Kupala Brighton
@kupalabrighton.bsky.social
Nature, belonging, and drones in the night: moments from our conversation at the edge of a wetland in the middle of Ukraine kupalabrighton.org/trubaitsi.html
October 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Nature, belonging, and drones in the night: moments from our conversation at the edge of a wetland in the middle of Ukraine kupalabrighton.org/trubaitsi.html
Reposted by Kupala Brighton
A siren on the audio tracks and Cuyahoga playing in my head as I edited this #R.E.M.
'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …'
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
Trubaitsi: the sounds of war reach deep into the Ukrainian countryside
YouTube video by Kupala Brighton
youtu.be
September 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A siren on the audio tracks and Cuyahoga playing in my head as I edited this #R.E.M.
The sounds of war just reached deep into the Polish countryside too. Surreal experiences are often previews of a new reality.
#Poland #Ukraine
#Poland #Ukraine
'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …'
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
Trubaitsi: the sounds of war reach deep into the Ukrainian countryside
YouTube video by Kupala Brighton
youtu.be
September 10, 2025 at 8:17 AM
'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …'
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
Trubaitsi: the sounds of war reach deep into the Ukrainian countryside
YouTube video by Kupala Brighton
youtu.be
September 9, 2025 at 4:01 PM
'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …'
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ
also on Spotify
audio-only: Apple, Amazon podcasts
YouTube has English subtitle option
audio-only: Apple, Amazon podcasts
YouTube has English subtitle option
September 9, 2025 at 8:06 AM
also on Spotify
audio-only: Apple, Amazon podcasts
YouTube has English subtitle option
audio-only: Apple, Amazon podcasts
YouTube has English subtitle option
Reposted by Kupala Brighton
We travelled to the Ukrainian village that is the deep inspiration for our project, and talked on the edge of its wetlands: about nature, childhood, imagination, the sounds of war in the air, and why places must not be stolen from people.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
Trubaitsi: wetland spirits and night spirits in a Ukrainian village
YouTube video by Kupala Brighton
www.youtube.com
September 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
We travelled to the Ukrainian village that is the deep inspiration for our project, and talked on the edge of its wetlands: about nature, childhood, imagination, the sounds of war in the air, and why places must not be stolen from people.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
We travelled to the Ukrainian village that is the deep inspiration for our project, and talked on the edge of its wetlands: about nature, childhood, imagination, the sounds of war in the air, and why places must not be stolen from people.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
Trubaitsi: wetland spirits and night spirits in a Ukrainian village
YouTube video by Kupala Brighton
www.youtube.com
September 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
We travelled to the Ukrainian village that is the deep inspiration for our project, and talked on the edge of its wetlands: about nature, childhood, imagination, the sounds of war in the air, and why places must not be stolen from people.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...
All these brilliant performers, and we'll be there too! Looking forward hugely to the Summer Fusion Festival at the Jubilee Library in Brighton, Sun 7 Sept, 11 – 3, free, all welcome!
bestfootmusic.net/2025/07/10/s...
bestfootmusic.net/2025/07/10/s...
August 29, 2025 at 10:07 AM
All these brilliant performers, and we'll be there too! Looking forward hugely to the Summer Fusion Festival at the Jubilee Library in Brighton, Sun 7 Sept, 11 – 3, free, all welcome!
bestfootmusic.net/2025/07/10/s...
bestfootmusic.net/2025/07/10/s...
Reposted by Kupala Brighton
A week ago I was eating grapes from a Ukrainian kitchen garden (= small farm in UK city terms) and thinking I should follow the example in my own small way back home
so ... rose hip syrup (too early, but best I can do)
soundtrack: The Ukrainian Shelf 5: Food
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOD...
so ... rose hip syrup (too early, but best I can do)
soundtrack: The Ukrainian Shelf 5: Food
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOD...
August 27, 2025 at 11:18 AM
A week ago I was eating grapes from a Ukrainian kitchen garden (= small farm in UK city terms) and thinking I should follow the example in my own small way back home
so ... rose hip syrup (too early, but best I can do)
soundtrack: The Ukrainian Shelf 5: Food
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOD...
so ... rose hip syrup (too early, but best I can do)
soundtrack: The Ukrainian Shelf 5: Food
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOD...
