a Half*, specifically to the magical children’s incantation ‘Aza-Nizi-Maza’, which helps the film’s protagonist, the director Guido Anselmi, to overcome a creative crisis.
From the very first day of the war, the basement where the studio is now based has served as an air-raid shelter for many residents of Kharkiv and their pets. Due to the ongoing bombardment of Kharkiv by Russian forces, the underground has become a refuge for the city’s residents. Consequently, at the end of March, the studio decided to hold its classes there. In one of the stations, the teachers formed a small group of children, helping them to overcome their anxiety through creativity.
“Що я бачу” (“What I See”) is a project comprising a series of posters created by the children at the studio during the active phase of the war in the Donbas in 2014–2015. At the time, the studio was located near the Russian consulate, and the pupils could literally see the mounting tension from the window. “This was followed by military action and the very real threat of an occupation of Kharkiv. The children reflected, as best they could, on what was happening around them,” recalls Mykola Kolomiiets, the studio’s founder. With the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion, these works struck the teachers as surprisingly relevant. That is why they decided to revive the project, adding new poetic texts linked to the daily events of the war to the existing drawings. The result is a sort of wartime diary.
“The ‘Що я бачу’ (‘What I See’) project will continue until Ukraine’s victory,” says Mykola.
Film screening, free admission
Palazzo Bonocore, Piazza Pretoria, 2
Rock Paper Grenade
2024 ‧ Drammatico ‧ 1h 32m
Regista: Iryna Cilyk
Trailer of the movie
28 February at 19.00
The film tells the coming-of-age story of a young man, Timofiy, set in the 1990s in post-Soviet Ukraine. The plot revolves around the young man’s relationships with his family, his friends, his first love, and his bond with Felix, a former soldier from the time of the war in Afghanistan, who also becomes part of his family.
The screening will be introduced by Carmelo Galati, the artistic director of Cinema City Palermo
Photographic installation, musical performance, free admission
Alena Grom, “Mavky. Camouflage”
Farm Cultural Park, Palermo, Via Maqueda 202
1 March from 16.00 to 17.00
The exhibition opened in October 2024 and will be open to visitors in the garden of the former Crociferi Convent on 1 March from 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm (guided tour)
https://alenagrom.com/mavki-camouflage/
The exhibition features photographs and videos that tell the story of a community of women who came together to form a group of volunteers weaving camouflage nets, known as ‘Horenski Mavky’. The women at the heart of the project are residents of the Ukrainian village of Horenka in the Bucha district (Kyiv region). In March 2022, the town was on the front line and under constant bombardment. According to the UN, 77 per cent of Horenka’s buildings were destroyed as a result of the Russian aggression. For the local people who witnessed the deaths and destruction, these events remain a profound trauma. The liberation of the Kyiv region has given impetus to the village’s reconstruction and the community’s social recovery, but the war continues. Consequently, the women of Horenka have organised a volunteer group called ‘Horenski Mavky’, drawing inspiration from the figure of Ukrainian folklore – the spirit of the forest, the mavka. Today’s mavky weave camouflage nets for soldiers, helping them to blend into their surroundings. They come from different age groups, professions and social backgrounds, but share a common goal.
The guided tour will begin with a short musical performance by Iryna Shemetova, who will play the traditional Ukrainian instrument, the bandura, offering an immersion in Ukrainian culture through an authentic and engaging experience.
Iryna Shemetova, a graduate of the National Academy of Music of Ukraine, performs classical, folk and contemporary music. Following the Russian invasion, she and her family evacuated from Kharkiv to Sicily.
Concerto Mariana Sadovska
Admission fee: 3 euros (membership of the ‘Area Madera’ social promotion association)
Area Madera, Via dello Spasimo, 5
http://marianasadovska.com/
2 March at 19.00
Ukrainian Callings is a powerful fusion of song and storytelling about ancient, rural Ukraine. Through her ethnomusicological expeditions, Mariana Sadovska has gathered a vast repertoire of traditional songs, stories and rituals, which she transforms into her own distinctive melodies that resonate with a contemporary audience.
“I don’t sing songs I’ve found in books. Every song I sing was given to me by a specific woman. I listened to the story behind the song, learnt how it should be sung, and realised that a song can be the map that guides you through your life.” – Mariana Sadovska.
“Sometimes a musician has an innate desire to communicate, to the extent that her message naturally becomes universal: it doesn’t matter whether she sings soul, bel canto or folk. This is the case with the Ukrainian singer Mariana Sadovska. […] The responsibilities, protocol and tradition of the style in which she works fade away; she replaces them with pure vitality.” (Ben Ratliff, The New York Times)
“These are songs of love, pain and melancholy that have survived the Soviet era only in oral form, until now. Mariana’s powerful performance makes you feel as if you were right there.” (WNYC)
Exhibition: Lia Dostlieva and Andrii Dostliev, “Comfort Work”
Comfort Work
Via dei Credenzieri
Open to visitors from 4 to 6 March, from 16.00 to 18.30
3 March at 19.00
Ten actors from the EU and the UK have been recruited to portray, on camera, the stereotypes associated with Ukrainian refugees that are prevalent in various communities across their countries. During the preparatory phase, numerous interviews were conducted with Ukrainian refugees in European countries regarding their experiences and interactions with host societies, highlighting what behaviour, appearance and social status were expected of them and what people were reluctant to see. These interviews revealed 10 stereotypical portrayals of Ukrainians (often ridiculous or dehumanising) that meet the expectations of various groups of European viewers. Some interviewees were invited to coordinate and help refine the actors’ performances. The videos were created with a European viewer in mind who might find comfort in seeing a selection of images depicting ‘manageable’ refugees.
Commissioned for the Ukrainian National Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia 2024.
