The main funders for our youth exchange, the EVZ, were so impressed by our work that they asked to interview us about the project and why we organised it. This interview was published in a new online magazine about the MEET UP! initiatives, under which our youth exchange falls. You can find the interview here. We attended the launch event of the online magazine the 6th of December and enjoyed listening to Exciting talks, musical entertainment and gallery walk through the various MEET UP! projects. Here are some of our thoughts on the event.
On the 6th of December we were invited to the launch event of the MEET UP! online magazine where we could see the results of projects that received the same funding, and meet some of the people who had organised these projects. The evening started an introductions of the EVZ, MEET UP! and the location where this event was taking place. We were in Hotel Continental: art space in exile, a space which had been opened mere 18 months earlier, and was inspired by a similar Ukrainian project with the same name which was unfortunately bombed.
Panel discussion
We thentinued with a panel discussion about youth engagement with speakers from Moldova (Gheorghe Chiriac), Ukraine (Tetiana Storozhko), and Germany (Anastasia Pociumban). They spoke about about youth engagement in turbulent times and the challenges facing youth organizations. The panel spoke about worrying lack of participation and how to combat this, and also expressed concern about the number of young people leaving their countries who don’t return. The two countries which were focused upon here, Moldova and Ukraine are however very differentn co and face different struggles which I wish would have been a larger focus on the talk. I would also have wished to hear more about what the youth are perceived to want, and different subgroups of young people alive today. The question of youth problems as a monolith concerns me somewhat, as young people experience a myriad of different problems that all require unique solutions.
Gallery walk
The evening continued with a gallery walk, where we could stock up on sandwiches and other small bites of food. The gallery walk included a comic about a young Ukrainians experience with leaving home due to the Russian invasion, a podcast and a documentary. These were all projects which had been funded by the MEET UP initiative. We also had the chance to chat with some of the other people attending, and find out what projects they had been organising. It was also very nice to see Olga Karatch from our partner organisation Nash Dom again.
Concert
The evening ended with a concert from the Ukrainian Jazz Fusion band LELÉKA. They played a set of Ukrainian folk songs which had been reharmonised and arranged for jazz quartet. Their performance captivated the audience, with some audience members recognising the songs where other people heard Ukrainian folk music for the first time.
The interview with us: