The ninth edition of the high art festival Bouquet Kyiv Stage has opened at the National Sanctuary "Sophia of Kyiv" in the Ukrainian capital.
"This year's festival theme is 'Armed with Beauty.' Why? Because beauty takes on special meaning in times of existential trial like these. Beauty as a counterweight to destruction. It's like our life — strong, powerful, and at the same time very fragile, and it needs protection. And when we protect it, we become stronger," festival co-founder Iryna Budanska said at a press conference on Thursday.
Over four days (Aug 13-16), more than 50 art events will take place across eight venues, according to festival curator Tetiana Fix.
"Each of them will feature completely unique programs that have been prepared over the course of the year," Fix said.
She highlighted a retrospective exhibition of director, screenwriter and photographer Yulia Lazarevska, as well as an exhibition titled "Caliber 120x35mm. Family Album."
"The 'Family Album' exhibition was prepared together with servicemembers. Soldiers of the 12th Azov Brigade were given film cameras and asked to photograph their lives and everyday routines at the front," Fix said.
Nelia Kukovalska, general director of the National Sanctuary "Sophia of Kyiv," said the organizers had no doubts about holding the festival in 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"Despite the war, despite the hardships, we have to show who we are. That's the core of our nation," Kukovalska said.
She also said the festival program includes tours for adults and children at Sophia of Kyiv.
"Children on the tours learn that thousands of years ago, in this very area, within these walls, there were children's schools. And they'll see children's drawings and handwriting on the walls that are more than a thousand years old," the sanctuary's general director said.
"We've been gathering here for five years of war now… It's very important that our whole planet learns about the high art we have so much of, but which has been suppressed by our neighbor for many years. And we're all working very hard to make the whole world finally grasp and understand that this has to stop," festival co-founder Yevhen Utkin said.
The festival traditionally brings together music, Ukrainian visual art, film, theater, children's programs and discussions.
The festival will close with the concert "Bouquet! Bouquet!! Bouquet!!!," featuring orchestral versions of familiar film music by Georgian composer and conductor Nikoloz Rachveli, performed by the Kyiv Camerata.
The Bouquet Kyiv Stage festival was founded in 2018. The festival's symbol, "Bouquet," was created by Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Dubovyk.
