Photo from What’s On

“An extravagant cocktail with a Ukrainian scent” – these are the words Liudmyla Vynohorodska uses to describe her impressions on reading recently released Svitlana Pyrkalo’s Green Margarita. According to the author, Ukrainian fiction of the latest decades, or, more precisely – Ukrainian post-colonial fiction, pinpoints its own crisis and in many respects inadequacy. A traditional plot once seen as a perfect sample one now appears to be exhausted, over-elaborated, or loaded with too much straightforward propaganda issues. As Vynohorodska tries to show, Pyrkalo’s prose is somewhat different. It’s a try to represent the author’s ‘self’ through the mirror of her principal female character – Marina Pohribna; a fragmented mix (or cocktail) of other people’s words and conversations, images of friends, recollections of parties, events and even insults. In other words, it’s a representation of everyday life of a woman in the post-colonial society with a scope of all-too-familiar questions: money and language, family relations and friendships, employment, accommodation, emigration and so forth. Thus, this remarkable display of life situations and attitudes reflects an overall Pyrkalo’s message, her inner deep concern with gender issues, – argues Vynohorodska.

I really relate to her light and funny style and very proud to note she is a frined of a friend. Some call her Ukrainian Helen Fielding (“Bridgit Jones Diary”). Same description can be applied to her follow up novel “Ne Dumai pro Chervone” (“Don’t Think of Red”). Now Svitlana works at the Ukrainian BBC service in London. Sorry to say there are no translations of her novels into English just yet.

I saw one of her works a while ago, and now she has a solo exhibit going on at the Ya Gallery.

You can tell the artistic search for personal style in the span of seven years in these three paintings by Vlada . The last picture (from current show) is alreay way over my head in angst and symbolism, but I really enjoy to watch her progress.

pictures from Proza, Time out. ua and Art of Ukraine websites.

Ya Gallery, 55/57 Voloska st, in Podil

We just got a word from Andriy (in sunshades on the pic) that our favoarite Ukrainian band has won the 2007 Battle of the Bands qualifiers in Ukraine to go to London for the final show on Dec. 4-6. We are very happy for the guys and expect this to turn into a sweet record deal!

One can really get into it only by experiencing their music first-hand – get the energy from the lovely folk tunes and energetic beat. Check out the pictures from the show here (first few shots in the set).

Highly reccomend checking out the Dakh shows (the bill is updated regularly on their site in English) . Mind half of their shows are text free, so you don’t have to understand Ukrainian or Russian to go there.

Kiev, Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya str., 136 (Libidskaya metro)

Checking with her earlier works I found an amazing series of Lviv backyard landscapes. The light in them grabs your attention the most. I put out here every picture I could get my hands on from those series:

I took all the pics from the zeh website.