Pressemelding -
Ukrainian resistance festival at The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo
On August 24 it is six months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started. It is also exactly 31 years since the Ukraine declared its independence from The Soviet Union. On this very day The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo and Dakh Theatre from Kyiv, Ukraine, invite the audience to three days of Ukranian culture and a close up and personal meeting with the war, that is still raging not far away. The audience will for instance be invited to take shelter in the theatre through the whole night. Here we will try to give the audience a feelting of how life is in Ukraine right now.
ART RESISTANCE FESTIVAL - UKRAINA: WAR. DEATH. LOVE.
WEDNESDAY 24 - FRIDAY 26 AUGUST
WEDNESDAY 24 AND THURSDAY 25 AUGUST at 21:00 pm: DANSE MACABRE
DAKH DAUGHTERS
FRIDAY 26 AUGUST at 23:00 pm - 06:00 am: BOMB SHELTER NIGHT
COLLABORATION BETWEEN DAKH THEATRE; KYIV AND DET NORSKE TEATRET/THE NORWEGIAN THEATRE
The Norwegian Theatre (Det Norske Teatret) in Oslo, Norway and DAKH Center for Contemporary Art and GOGOLFEST Festival of Contemporary Art from the Ukranian capitol, Kyiv, has agreed on a unique collaboration. For three days, Ukrainian artists, that either lives in exile or have gotten a visa to travel out of the war zone, will stay in Norway to tell about their own and other Ukranians everyday life. this is their way of fighting and offer resistance - through art, dialogue and mutual understanding.
- This collaboration feels very important. The war has been going on for half a year, but must not be reduced to an everyday occurance. This collaboration is out attempt to lend a voice to those living in war and a state of emergency, says artistic director at the Norwegian Theatre, Erik Ulfsby.
Microfestival as resistance
Art Resistance Festival - Ukraina: War. Death. Love. is a micro version of a festival happening different places in Ukraine, amongst them Mariupol - the city that became a symbol of Putins brutal war in Ukraine. 600 civilians that took shelter in one of the citys theatres died during a bomb attack, even though it was written "KIDS" in capital Russian letters on the ground outside. At another theatre in Mariopul, parts of the Gogolfest was about to take place in February. The theatre was newly renovated, and was going to have a grand opening the day is was bombed to pieces. Now, parts of Gogolfest will be held here in Oslo at The Norwegian Theatre instead, in the form of the Art Resistance Festival.
The festival
The festival has two parts. Danse Macabre is a performance produced in France, where members of Dakh Daughters and director Vlad Troitskyi are living in exile, and premiered in June at the Odéon Theatre in Paris. Bomb Shelter Night is a pilot project and a close collaboration between Dakh Theatre and The Norwegian Theatre.
Not only hate
- Many have lived in bomb shelters for months in Ukraine. They live their lives there. During Bomb Shelter Night, we will try ro recreate what this is like. There is fear, there is hate. but it is most of all a lot of waiting. You never know how long you have to stay there. And then things start to happen. Positive things. Hope, creativity - and love also grow here, says the director, Vlad Troitskyi.
- And this is why we invite the audience to participate in this cultural phenomenon, to experience how it is to live in this parallel reality, adds the curator for the project, Andrii Palatnyi.
Together with Ukrainian and Norwegian artists, musicians and actors, the audience will stay in the theatre the whole night through and join in recreating the feeling of being in a theatre that has become a shelter. It will provide an all-encompassing experience; electronic and live music, poetry and diary readings, conversations and the terror of war itself.
- We are here to resist a war that concerns all of us. This is a war against freedom and democracy for all, not just Ukranians, Troitsky says.
When the bombs started falling over Kyiv, he decided he could fight against the Russian invasion more effectively from abroad, and fled to France. He has faith in art, dialogue and free speech as forces of resistance, and is hoping that both Norwegians, Norwegian/Ukrainians and Ukrainians living in exile, will find their way to The Norwegian Theatre.
Art flourishes in the shelters, but the artists are bleeding
Erik Ulfsby emphasizes that Ukranian artists appreciate the moral support shown through flags and blue-and-yellow-lit cultural buildings, but they are crying out for concrete collaborations and work. They fear loosing a whole generation of cultural workers. The economy is frozen, and all government resources goes to the war.
- It is important that cultural workers can continue their work. At the moment, their stories are the most important to tell, so we are very happy to be able to invite them here. This way a Norwegian audience can get a different insight into the war than just through the daily news, the artistic director believes.
The collaboration came about this spring during a conference organized by the European theatre network The European Theatre Convention end is supported by Fritt Ord, European Theatre Convention (ETC) and Det Norske Teatrets venner. The ticket revenue from the performances will in its entirety go to improving conditions for children in Mariupol and other cities in this war-torn country.
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