Musical Collective

Mymusical (“We-musical”)

2023,
video (41:52), Lviv

Mymusical is a vocal and participatory performance action happening on the premises of the Kukhnia-Lviv volunteer initiative and the Pidsoma shelter. Since last spring, the Soma.Majsternia dance studio has become a shelter and a place to cook for those in need. A year later, IDPs of all ages continue to live within the walls of the old book factory. The arrangement of the shelter by the displaced women and activists was accompanied by a gradual “artification” of the shared daily life. It culminated in an artistic residency-musical made possible by the support of European institutions. The “list of improvements” sung by the participants of the musical calls into question the ratio of the necessary and the excessive, as well as the very dynamics of international solidarity. The self-defense skills taught by the displaced person Volodymyr in one of the scenes serve as a lesson in productive aggression. The displaced people and the artists share dreams and memories, make wishes, and cook amid constant uncertainty. Finally, the musical takes the form of a greetings show – a series of empathetic messages between different locations, generations, and types of experiences. Participants of the musical: Dmytro Tkalenko, Tamara Tkalenko, Oleksandr Pylypeko, Olena Mordyk, Olha Marusyn (curator), Katia Libkind, Dimetri Starkgard-Venier, Volodymyr Pylypenko, Miro Klochko (video director), Oleksii Minko, Iryna Loskot, Tomazs Hazslinszky, Larion Lozovyi, Tonia Zelenina. The Mymusical took place as part of the Kindling Project supported by the Swedish Institute and organized in collaboration with the Baltic Art Center, Milvus Artistic Research Center, soma.majsternia, and Sorry, No Rooms Available.