Kharkiv Children Culture Palace in Berlin

Thanks to the Ukrainian Embassy residents of retirement home could enjoy Ukrainian folklore heritage

August 18th, 2016

Ingrida Haringová, Berlin Global

As part of the “Kunstsommer” (“Art Summer”) exhibition at Berlin’s Humboldt Carré Conference and Events Centre, Norwegian artist, David Kolstad, presents some of his earlier paintings, as well as more recent works. The exhibition opened on August 3rd and will continue until August 24th. The highlight is a work of art that the artist will develop during the course of the exhibition.

On August 15 a musical afternoon with Ukrainian students of the Children's Culture Palace Kharkiv took place at a retirement home in Berlin.

The event took place in the auditorium Augustinum in Berlin, which is a retirement home. The home provides an extensive cultural program which this concert was a part of. The Augustinum has its own theater with 245 seats. Musicians, actors, writers and scientists regularly come to provide a cultural program for the residents.

The Ukrainian children’s performance included singing, dancing and of course, live music. According to the Ukrainian embassy the performance was very well received by the German public and they received a wide round of applause.

The children were presenting Ukrainian cultural heritage and folklore. Ukrainian folklore dates back to pan-Slavic folklore and to ancient Slavic mythology of the Eastern Slavs. Folklore, not only in Ukraine, has been an important tool in defining and retaining cultural distinctiveness. Ukrainian folk customs have numerous layers defined by the period in which that aspect developed and the area in which it was exploited. The lowest and oldest level is the pan-Slavic layer of folk culture which has many elements that are common to the Slavic people in general. Above that are elements common to the Eastern Slavs, and above that are elements found only in Ukraine.

The appearance and visit of young Ukrainian guests took place in the framework of the partnership between Kharkiv and Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin, which have worked together and have been in regular contact since 1990s.

Steglitz-Zehlendorf, the sixth borough of Berlin has three hundred thousand inhabitants and is considered an upscale and affluent residential area of Berlin. It´s partner city Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine and has a population of around 1.5 million. Presently, Kharkiv operates as a major cultural, scientific, educational, transport and industrial centre of Ukraine, with 60 scientific institutes, 30 higher education universities and institutions, 6 museums, 7 theatres and 80 libraries.

References:

• http://germany.mfa.gov.ua/de/press-center/news/49942-v-gosti-do-druziv-vihovanci-kharkivsykogo-palacu-dityachoji-ta-junacykoji-tvorchosti-vistupili-z-koncertom-v-m-berlin
• http://www.augustinum.de/kleinmachnow-bei-berlin/
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezirk_Steglitz-Zehlendorf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharkiv
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_folklore

See more at: http://www.berlinglobal.org/index.php?kharkiv-children-culture-palace-in-berlin