Silence, sirens and the Kupala Brighton project The project aims to bring Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians together in a community around themes of nature, land, place and belonging | Marek Kohn @kupalabrighton.bsky.social @marekkohn.bsky.social

Please share. This is an inspiring and urgent project that listens, relocates and unleashes connection between people, culture and place. Grounded in community, during a time of war and displacement. Do follow and look for the Brighton event on the 18th June.

The project aims to bring Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians together in a community around themes of nature, land, place and belonging | Marek Kohn

Happy May Day / Beltane to all who celebrate, and all who don't! Today we're launching our June 18 event page: tickets are now available ☀️ kupalabrighton.org/sands.html

Happy Beltane! Welcoming in the May in our village square with the local side, Sompting Village Morris. You'll recognise this tune as Portsmouth! Living, Intangible Cultural Heritage. 🌺🏵️💐🌸🌺

Silence and Sirens. Save the date – June 18, just ahead of midsummer!

People rally round when something terrible happens: an accident, an illness, an invasion. But what do we do now that the invasion of Ukraine has changed from a sudden drama to a chronic condition? Our first blog post kupalabrighton.org/blog.html

We now have a newsletter and you can sign up for it here eepurl.com/jCIgys !

Congratulations to the Laukiai Oak, Eurovision Tree Contest winner!! 🌳👑🥬

Welcoming the Equinox light in at La Hougue Bie. A deliberate and powerful Neolithic alignment that illuminates the burial chamber just twice a year. Very lucky to be invited to witness this prehistoric spectacle. 🏺

At La Hougue Bie, Jersey, for the Spring Equinox sunrise with the @societejersiaise. Welcoming in the lighter half of the year from a very special place. 🏺

Standing for Ukraine in Brighton

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

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

'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

also on Spotify audio-only: Apple, Amazon podcasts YouTube has English subtitle option

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

'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

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-...

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

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

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

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 ☀️🔥🌿🌼

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 💙💛

'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 😃🇺🇦

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 💙💛

'Kyiv licked the rough asphalt with its pagan tongue ...'

Hello and Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! #ЩасливогоРіздва! We're glad to be here, and we hope you'll join us in our exploration of what #Ukrainian folklore means today. Vlada's full Christmas message is at www.instagram.com/p/DEA4tw1Ovvp/