Halanevych (DakhaBrakha): Europe and the entire civilized world must support Ukraine in this genocidal war, which has been provoked by absolutely nothing on our part

At a time when the dominance of “Russian culture” is spreading throughout the world, Ukrainian musicians continue to create their own authentic and true works and demonstrate through their music the value and uniqueness of Ukrainian culture.

Recently, there has been a boom in Ukrainian culture in Kosovo. As part of the international documentary and short film festival DokuFest, a legend of Ukrainian ethno music visited Kosovo.

“This year, the European Union is honored to sponsor the participation of the Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha, whose performance at DocuNights is a powerful symbol of artistic sustainability and cultural resistance,” said a statement from the EU Office in Kosovo.

The group's spectacular performance (which even enjoyed the support of nature) took place high atop a mountain on the grounds of the Prizren Castle.

Before the show, Ukrainian journalists had the opportunity to meet the band members. Vocalist Marko Halanevych spoke about the history of DakhaBrakha, their support for Ukraine, and why they no longer tour Russia.

Full interview:

Halanevych: Where do we come from? We were founded at the DAKH Theater (Dakha Center for Contemporary Arts). This happened in 2004. There is a man named Vladislav Troitsky, who is very active and very progressive.

When he said these words, it was like a thunderbolt – the absolute truth. Life in DAKH was very lively. It is a very small space.

But there were many different artists there. It was Vlad's initiative to create a place where artists from different fields could meet.

And in 2003-2004, there were many such meetings. And the girls also came to these meetings – four of them at that time. Vladi suggested that they experiment with folklore, as he had done before. There were other experiments, other performances.

But he suggested it to the girls who, at the time, represented the "Kralytsia" collective of the cultural institute.

The girls were young and enthusiastic and agreed to follow the path of experimentation, which was not easy.

Because they had grown up with traditions. And for all folklorists, it was important to preserve traditions. It was important to preserve what had been collected.

Vladi suggested not only to preserve this, but also to think about it, rethink it, synthesize it and create something new based on what the girls had, what they knew and what they could do. At the same time, Vladi suggested that I join the girls, this collective. Even though I did not have the relevant education, I had an important advantage. I was born in a village; my grandmothers sang – one sang, the other still sings.

The Geopost: In which region of Ukraine is this located?

Halanevych: It is Vinnytsia Region, Bershatsky District, Bershanivka village. I didn’t live there for very long, but I kept in close contact with my grandmothers and still do. One of them, Oleksandra, unfortunately passed away. My grandmother Olya, unfortunately, now lives under occupation.

The Geopost: How did this program, which you are currently touring with, come about?

Halanevych: We have been performing for over 20 years. Our program has changed and evolved, but the basic concept is that we experiment with our ethnic vocal tradition.

We listen a lot, we record a lot, we absorb a lot. This world is incredibly rich and we are interested in experimenting; we are interested in interpreting old songs in circumstances and conditions that are unusual for them.

And to think about how they will sound with this instrument, how they will sound in this tradition, how they will sound and live in a different style, so to speak. In a way, it is an artificial concept, but we really like the results that we have achieved. And Vlad, our ideological mentor, likes it too.

The Geopost: You are extremely well-known abroad. And before the Great War, you also toured in Russia.

Halanevych: No, not before the Great War, but shortly before the war. We traveled to Russia until 2014, but not after that.

The Geopost: How did the war change your life, how did it affect your artists, repertoire, and attitude towards art?

Halanevych: The war, of course, affects everyone. During the first year and a half of the Great War, if we count from 1922, we did not rehearse, we did not do anything new.

The most important thing for us was to travel around the world and, so to speak, raise awareness of the Ukrainian issue. And to raise awareness that Europe and the entire civilized world should support Ukraine in a genocidal war that was in no way provoked by us, the Ukrainians. And that support for Ukraine is extremely important for the entire civilized world, not just for the Ukrainians themselves. As we emphasized, we shot a special video sequence for this.

We can't turn the entire concert into lectures and appeals. We still make music, but we want to convey important messages to everyone we perform for.

