Quote by Yana, DJ at Closer Club Kyiv.
K41 COMMUNITY, STANDARD DEVIATION, CLOSER KYIV
All three groups are considered institutions within the DJ, club and electronic music scene. They not only symbolically stand for community but also present and live this word in an extraordinary way. They combat political narrow-mindedness in Ukraine as well as far beyond its borders. SLEEK talked to three representatives about the influence music has and how networks can be expanded.
Since December 2022, blackout parties have been taking place in Kyiv. Before 24 February 2022, the Ukrainian DJ and club scene provided an important innovative and creative presence, with techno club K41 adding variety. And the example of the blackout parties shows that the scene is becoming established and responsive. The international network is functioning and increasingly being used specifically to tell us in the outside world all about what the war is doing to people, the cities and the country. It’s getting harder and harder because we who live in safety are getting tired of the media coverage. But giving up and resigning ourselves to this would be a bad solution. The following is a transcript of a conversation with those from the Ukrainian club scene.
Yana (DJ at Closer Club in Kyiv): For me right now, it feels like time is going by very slowly and, on the other hand, it’s also passing very quickly. This feeling of being torn apart by pain is the worst thing I have ever experienced. How can I describe this in words? All my friends are trying to live with this pain. It’s clear to me that we are in a historically meaningful time. At the moment, everything is my own history and at the same time a global issue. So we’re trying to do our best using little things to remind us that we’re all in the same era and situation. If we’re talking about culture and more precisely about the electronic music scene, I must say that I’m really happy that lots of clubs are now operating again in Ukraine, even under the most extreme conditions. I was in Kyiv recently and played a gig. Being at home is best because you’re among people who understand you and you don’t have to say anything. Here in Germany, a lot of people don’t understand you, of course. It’s not that they don’t want to understand you but their own situation hasn’t got much worse like the Ukrainian people’s has. When I play at parties or when I’m with people from other countries, it’s hard for me to talk about the war because I don’t have an answer as to how it all happened. I really think the best thing we can do is make art and do something positive. Thank you for inviting us to have this conversation and listen to each other.
Nastya (K41 Community): I agree with you when you describe how someone who hasn’t had this experience can’t really understand what the situation feels like. I also see that in the people who really care and try to help. As Ukrainians here in Berlin, I think we just have to accept that of course people can’t understand and I wouldn’t wish our experience on them either. I think it’s important to accept offers of help and to be patient with people who are actually willing to learn and help. Yes, it’s very easy to feel alienated when all of a sudden you’re trying to be part of the culture in Berlin or wherever as an artist or cultural institution, when you’ve been forced to leave your homeland because of a war. Especially if you’ve earned your living as an artist. When you’re a DJ and you make a living from DJing, you feel very isolated because you’re carrying around this gloomy baggage of wartime experience that no one really understands. Particularly when you have to do something political and want to draw attention to the war through your art. Now, a year later, it seems lots of people are fed up hearing about it. People just want to have fun and party, and they’re tired of hearing your political statements. And that’s very discouraging and sad. I think that Ukrainians abroad have to come together more in terms of culture as well. This is one of the topics that we want to explore further in one of our upcoming projects, which is currently in the concept phase. Artists who had to emigrate for political reasons, whether from Ukraine or other regions, are part of the cultural scene. Ukrainians are currently seen more as refugees than as artists. And this image as a refugee then becomes a kind of marker, and that’s why they’re not really integrated into the local cultural scene on an equal footing. But it’s exactly this kind of integration that’s important. For me, this is a vital issue that we need to address. When you arrive in a city like Berlin as a foreigner and an artist, you should be prepared for it to be difficult to integrate and find your place. Especially when you come from such a problematic background and maybe don’t have the same privileges as everyone else, I think that in the future it will be important to create spaces for these people, as this doesn’t only concern us as Ukrainians. For me it’s about a true kind of integration so that artists don’t get stuck in their own Ukrainian bubble or become some sort of token Ukrainian artist who is booked for certain events to make the organisers appear more inclusive or woke. We have to think about this more globally or long-term. I’m very aware of the support we’re getting from so many wonderful communities and people in the cultural world. We as a collective at K41 have been very fortunate in this respect, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that. If you ask me what is important now, it would be listening to the Ukrainian people, what they have to say and how they feel. Listening carefully to what they’re saying, how they feel about performing with Russian artists. Not simply ignoring or dismissing opinions or feelings as this doesn’t contribute to understanding. For example, if a Ukrainian artist doesn’t want to share the same platform as a Russian artist who hasn’t spoken out against the war, then the first instinct of many people in the West is, okay, this isn’t the place for such issues because techno is just about love. I think it would be better to respect that opinion. I think it’s clear that if we cannot understand what a person has experienced and why they feel this way, it’s something I must accept and respect.
