Construction Festival 2021, photo by Yunona Prud

Construction Festival will return to Dnipro this week, following a forced break due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The audiovisual and new media festival's eighth edition takes place from November 10 to 12 under the central theme 'Ukrainian Hardcore: Learning From The Grassroots'.

Focussing on wartime experiences and citizens' participation in Ukraine's social, cultural and physical recovery, the festival brings together self-organised initiatives that have remained in the country over the last two years. It takes in music, film and visual art programming, as well as educational and discussion events.

After a forced break due to Russia's full-scale invasion, the festival of audiovisual art and new media Construction returns to Dnipro. This year, the event will focus on wartime experiences and citizens' participation in Ukraine's social, cultural, and physical recovery.

The music programming includes Acid Jordan, Chillera, Igor Yalivec, Ihor Tsymbrovsky, iiteration, Ivan Skoryna, Diana Derii + Ksztalt, maxandruh b2b Yuriy Bulychov, Mlin Patz, Motoblok, Mutafory Lili, Polje, swampdogs and Ujif Notfound.

Spoken work events include a lecture by Vlad Yakovlev of Bloomed In September Tapes about the underground music of the 1990s, followed by a discussion, and a panel exploring Ukrainian niche labels.

For the full line-up and further information, click here

Andrii Palash, the festival's director and the head of the NGO Kultura Medialna said: "The theme of this year's Construction is relevant to all our activities during the full-scale war — we understand the importance of providing a platform for dialogue between grassroots initiatives, introducing them in Ukraine and our city, in particular. We believe it is grassroots initiatives that drive positive changes."

Kateryna Rusetska, Construction's co-founder and co-curator of the discussion and art program, added: "Construction itself is a grassroots initiative, just like the NGO that founded the festival, and this DIY approach lies at the heart of all our projects. We want to talk about collectivity again, to bring together initiatives that work in different regions of Ukraine and often do not have time or space for such interaction. Dnipro, as a rear city critical for volunteer activities, is a great location for this since we have always been and remain a transit city."

For those who wish to support the festival but who cannot attend in person, the festival has also launched 'Remote Construction', a digital space containing recordings of discussions, live performances and more in exchange for a donation. This can be accessed here.

Construction is organised by the NGO Kultura Medialna and funded by the Stabilisation Fund for Culture and Education 2023 of the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut, the New Democracy Fund, the Danish Cultural Institute, and the European platform for innovative music and audiovisual art SHAPE+, co-financed by the Creative Europe program.

SHAPE+ describes itself as a "European platform for innovative music and audiovisual art co-financed by the Creative Europe programme." It aims to support "emerging talent, connecting them to local communities and audiences through collaborative residencies with multiple artistic outcomes, commissioned artworks, as well as one-off presentations and performances."