Of course, as it turned out, we all eventually created some compositions that are direct reflections on the processes and events of the war.

We hope that our new album will be released in the fall. We recorded it in Kiev; it was important for us to do this in Kiev, although we could have done it anywhere, but it is important for us that our city and our country exist. Giving concerts in Ukraine is very important for us.

All the while, we keep coming back and playing because Ukrainians want to live and want to live a full life, even if that is almost impossible.

Their lives are being taken, which is the worst thing imaginable; this is war. But because our people, our nation, have proven themselves to be superheroes, incredibly united and strong, this is a nation we should be proud of, and we are proud of our heroes and we are doing everything we can to help them.

Of course, many of our concerts, most of our concerts, are charity concerts, which means that we collect money from the sale of souvenirs and donate it to a number of foundations that we collaborate with (there are already dozens of them).

The Geopost: Are you collecting donations for the Ukrainian armed forces?

Halanevych: Of course. The armed forces, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Ministry of Defense.

The Geopost: Are you friends with any brigades?

Halanevych: We are increasingly collaborating with foundations that already support specific brigades.

The Geopost: Is it difficult for Ukrainian music, especially authentic music, to compete with this invasion of Russian culture, the great Russian culture that, despite obstacles and war, is pouring in from all sides and flooding Europe?

Halanevych: It's not that it's spreading slowly; it's been spreading for 300 years.

The Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, modern Russia – all have invested huge sums and resources to spread their culture and influence the thoughts and feelings of Europeans, Americans, and civilized countries.

Today I heard an interview with one of our prisoners who switched to Ukrainian after his capture. And he says: “One thing I understood was that for them it was very important that we sing their Russian songs: ‘Katyusha,’ the Russian anthem, and, of course, that we speak Russian.”

And some people need imprisonment and terrible austerity measures to understand how important language and culture are. Culture is the foundation of our national consciousness and, therefore, of our national security.

We are aware of this and are trying to do everything in our power to ensure that we survive as a nation and that we continue to exist as a culture.

The most important thing is to survive, to persevere. Right now, everything is completely unclear. This war could end in many different ways.

And it is important for us to survive as a nation. We may not be able to preserve all of our homelands. We are aware of that.

But it is important for us to survive as a nation, to persevere.

The Geopost: How is Ukrainian folk music perceived abroad? To what extent are people discovering Ukraine? Do they experience such emotions? To what extent is Ukraine now divided? Of course, the war separated us from Russia and now everyone knows that we are a separate state.

Halanevych: People ask for forgiveness when they say: “Russians, Ukrainians! God, forgive us.” In my opinion, many analysts have said over the past three years that Europe has been awake since the first days of the Great War.

“Europe has woken up” – this phrase has been heard repeatedly over the past three years. Unfortunately, not much has changed.

But yes, people all over the world are starting to distinguish Ukrainians from Russians.

In early March, we had a big tour in the United States. We have a show dedicated to all our heroes. And during this show, we show the faces of our heroes. We show footage from the occupation of Kherson, when people there got on tanks and came out with Ukrainian flags.

Throughout this American tour, all Americans stood up immediately after this song. The entire audience was more enthusiastic than ever. We understand and are once again convinced that this is important.

What we do matters. And it influences people's opinions. Of course, we're not superstars with billions of people around the world responding to our every word.

But when we do our job and try to do it for Ukraine, that's our most important goal today. As musicians, we often say that we are happy people, but not happy Ukrainians.

We must do everything we can to become happy people. All Ukrainians should be as happy as possible.

The Geopost: How did you come to Kosovo and how do you feel here?

Halanevych: We are currently on a big European tour.

From Sweden to Germany and many other countries, in short. We won't list them all...

And at the end of our tour is Kosovo. We knew it was DokuFest, which was interesting to us at first. Documentary film festivals are usually about freedom, human rights and independence. These are the values ​​that we promote and share. So, of course, we were happy to come here.

In addition, we feel some concern because we know that Ukraine has not yet recognized Kosovo. And we believe that this will happen sooner or later.

/The Geopost/

Photos from open sources