We made it, 2700km from Brighton to the birthplace of Kupala in the middle of Ukraine! We’ll tell you all about it when we’re back in the UK
August 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
We made it, 2700km from Brighton to the birthplace of Kupala in the middle of Ukraine! We’ll tell you all about it when we’re back in the UK
We made it, 2700km from Brighton to the birthplace of Kupala in the middle of Ukraine! We’ll tell you all about it when we’re back in the UK
August 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
We made it, 2700km from Brighton to the birthplace of Kupala in the middle of Ukraine! We’ll tell you all about it when we’re back in the UK
'Every Motanka I make is a quiet storyteller of our homeland and our hopes for the future.' Hanna Mariienko on what making traditional #Ukrainian motanka dolls in Sussex means to her and her community. kupalabrighton.org/motanka.html
June 30, 2025 at 10:28 AM
'Every Motanka I make is a quiet storyteller of our homeland and our hopes for the future.' Hanna Mariienko on what making traditional #Ukrainian motanka dolls in Sussex means to her and her community. kupalabrighton.org/motanka.html
We found a new place to celebrate Kupala this midsummer, and wrote a new piece to accompany it as well 🌿
kupalabrighton.org/kupala25.html
kupalabrighton.org/kupala25.html
A New Place | Kupala
A New Place
kupalabrighton.org
June 27, 2025 at 11:16 AM
We found a new place to celebrate Kupala this midsummer, and wrote a new piece to accompany it as well 🌿
kupalabrighton.org/kupala25.html
kupalabrighton.org/kupala25.html
Reposted by Kupala Brighton
Head to our website to read our latest guest blog. This time we hear from @kupalabrighton.bsky.social to learn how this Ukrainian midsummer festival has got underway in Brighton since refugees began arriving in 2022.
www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/kupala-...
www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/kupala-...
June 24, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Head to our website to read our latest guest blog. This time we hear from @kupalabrighton.bsky.social to learn how this Ukrainian midsummer festival has got underway in Brighton since refugees began arriving in 2022.
www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/kupala-...
www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/kupala-...
Pagans set wheels on fire and rolled them down hills at midsummer in 4th-century France. More recently Ukrainians did the same with car tyres 🔥☀️🔥
🌞 Happy #Solstice all! Hail, the God of the Sun! 🌞
🖼️ 'Solstice of the Sunflower' by Paul Nash (1945)🌻
🖼️ 'Solstice of the Sunflower' by Paul Nash (1945)🌻
June 21, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Pagans set wheels on fire and rolled them down hills at midsummer in 4th-century France. More recently Ukrainians did the same with car tyres 🔥☀️🔥
As it's Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka spirits come out of water, and sea-themed #FolkloreThursday, we'd like to point out it's a myth that rusalky are #mermaids. Key differences:
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
June 12, 2025 at 8:59 AM
As it's Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka spirits come out of water, and sea-themed #FolkloreThursday, we'd like to point out it's a myth that rusalky are #mermaids. Key differences:
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
Since it's Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka spirits come out of water, we'd just like to point out that rusalky are❗️not #mermaids❗️Key differences:
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More info: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
#MythologyMonday
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More info: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
#MythologyMonday
June 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Since it's Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka spirits come out of water, we'd just like to point out that rusalky are❗️not #mermaids❗️Key differences:
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More info: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
#MythologyMonday
Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎
Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎
More info: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
#MythologyMonday
Dangerous spirit alert ⚠️ Today is the start of Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka water spirits emerge onto dry land. They can be deadly, so
⚠️ Keep away from rivers, pools etc
⚠️ Also fields
⚠️ Put bread, milk, shirts out for them
Stay Rusalka-Safe! #folklore
kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
⚠️ Keep away from rivers, pools etc
⚠️ Also fields
⚠️ Put bread, milk, shirts out for them
Stay Rusalka-Safe! #folklore
kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
June 9, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Dangerous spirit alert ⚠️ Today is the start of Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka water spirits emerge onto dry land. They can be deadly, so
⚠️ Keep away from rivers, pools etc
⚠️ Also fields
⚠️ Put bread, milk, shirts out for them
Stay Rusalka-Safe! #folklore
kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
⚠️ Keep away from rivers, pools etc
⚠️ Also fields
⚠️ Put bread, milk, shirts out for them
Stay Rusalka-Safe! #folklore
kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html
It's Trinity Sunday, and here's a priest in #Ukraine blessing people who have brought greenery to the church. They'll also put branches around their homes, to protect against spirits from before Christianity arrived. kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html #folklore
Rusalnyi Week | Kupala
The Start of Summer
kupalabrighton.org
June 8, 2025 at 7:48 AM
It's Trinity Sunday, and here's a priest in #Ukraine blessing people who have brought greenery to the church. They'll also put branches around their homes, to protect against spirits from before Christianity arrived. kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html #folklore
Then flowers and fire at Midsummer, Kupala, and water too ☀️🔥🌿🌼
Happy Beltane! Rise to meet the sun wherever you are, then don't stop rising.
