GogolFest 2012 starts in Kyiv

It took the Gogolfest team just several months to turn an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Kyiv into one of the most popular Kyiv contemporary art destinations and make it an art gallery, a concert hall, a cinema and a theater.

As many as several thousand people filled the huge row spaces of Kyiv's former experimental and mechanical Plant, not far from metro Vydubychi, on Sept. 21 to enjoy Ukrainian modern art and a kaleidoscope of festive art.

The opening ceremony started with the reading of the Freedom manifest by Stephane Hessel, read by festival volunteer and actor Liza, and a fireshow followed by Earth, a black-and-white silent 1930s movie by outstanding Soviet-Ukrainian film director Oleksandr Dovzhenko to the accompaniment of ethno-chaos band Daha-Braha.

Pavlo Gudimov, the leader of a modern rock band and contemporary art gallery owner, presented one of his latest projects called “Neofolk,” a selection of works by Ukrainian modern artists Oleksandr Babak, Ruslan Tremba, Oleksandr Kadnikov, Iryna Kalenyk and many others.

Margaret Leng Tan, Singapore-born American piano master came to give her first concert in Ukraine and played toy piano for several hundreds of Ukrainian music lovers, which became a tribute to famous American composer John Cage.

And this is by no means the end of the lineup.

Gogolfest. Sept. 21-29. Abandoned factory at 11 Inzhenerna St. near Vydubychi metro station For a detailed schedule and prices visit the festival’s website http://www.gogolfest.org.ua