It is well worth keeping an eye on Hastings art and cultural events, especially in the Stade, Hastings Old Town. Between December 27 and 31, 2022, ExploreTheArch Theatre Company (ETATC) in Hastings and the SERIA project in Kyiv, Ukraine, presented a festive experiential installation. ‘High Rise Connecting Conversations-Installation Hastings to Kyiv’ offered an insight into the similarities of high rise living in the two cities, 1,500 miles apart but united through domestic connections. Many of the population in both cities have been residents of tower blocks or walked past these architectural landmarks every day to work. Stories told of those lives resonated in the installation on display.
One of thirteen cities across Europe, Hastings was awarded European Cultural Foundation funding to mount this project. It was put together by a multi disciplinary team of artists from Hastings and Kyiv, predominantly with early career artists, a key feature of ETATC output. The voice at the heart of this installation project was to imagine high rises not as rectangular blocks, their outer identity, but as cylindrical intestines. The stories were about the internal of living within.
Liza: “In the old days where I live, there are not so many panel houses. But in the relatively new districts of Kyiv, they stand in ranks like marching soldiers, all the same grey, rain stained, their uniforms torn and wrinkled from decades of service. They look especially depressing in cloudy weather. It’s hard to imagine that life is in full swing inside them, many people, many stories….it can be nice in the apartments themselves, it all depends on the owners.”
Dave (Hastings): “Living on the 16th floor brings to mind the song ‘Three Steps to Heaven’, that’s how it feels like living up here. If you did pass away on this floor we would watch the fire brigade take you out with a cherry-picker. I’ve grown to really like it here..”
There are too many names to mention who worked on this collaboration. It was a large team from the UK and Ukraine who made it possible for the many visitors to get a glimpse of similarities across so many miles. (no doubt there are now many differences since the war). Wonderful music was provided, and two names to be noted were the two sisters, Ukrainian harpists Catherine and Elizabeth Rajhans (now continuing their studies in London), violinist Sam Brown and Hastings multi-instrumentalist Frank Moon on guitar. To round off this extraordinary international collaboration day, everyone was invited to try authentic Ukrainian/UK food and drink. The team said: “Coming together in this project we unite in the hope that 2023 will bring peace and stability.”
Image Credits: Heidi Foster .