Remember to say it with flowers and fire.
🔥🪻🔥🌷🔥🌸🔥🌹🔥🌺🔥
Remember to say it with flowers and fire.
🔥🪻🔥🌷🔥🌸🔥🌹🔥🌺🔥
May 1, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Then flowers and fire at Midsummer, Kupala, and water too ☀️🔥🌿🌼
Reposted by Kupala Brighton
I said a few words – some of them in Ukrainian 😁 – at the Rose Hill about what our Razom gatherings mean to us. Thanks @bestfootmusic.bsky.social for including them in this post about last Sunday's wonderful Razom 💛 bestfootmusic.net/2025/03/16/r...
Razom ~ Together: March 16th
The Razom ~ Together event with the current round of funding, and what a fantastic event it turned out to be Commencing with a great life set of folk songs and stories from Mavka Singer, followed b…
bestfootmusic.net
March 21, 2025 at 11:21 AM
I said a few words – some of them in Ukrainian 😁 – at the Rose Hill about what our Razom gatherings mean to us. Thanks @bestfootmusic.bsky.social for including them in this post about last Sunday's wonderful Razom 💛 bestfootmusic.net/2025/03/16/r...
If you'd like to spend some time with our local #Ukrainian community in #Brighton and show your support for them, come to Razom at the Rose Hill on Sunday 16 March, 2-6pm. Music, food, conversation, and now a visit from a Ukrainian author too 💙💛
March 7, 2025 at 12:32 PM
If you'd like to spend some time with our local #Ukrainian community in #Brighton and show your support for them, come to Razom at the Rose Hill on Sunday 16 March, 2-6pm. Music, food, conversation, and now a visit from a Ukrainian author too 💙💛
'Slavic myth ... is buried under the weight of Christianisation, imperial domination, illiteracy, and the suppression of national identities...' And that problem, astutely addressed in this review, is at the heart of what our project is about.
"There is still so little available to read on Slavic mythology in English (and for adults), and The Slavic Myths is to be welcomed as a wonderful introduction to the matrix of story in the cultures of Eastern Europe". My review: drfrancisyoung.com/2025/02/15/r... @thamesandhudson.bsky.social
February 16, 2025 at 11:09 AM
'Slavic myth ... is buried under the weight of Christianisation, imperial domination, illiteracy, and the suppression of national identities...' And that problem, astutely addressed in this review, is at the heart of what our project is about.
It's Razom @TheRoseHillArts again this afternoon, feat. #Ukrainian music – traditional, modern, dance – and plenty more, incl. food and a quiz. Free, come along when you like, hope to see you there 😃🇺🇦
January 26, 2025 at 10:44 AM
It's Razom @TheRoseHillArts again this afternoon, feat. #Ukrainian music – traditional, modern, dance – and plenty more, incl. food and a quiz. Free, come along when you like, hope to see you there 😃🇺🇦
Deep time travel with @mattpope.bsky.social and Vio Korbina, connecting the local Ukrainian community with local landscapes. Thanks so much to Matt and Vio, to Stand4Ukraine B&H, and to the lovely #BrightonMuseum people for the warm welcome to the archaeology gallery 💙💛
January 19, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Deep time travel with @mattpope.bsky.social and Vio Korbina, connecting the local Ukrainian community with local landscapes. Thanks so much to Matt and Vio, to Stand4Ukraine B&H, and to the lovely #BrightonMuseum people for the warm welcome to the archaeology gallery 💙💛