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Ukraine’s Atlas venue joins Liveurope

Kyiv’s Atlas has become the first Ukrainian venue to join Liveurope after the European Union-backed association hosted its ninth annual celebration of Europe Day through music.

The 9 May event, which also served as a fundraiser for Music Saves UA humanitarian appeal, brought audiences together to celebrate European values and pay tribute to Ukraine’s music scene.

It started with an intervention by the head of the Mission of Ukraine to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, followed by a conversation with two Ukrainian culture professionals, who provided first-hand insights into the current state of the music sector in Ukraine.

“We created Liveurope out of an appetite to make music venues ambassadors for European values.,” says Elise Phamgia, Liveurope’s coordinator. “By celebrating Ukrainian music on Europe Day, we hope to show the power of music to build bridges between our shared cultures”.

The evening concluded with performances by two Ukrainian bands, made possible through the collaborative efforts of hosting venue Ancienne Belgique and Atlas.

“As Ukraine’s accession to the EU draws closer, our collaboration with Liveurope will foster a sense of unity across borders”

“This Europe Day event was about the contribution of Ukraine to European culture,” says Vsevolod Chentsov, head of the Mission of Ukraine to the EU. “It is very important that Ukrainian culture organisations like Atlas get integrated into European cultural landscapes.”

The collaboration with Atlas served as a first step to integrate the venue in the Liveurope platform, with Liveurope announcing that the Ukrainian venue is joining its platform of concert halls as an associate member. As a result, Atlas will get direct access to a network of like-minded venues and in the long run, receive support for programming European acts in Kyiv.

Liveurope now houses 23 leading European concert venues, all committed to promoting music diversity and supporting the next generation of European musicians.

“We are thrilled to be joining Liveurope as its first Ukrainian representative,” adds Vlad Yaremchuck, Atlas’ artistic director. “As Ukraine’s accession to the EU draws closer, our collaboration with Liveurope will foster a sense of unity across borders and it is highly symbolic that this announcement came the same day when Ukraine celebrated Europe Day officially for the first time”

 


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Music venues turn blue for Europe Day

Music venues across Europe illuminated their facades in EU blue over the weekend in celebration of Europe Day 2021, which took place on Sunday 9 May.

Commemorating the merging of the French and West German coal and steel industries in 1951 – an event seen as marking the beginning of European integration – Europe Day was first celebrated in European Union countries in 1985.  The coordinated action by 15 venues – which included Ancienne Belgique (Brussels), Rockhal (Esch, Luxembourg), Kino Šiška (Ljubljana), Melkweg (Amsterdam), Village Underground (London) and Sala Apolo (Barcelona) – ran across the weekend of 8–9 May.

Kino Šiška, Europe Day 2021

All participating venues are members of the EU-supported Liveurope initiative, which has commemorated Europe Day since 2014. By again marking Europe Day, the venues “reaffirm[ed their] commitment to European collaboration”, according to a statement from Liveurope, which provides financial bonuses to venues which book overseas emerging European acts.

“The severe restrictions on free movement has made us all the more convinced about the importance of European collaborations,” says Tom Bonte, general manager of Ancienne Belgique (2,000-cap.), which coordinated the Europe Day action.

“We wanted to reaffirm our commitment to continue strengthening our ties with our peers”

“With this symbolic gesture, we wanted to reaffirm our commitment to continue strengthening our ties with our peers and boost European music diversity and talent. This is the only way we can achieve a full recovery of the live music sector.”

Each venue recorded a showcase with emerging artists which are being broadcast by public radio stations across the continent, including WRD’s 1 Live in Germany, RTVE’s Radio 3 in Spain, Radio France’s FIP in France, Polskie Radio’s Czwórka in Poland and Radio Beograd in Serbia.

The gesture also aimed to raise awareness of the importance of live music after more than a year of venues being closed, says Liveurope’s general coordinator, Elise Phamgia.

“This period has opened the door for innovative experimentation, but it has also shown the irreplaceable value of live music, and its ability to create connections between people over borders,” she says. “And it’s definitely something we will need more of to recover from the past 15 months of social isolation we have all been facing.”

 


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