Ukraine has become the first country to be awarded the title of Guest Country of Honour at one of Europe’s largest music festivals and conferences, the Reeperbahn Festival, which will take place on 16–19 September in Hamburg, Germany.
This was reported by Suspilne Kultura, citing the civic initiative Music Export Ukraine.
In this way, the organisers recognise countries that support emerging performers, introduce innovations and consistently develop their music industry’s international links.
This year, Ukrainian artists will perform on the festival’s stages and take part in the conference programme. The announced performers include Ganna, Maryna Krut and Kazhanna.
Ganna has received a nomination for the Anchor Reeperbahn Festival International Music Award. The prize helps to spotlight emerging artists. Previously, Alyona Alyona received the award.
In addition, the joint Ukrainian-German audiovisual project Disturbed Ground has been nominated in the “Best Experiment” category by the German association of independent music businesses, VUT. The project explores the environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian and European artists are working on new pieces: Undo Despot, Zeynep Schilling, Khrystyna Kirik, Mark Bain, as well as Alen Hast and Myk Rudik. The project’s curators are Mariana Berezovska and Anastasiia Syradoieva.
On 18 September, the festival will host a panel discussion, Music Beyond the Stage: When Artists Take on New Roles. It will take the form of an open interview with Ukrainian cultural figures whose lives and work have been radically changed by the war. The event will be moderated by German cultural journalist and curator Yuliia Boxler.
Invited speakers include:
- Alla Koshliak — a journalist (Radio NV, Hromadske, Suspilne) who has been serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2023 and now leads an intelligence collection and processing unit in the Asgard battalion;
- Sasha Chemerov — a musician, frontman of the band Dymna Sumish and the project The Gitas, and music producer for the Cultural Landing Force, which brings together artists and service members;
- Volodymyr Nedohoda — founder of the charity project Victory Beats, which provides free music-therapy support to people with combat trauma.