Kunst, Mode, Design: Diverse Kreative aus Charkiw, der ukrainischen Partnerstadt Steglitz-Zehlendorfs, nahmen am vergangenen Wochenende an der Pop-up-Charity-Veranstaltung „SKRYNYA“ teil. Die ukrainische Kreativmesse im Grunewald – das Programm reichte vom Marktplatz über Vorträge und Ausstellungen bis hin zu Musik und Fortbildungsangeboten – zog über 1000 Besucherinnen und Besucher an. Sie hatten die Chance, Design und Kunst aus der Ukraine kennenzulernen: Aus Charkiw waren unter anderem die Illustratorin Maria Ruban, die Modedesignerin Anastasiia Sevastianova und die Malerin Anna Voda in den Südwesten Berlins gekommen.

„Der Ukraine zu helfen, bedeutet nicht nur Spenden“, sagt Daria Voevoda, die Projektleiterin der Organisation „Spend With Ukraine“: Auf ihrer Website listet „Spend With Ukraine“ über 170 ukrainische Unternehmen auf und wirbt für deren Leistungen, Werke und Produkte. „Das könnte eine neue Seite der Beziehungen zwischen Charkiw und Steglitz-Zehlendorf öffnen“, meint meine ukrainische Kollegin Oksana Meleshchenko. Ihren englischsprachigen Bericht über das Wochenende im Grunewald lesen Sie hier:

Creators from Kharkiv help to save Ukraine. On the 16th and 17th of July Ukrainian designers, artists and creators invited the Berliners to spend a memorable weekend in Grunewald. The project was supported by the European Academy Berlin e.V. and sponsored by Zalando SE.

„Ukraine is not only about the headlines of the war, Ukraine is about its people.“ That was the main message of the event. Its organizers Khrystyna Miftakhov, Jazgul Akylbek Kyzy and Ksenia Pitikar explained: „In Ukrainian, Skrynya means treasure chest. The visitors got a chance to unlock the treasure chest of Ukraine and learn more about its culture and brave people protecting their country in the way they can – with arts, education and social engagement.“

The program included fashion, jewelry and home designers pop-up market; art exhibition, masterclasses, speakers from creative fields, food and drinks, DJ and special guests. Since 1990 Steglitz–Zehlendorf has maintained a partnership with Kharkiv. So here we’ve discovered unique stories about the Skrynya participants from this Ukrainian city.

Maria Ruban, a Kharkiv illustrator and graphic designer, is the author of the illustrations used for communications of Skrynya. Today Maria lives in Vienna but all her work materials, production and stock were left in Ukraine. Still Maria keeps creating, especially for initiatives supporting Ukraine. Berliners already know her works from the Bake for Ukraine initiative, which aims to secure the food supply chain in Ukraine during the Russian invasion (bakeforukraine.org).

Jaroslav Raff, Andriy Medved and Diana Kiprach started their business in Berlin in 2018. They opened Space Meduza Bar in the heart of Kreuzberg (Skalitzer Straße 80) which became a popular culture hub and hosts musicians, artists, stand-up comedians and others. Since the Russian invasion in Ukraine the bar donates the proceeds to support Ukraine. It’s also a place to taste unique Ukrainian cocktails such as Mermaid of Dniester, Stefania and Ukrainian Sunset.

Anastasiia Sevastianova, the owner of the fashion brand SAS by Sevastianova, was forced to move from Kharkiv where the production site was destroyed and the warehouse was in danger. She made a long way back to Kharkiv to bring the leftover clothes to Skrynya and tried to sell them in the pop-up market in order to collect donations. She doesn’t lose hope and continues to look for the new opportunities for developing her brand.

Ukrainian painter Anna Voda came to Berlin two months ago. For the exhibition, Anna presented several large format works reflecting on Ukrainian unity during these hard times. In her works she often returns to her childhood memories full of coziness, joy and happiness. Now Anna is actively involved in her charity project helping people in her native city Kharkiv and also takes part in charity exhibitions in Berlin, Paris, Malmo, Sydney and Tbilisi.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine united the representatives of Kharkiv in their struggle against the enemy for a single goal – the victory of Ukraine in this terrible and cruel war.

In total more than 1000 people attended Skrynya during the last weekend. The event helped to raise donations: Ten percents of the proceeds will go to the official charity foundation of the Ukrainian government to supply medical aid. An additional Gofundme was launched for further donations. Many of the Ukrainian creators at Skrynya had an excellent chance not only to introduce their artworks to the Germans, but also to network and find business opportunities.

„In fact, help for Ukraine doesn’t only mean donations“, emphasizes Daria Voevoda, one of the speakers of the event and project leader of the non-profit organization Spend With Ukraine. This organization advocates for boosting the Ukrainian creative and tech economy with conscious purchase decisions. Spend With Ukraine curates a web platform with a list of 170+ Ukrainian-rooted businesses. The mission of the NGO is to support the Ukrainian economy by promoting world-class Ukrainian products and services worldwide and helping them find customers. Cooperation of creatives in different countries will make all the sides stronger. And here can be a new page of the relations between Kharkiv and Steglitz–Zehlendorf.

So spend with Ukraine to stand with Ukraine!

• Den Text schrieb Oksana Meleshchenko. Die ukrainische Journalistin stammt aus Cherson; Ende März kam sie aus der besetzten Stadt nach Berlin. Sie ist Mitglied der National Union of Journalists of Ukraine und Gewinnerin mehrerer internationaler Festivals wie „My Native Land“ und „Won Together“. Aktuell arbeitet sie beim Ukraine-Projekt des Tagesspiegels.
• Fotos: Nataliia Senatorova, Oksana Meleshchenko, privat