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Extraordinary Video (Ukraine Has Talent)

Spy Car

By Spy Car,
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Spy Car

Spy Car

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I just heard an intriguing report on the NPR show "The World" that extolled this extraordinary performance art piece by a Ukrainian sand artist named Kseniya Simonova (who knew there were sand artists? And that they might look like a super-model???).

 

I digress.

 

This is an extraordinary video that tells a story of the German assault on the Ukraine (one quarter of the Ukraine's population was killed in WWII). The audience for the television show was in tears. And I found it a simply amazing piece of performance art, of a type I've never encountered before.

 

"The World" site crashed, but I found this on Youtube, for those who have never seen it.

 

 

 

Bill

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Harrison_B

Harrison_B

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Dear Bill,

 

I didn't get a chance to see the movie - my PC doesn't handle YouTube's videos very well. My younger son was adopted from the Ukraine and I wanted to share my experience over in Kiev when we went to adopt him. Ukraine's WWII memorial museum is located in Kiev - it was the most potent museum I have ever experienced in my life. Walking through the museum, you have solemn feel to it, but it was the last room where I just started crying. They have a long table with shots of vodka on it, but it was the pictures that got to me. Life size photos of the families that were destroyed by the war hung from the ceilings and walls. Haunting, I was there 8 years ago and I still remember that room. If you ever want to go on a vacation with so much culture and history, I would recommend the Ukraine. It is a poor country (except the major city like Kiev), but the culture is a step back into time and truly exceptional.

 

Terri

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Spy Car

Spy Car

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Dear Bill,

 

I didn't get a chance to see the movie - my PC doesn't handle YouTube's videos that well. My younger son was adopted from the Ukraine and I wanted to share my experiences over in Kiev when we went over to adopt him. Ukaine's WWII memorial museum is located in Kiev - it is the most potent museum I have ever experience in my life. Walking through the museum, you have solemn feel to it, but it was the last room where I just started crying. They have a long table with shots of vodka on it, but it was the pictures that got to me. Life size photos of the families that were destroyed by the war hung from the ceilings and walls. Haunting, I was there 8 years ago and I still remember that room. If you ever want to go on a vacation with so much culture and history, I would recommend the Ukraine. It is a poor country (except the major cities like Kiev), but the culture is a step back into time and truly exceptional.

 

Terri

 

Thank you for the nice message Terri.

 

I'd love to visit the Ukraine. This sand art performance, which (lacking a better explanation) was like watching an animated movie happen in real time through the manipulation of sand on a light box was so touching that much of the audience was weeping.

 

Even without the direct emotional connection, the virtuosity and artistry of this performance was breathtaking. Should you get access to a computer that will play a youtube video, search for ukraine sand art, and you will see something I find really amazing.

 

Bill

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Harrison_B

Harrison_B

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Thanks, Bill - I'm trying to download it, but since I'm on dial-up it is taking forever. The Ukraine is such an amazing place. Kiev is going back into time, but in a quaint way. The architecture and churches is nothing what you see in the states - so much detail and beauty. We were lucky because we were able to see a performance by the Ukrainian ballet company of "Romeo and Juliet" - such beauty. We met so many wonderful people and it was a memorable time for us. Terri

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Spy Car

Spy Car

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Thanks, Bill - I'm trying to download it, but since I'm on dial-up it is taking forever. The Ukraine is such an amazing place. Kiev is going back into time, but in a quaint way. The architecture and churches is nothing what you see in the states - so much detail and beauty. We were lucky because we were able to see a performance by the Ukrainian ballet company of "Romeo and Juliet" - such beauty. We met so many wonderful people and it was a memorable time for us. Terri

 

Even if it took over-night to download, I truly don't think you will be disappointed.

 

I'm not often "blown-away" but this is something truly magical.

 

You've got me wanting to book a flight :001_smile:

 

Bill

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Audrey

Audrey

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I just heard an intriguing report on the NPR show "The World" that extolled this extraordinary performance art piece by a Ukrainian sand artist named Kseniya Simonova (who knew there were sand artists? And that they might look like a super-model???).

 

I digress.

 

This is an extraordinary video that tells a story of the German assault on the Ukraine (one quarter of the Ukraine's population was killed in WWII). The audience for the television show was in tears. And I found it a simply amazing piece of performance art, of a type I've never encountered before.

 

"The World" site crashed, but I found this on Youtube, for those who have never seen it.

 

 

 

Bill

 

 

That was... phenomenal to say the least. What an amazing artist!

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Harrison_B

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I'm getting there - I've downloaded three minutes (5 to go). We were very lucky when we stood in the Ukraine. We were there for three weeks and except for a blizzard, it was an amazing experience. My son's orphanage was in the foothills of the Carpathians mountains in between two castles. The village was quaint and you only saw one or two cars. The landscape consisted of hills and horse-drawn carts. They didn't have our supermarkets so they relied on their own gardens. The food was delicious - green tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, homemade wine, borscht. One thing I still remember were their cookies - homemade and fresh (not packaged) and they loved their chocolate (homemade). We took a train from Kiev to Muchechevo - the trains were old (something from the 1950's). Also, the cars outside the city would make any antique car dealer drool. They dated back into the sixties and seventies. :lol:

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Spy Car

Spy Car

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Thanks, Bill - it took me 1 1/2 hours to download it - and it was worth every minute of it. Truly an exceptional piece of art - I never seen anything like it. Simple, yet beautiful ... thank you for sharing! Terri

 

I'm so glad you liked it. It's really something special.

