Polissia| Poltavshchyna| Podillia| Donechchyna| Carpathians| Slobozhanshchyna| Bessarabia
I first came to the Donetsk region, specifically to Mariupol, in 2014. A month after russia brought in regular troops. Sitting in a cafe in Lviv with the director of the Les Kurbas Theatre Volodymyr Kuchynskyi and actor Andriy Vodichev, we were talking about what could be done to stop this russian plague and came up with a utopian idea that if all of Ukraine gathered in Mariupol and stood as a wall, the Russians would not dare.... And then suddenly Kostiantyn Batozkyi from the Azov Foundation called and offered to come to Mariupol to give charity performances in support of the resistance to russia. Two days later, we were on our way.
I'm still ashamed that I didn't get to Donbas before the war.
I'm still ashamed that when I went there, I was convinced that nothing related to Ukrainian traditional culture had survived there.
I am still ashamed that before 2014 I knew nothing about the Greeks of Pryazovia.
After 2014, I started coming to Donetsk region regularly, mainly to bring humanitarian aid collected in Germany, to give charity concerts and masterclasses. And in 2015, while speaking with Serhiy Zhadan in Volnovakha, we met Iryna Kriuchenko, the founder of the Volnovakha Museum of Ethnography and the Zahraianochka Ensemble. In 2016, thanks to the financial support of Virlana Tkach, we organised an expedition to the villages surrounding Mariupol with Iryna Kriuchenko. The video and photo materials were taken by Waldemar Kluzko and today's world-renowned documentary filmmaker Yevhen Malolietka.
Iryna Kriuchenko lived through terrible months in occupied Volnovakha, but fortunately for all of us, she was able to leave. The museum created by Iryna was appropriated and looted by our colonisers, but she managed to take out a few of her mother's embroidered shirts and a USB stick with her recordings.
Follow this link to listen online or download from Google Drive (in parts or separate folders).
Follow this link to view or download all the photos from the region.
Photos from Iryna Krucheko's archive
Polissia| Poltavshchyna| Podillia| Donechchyna| Carpathians| Slobozhanshchyna| Bessarabia