The Peace Prize winner rocks in Frankfurt
KThat’s when Serhij Zhadan enters the stage, stretches out his hands and smartphones, screams ring out. “Ukrajina!” is understood even without being able to speak the language. The bodies twitch, even those who do not understand what is being sung. Which is a testament to the band’s skill. But Zhadan i Sobaky, the six musicians around Serhij Zhadan, can be sure that almost everyone in the hall, which only holds around 100 people, knows every line of their songs.
Zhadan i Sobaky rock the Frankfurter Haus am Dom, the conference hall has certainly not seen a concert like this before. The Light: As for a poetry reading. The decoration: a jeweled crucifix on wood paneling. Among them are six musicians who are no longer quite young and a lead singer who is one of the most famous writers in Ukraine and who was active as a civilian helper in his hometown of Kharkov right from the start, risking his life. And who makes music, recites poems.
Every song creates community
Zhadan, novelist, essayist, translator, rock singer, the designated Peace Prize winner of the German book trade, with the novels “The invention of jazz in the Donbass” or “Internat” and with many guest contributions on the state of the war also known in Germany, will be on October 23 honored in the Paulskirche. Until then he will be touring Europe with “Zhadan and the Dogs”, as the band’s name translates. A charity campaign for the helpers in Kharkiv, but also a moment of warmth for the Ukrainian refugees, who are also singing along in Frankfurt. Each song in this hour-long concert evokes the opportunity to create community through words and music. Children are held up, teenagers have their picture taken with Zhadan, blue-and-yellow flags are waved, and people dance exuberantly.
They are songs that evoke strength and togetherness and that show what has come to light in poetry, essays and conversations for a whole day. The phrase “We will never give up” is inseparable from the art and cultural identity of Ukraine. This is how they have been expressed by authors such as Volodymyr Rafeenko, Daryna Gladun and Ljubov Jakymchuk, documentary filmmaker Oleksiy Radynsky and publicist Kateryna Mishchenko. In a workshop talk, the visual artist Nikita Kadan spoke about his works for the Venice Biennale, for Istanbul, for exhibitions all over the world, created from material from the revered cities that he has been working on since 2014. The central theme of all the talks of the day is that Ukraine has been living with a war for so long that Europe does not want to see. Today it affects everyone.
And when Zhadan says in an interview with the FAZ that he will now receive the peace prize, he sees it as symbolic and hopeful, “because we currently want nothing more than peace in Ukraine,” he speaks for all the voices of the day: “And we understand that peace comes only when we win. If not, we are doomed to annihilation. When we talk about peace, we are not talking about anything abstract, but about our faith, our hope. We have lost our previous lives and our reality. It is clear that we are fighting, waiting for a peaceful life.”