Quotes by Nastya from K41.
A representative of Standard Deviation (a multidisciplinary Kyiv-based platform/label for artists and musicians): I think when it comes to support from communities, particularly with regard to what we’ve been through over the past 12 months, it’s very diverse and complex. But the bottom line for me is always creating a space where privileged Western European people from privileged countries are given the context, space and information they need, where they can learn from Ukrainians. This requires patience and goodwill. And sometimes you don’t have that amount of patience and goodwill. Sometimes you just want to scream and let out your anger and all the emotions that the war stirs up. You don’t always behave rationally. And I think it’s important for people to understand these limits as well. For my part, I hope we can create something by trying to develop an impartial space. But, on the other hand, neither are we free from our own emotions and ways of dealing with what is happening. I think our latest project is a good example. Our collaboration with the Remote Control collective enabled us to shoot a series of videos in Ukraine. It’s very, very objective material, basically footage shot in different cities and locations across the country. We definitely want to depict different aspects of the war, such as power cuts, the situation at the border or in numerous cities where the Russians attacked and destroyed the infrastructure and people’s lives. We didn’t want to rely on shocking images, but rather convey the consequences of the war in an emotional way. Later, at the CNN Festival, we noticed a lot of very emotional reactions from Western audiences. For them, the film was very profound and meaningful in a particular way. And I think it was very touching to see how the door to the world and everyday life of Ukrainians opened up, and how the emotional charge created by the specially composed music gave the whole thing huge meaning. So I’m very open to interpretations. In this way, we’re trying to speak out and contribute, and it can either go one way or the other. As for our work and what we do, it’s based on political activism and lots and lots of patience, as well as strength, courage, willpower and a lot of nerve in order to present ourselves in a way we think is necessary for Western Europeans to understand the situation in Ukraine. When I look back on the last 12 months, things have lost none of their urgency – on the contrary. Every morning I wake up and look at all my messages and notifications just to catch up and find out what’s going on. And I also feel like I never want to lose that while all of this is happening. I don’t want to distract myself to the extent that I forget what’s going on around me. And I think that’s our constant struggle with Western institutions and the world of the media. We’re grateful for every opportunity – which might also harm us. And I think that applies not only to us as victims but also to all marginalised communities in the world. It’s so important that privileged Western Europeans, institutions and the media listen.
A representative of Standard Deviation: 24 February 2023 is fast approaching, and what that means for me is a realisation that the entire world has learned to focus on the present and not the future. The way we perceive reality has changed a lot. Everyday I try to fall asleep thinking about victory. It’s my most distant dream, and yet it always gives me the strength to fall asleep in the end. It’s this thought that suddenly sends me to sleep and gives me the strength to wake up the next day and find the energy to keep going and fight.
Yana: I dream of victory and how we look at and reflect on the past. If people get involved with each other more and understand each other better, then I hope that we will come together more. I really wish that people would become more tolerant and mindful. I see that in my friends because, when I want to talk to someone and be open, there’s a closeness and authenticity that suddenly appears. I dream that we will think more seriously about why we humans are able to commit such horrors and crimes.
Nastya: This year has been very transformative for me in terms of my personal values and principles as I have grown as a person. It seems to me that before 24 February 2022, I cared about the wrong things and looked for the wrong things in people. This war has ripped off my rose-tinted spectacles. I feel like I’m not alone in suddenly thinking about privilege and becoming aware of it. How fragile everything really is! And I realise I’m not the only one who has changed their priorities and values. It’s very sad that something so dramatic and traumatic had to happen for us to get to this point. I just wish more people would feel that way and develop these new ideas, these new values and new connections with each other. All of this is a kind of rupture that the world perhaps needed at this point sadly. I just hope that the war will end as soon as possible and that afterwards we will all remember those values and experiences. Maybe then there’ll be another, better way of living and being with each other.
As featured in SLEEK 76 FREEDOM. Available in print and digital here.