The forum “Fair Culture: Modernity due to Tradition” took place in Kyiv. The capital was the place to discuss kobzars, diversity of cultures, folklore epics, songs and poems.
The event became a meeting place for kobzars, lyre players, writers, musicians, and scholars from different parts of Ukraine - from Lviv, Kharkiv, Poltava, Kyiv, and Odesa. They talked and sang about their native and about the common.
It is symbolic that the forum was held at the Mykola Lysenko Memorial House.
The presentation of a film about "Chornomorskyi Step" Cultural Festival reminded the audience that together we are stronger than ever.
The film “Kobzar gatherings: Restoring Traditional Music in Odesa” told the story of kobzarism. The film was shot as part of the Kobzar Festival, which took place on the first day of the "Chornomorskyi Step".
“In the steppe, above the sea, above the estuary. I was talking to the wind, but surprisingly, the wind was catching every word and every sound of my speech on the fly. It was probably already thirsty, longing for those lyre players and kobzars,” - says lyre player Taras Dorotskyi.
Vitaliy Kobzar, who represented the Kyiv Kobzar Workshop, impressed with his sensual performance of dumas. Maksym Trubnikov, a representative of the Odesa kobza workshop, spoke about his own kobza and the technique of playing the instrument.
Author Viacheslav Bondar presented his collection "Repyakhamy Step Ranok Mayoriie" and read poems from his previous collections, noting that he is a man of the steppe: “I am a man of the steppe, this is my sense of the universe.”
The Yary band presented their new album “Where the Earth Trembles”. Tenderness and drive, tradition and modernity. “In fact, it's about the importance of Ukrainian peace of mind, when in a difficult situation people keep a big heart but a cold mind,” says Mykola Pazych, musician and leader of the Yary band, about the idea of the album's title.
“Everything that is happening is based on friendship and enthusiasm of people who are affirming Ukrainianness and building a new Ukraine.” - Viacheslav Bondar, member of the board of the NGO "The Tenth of April".
"The "Chornomorskyi Step" is a hope for people who live in Ukraine and are trying to expand their family circle, for those people who have not yet found themselves but are looking for something specific, something that stands firmly on this land.” - Taras Dorotsky.
The event was supported by the United Nations Refugee Agency in Ukraine and the Museum of Outstanding Ukrainian Cultural Figures of Lesia Ukrainka, Mykola Lysenko, Panas Saksahanskii, and Mykhailo Starytskyi.