Construction, an audiovisual art and new media festival based in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, has announced a series of events and artist residencies across Europe for the coming weeks.
Host countries will include Portugal, Sweden, Estonia and the Netherlands, with the aim being to facilitate interaction between Ukrainian and international artists.
Adrii Palash, the festival’s director and head of the NGO Kultura Medialna, said: “Amidst the Russian war against Ukraine, it’s especially important for us to keep reminding people abroad about events in our country through cultural projects as well as showing the diverse face of Ukrainian culture. By inviting sound artists from Ukraine and other countries to jointly participate in our projects, we aim to create opportunities for potential cooperation in the future and make sure that talented Ukrainian artists remain in the global context.”
Upcoming events as part of the partnership include a Construction residency in Lisbon, which runs from today until June 6, and features performances from Portugal’s Rui Soares Costa, Italy’s Sara Persica and Ukraine’s George Babanski.
A residency in Gothenburg from June 3 to 16 features Ukraine’s Iryna Novikova and Swedes Kajsa Magnarsson and Jenny Johansson, while on June 8, Amsterdam will host Construction Festival x Muscut x SHAPE+, featuring Italy’s Nicola Ratti and Ukraine’s Nikolaienko.
In addition, Construction will hold two showcases back in Ukraine. At the International Book Arsenal Festival in Kyiv from June 1 to 2, Svitlana Niano & Sergii Khotiachuk, as well as Maryana Klochko, will perform. In the festival’s home city of Dnipro on June 2, Mariana Sadovska will appear as part of a showcase.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Construction has implemented several projects outside Ukraine, including fundraising music events, performances, artist talks, film screenings and residencies in Dresden, Berlin and Glasgow.
The latest festival took place in Dnipro in November 2023 and brought together Ukrainian grassroots initiatives working on the edge of culture and activism. You can find more information on the festival’s website.
This year’s showcases and residencies are organised by Construction in cooperation with the festivals Saund and Mägede Hääl, the city of Tallinn, the Estonian Cultural Endowment, Kino Sõprus, Põhjala, Ellington, Rui Soares Costa Studio, Cultural Geographies, 3:e Våningen, Muscut and Murmur. They have been funded by the European platform for innovative music and audiovisual art SHAPE+, which is co-financed by the Creative Europe programme.