 

Bill

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Hannah

Hannah

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What an amazing performance! She is an incredible artist. Thanks for posting this Bill.

 

Would someone be able to interpret it all for me? History is my weakest subject. Thanks.

 

Wow! I wish I had an understanding of the history behind the story. It clearly moves those in the audience to tears.

 

World War II (called the Great Patriotic War in the Ukraine) resulted in one in four of the population of 42 million being killed in that country.

 

This is from the telegraph.co.uk

 

"She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

 

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

 

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

 

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

 

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

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pqr

pqr

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Would someone be able to interpret it all for me? History is my weakest subject. Thanks.

 

A superb video and a demonstration of the talent to be found throughout Eastern Europe.

 

The video relates to WWII or as it is known in much of the former Soviet Union, the Great Patriotic War. The term Great Patriotic War has become somewhat controversial depending where one is. Latvia, Lituania and Estonia certainly to not use the term. As to Ukraine, feelings differ. In Eastern Ukraine it is still the Great Patriotic War, but in the West feelings are much more complicated.

 

For Western Europe WWII started 1 or 3 Sept 1939.

For the US it started 7 Dec 1941

For most of Ukraine it started 22 June 1941, but in Western Ukraine it was 17 Sept 1939. This is because much of Western Ukraine was in Poland till 1939 and on 17 Sept the Soviet Army invaded Poland and grabbed Western Ukraine. Nationalists in the area who wanted independence rather than Polish or certainly rather than Soviet domination started to fight. In 1941 some joined with Germany to fight the Soviets while others fought both armies.

When the area was recaptured by the Soviets in 44 they still fought. The last skirmish took place in 1956 or 1957. Many people in the Western part of the country do not necessarily look upon WWII and the ultimate victory of the Soviets as a good thing. An odd sight may be seen in the Western part of the nation. Side by side there will be monuments to those brave men killed in WWII and those killed fighting the Soviets. One particular village has a monument that lists the names of those who died under torture in NKVD (KGB) Camps in the 1950s.

The General who liberated Kyiv, Vatutin, was ambushed by Ukrainian nationalists on 28 Feb 1944 and subsequently died.

In other parts of the country there are monuments to the dead of WWII and those who starved to death during the 32-33 famine, known in Ukraine as the Holodomor, when Soviet troops deliberately denied food to peasants, seized their crops and animals and let them starve or exiled them to Siberia. The number of dead was in the millions.

 

The obelisk, which I found one of the most images is a type of monument seen in Eastern Europe that is frequently surmounted by a Red Star, again except in Western Ukraine and the Baltics where the star has been removed. This is a war memorial, but smaller versions are sometimes seen as headstones on graves (individual or mass graves). Further it does not only relate to WWII, I have seen similar memorials throughout the former Soviet Union for the Civil War and even Afghanistan.

 

The music was predominantly WWII songs.

 

As to the tears amongst the judges, there is hardly a family in Ukraine that did not lose someone in WWII.

 

The history of Ukraine is written in blood and even today one can find little agreement other than the fact that the Ukrainian people suffered beyond all measure.

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mommy2be

mommy2be

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That was absolutely amazing! She was very passionate about what she was doing - and it showed in her art. That was a beautiful story to watch.

 

Sidenote - It is so not fair for someone to be both gorgeous and have amazing talent... What the heck? :D I don't think I got one or the other... lol :lol:

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Cindy in C-ville

Cindy in C-ville

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Dear Bill,

 

I didn't get a chance to see the movie - my PC doesn't handle YouTube's videos very well. My younger son was adopted from the Ukraine and I wanted to share my experience over in Kiev when we went to adopt him. Ukraine's WWII memorial museum is located in Kiev - it was the most potent museum I have ever experienced in my life. Walking through the museum, you have solemn feel to it, but it was the last room where I just started crying. They have a long table with shots of vodka on it, but it was the pictures that got to me. Life size photos of the families that were destroyed by the war hung from the ceilings and walls. Haunting, I was there 8 years ago and I still remember that room. If you ever want to go on a vacation with so much culture and history, I would recommend the Ukraine. It is a poor country (except the major city like Kiev), but the culture is a step back into time and truly exceptional.

 

Terri

 

Terri, we will be in Kiev Saturday - Tuesday for our SDA appointment. This will be our third trip to Ukraine, but we haven't been to the WWII Museum. Can you tell me where it's located? We've been to the Chernobyl Museum twice, which was incredibly moving. In Rivne we saw the traveling exhibit bringing Lenin's famine genocide to light. What a devastating act of evil. One of the things that struck me while we were in Ukraine (Kiev, Rivne, and Odessa) and then was confirmed in this video is the beauty of this culture that communicates in such rich symbolism. I feel like we've lost this in our culture.

 

If you can watch this video, you would love it. I am looking forward to sitting with our translator and watching it so that she can help me understand it.

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