‘Russia can never erase Ukrainian culture’: inside Liverpool’s Eurovision resistance effort

If you thought the Eurovision Song Contest was just a glammed-up televised talent show or an excuse to drink cocktails on a Saturday night, think again. Host city Liverpool, which is holding May’s competition on behalf of war-torn Ukraine, has announced a dizzying two-week programme of cultural events in the run-up to this year’s final. The city’s mission: to showcase to the world the Ukrainian culture that Vladimir Putin’s invasion is so desperately trying to erase.

The so-called EuroFestival will comprise 24 artistic commissions dotted around Liverpool, 19 of which are collaborations between British and Ukrainian artists. Events will include Ukraine’s 2016 Eurovision winner Jamala premiering a new album based around Crimean Tatar folk songs accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the English National Opera singing Eurovision hits, simultaneous nightclub raves in Liverpool and Kiev, plays, art installations, pop-up libraries, statues wrapped in sandbags and film festivals. There will also be drag queen cabarets, a three-day LGBTQI+ festival-within-a-festival called EuroCamp, and a parade featuring kazoo-playing seahorses and an eight-metre-tall drumming octopus. What did you expect? It’s Eurovision, after all.

Organisers have been working on the festival since October, when Liverpool was announced as the host city on behalf of last year’s winner, which is unable to host for obvious reasons. They’re proud of what’s on offer. “We know we’ve got a bit of a swagger in Liverpool but we’ve certainly gone over the top,” says the city’s mayor, Joanne Anderson.

Claire McColgan, director of Culture Liverpool, tells me that it represents “an incredible international programme” of arts events. “You could put this in any biennial or any festival in the world and it would stand alone, Eurovision or not,” she says, adding that the festival will also include Ukrainian-themed events in schools and care homes. “For those people who just still think Eurovision is an event on the Beeb, they’ll be completely surprised – it’s two weeks in Liverpool.”

But EuroFestival has a purpose beyond fun and entertainment. Around 160 million viewers from around the world are expected to tune into the Eurovision final on Saturday 13 May while 100,000 people are likely to visit Liverpool over the Eurovision period (bringing in an estimated £250 million to the local economy). With the world’s eyes on the city, it’s the perfect opportunity to display Ukraine’s cultural heritage in a way that the country is currently unable to due to Russia’s invasion.

Tetyana Filevska, creative director of the Ukrainian Institute, which has worked on the festival’s content from the Ukrainian perspective, says stamping out culture is a recognisable pattern of empire-builders. “As we all know, this war is first of all against Ukrainian culture. The Russians target museums, libraries, theatres and monuments. The first thing they do when they occupy territories is they erase all signs of Ukrainian culture,” Filevska says. “A few days ago we all had the chance to remember the [anniversary of the] tragedy of the Mariupol theatre, where hundreds of people were killed in the theatre space with a huge air bomb.

"It is important to give attention to Ukrainian culture because it gives us the strength the resist Russian aggression. As long as Ukrainian culture is exposed, as long as it’s celebrated and known outside of Ukraine by the world, Russia will never achieve its goal. It will never erase Ukraine from the surface.”

EuroFestival, therefore, represents culture as resistance. Much of it may be coated in glitter with a large dollop of camp on the side, but it’s resistance nonetheless.

“During these dark times for Ukraine, the presentation of the new album in Liverpool is an essential mission for me,” says Jamala. “Just like the most precious memories of our lives, we cherish our culture as the most valuable treasure.”

This theme is echoed by Stuart Andrew, the government’s Eurovision Minister. “This event should be being held in Ukraine. Because of the illegal invasion and Putin’s attempt to in effect wipe that country off the map, this is an opportunity for us to show 160 million how powerful it is that this city has stepped up and is hosting it on Ukraine’s behalf. It’s also going to showcase the important culture of Ukraine that Putin is desperate to eradicate. And we are not going to let that happen,” the minister tells me. “Ukrainian artists who should be doing their usual artistic work are on the frontline fighting. Sports people who should be getting ready for the Olympics are on the frontline fighting. This is an opportunity for us to remind people how shocking this invasion is.”

Andrew has first-hand experience of Ukrainians’ plight – he has a mother and her 16-year-old son from Kiev staying with him. “They talk about how at four o’clock in the morning suddenly they were woken up with bombs falling in Kiev,” he says. The father and an elder son are still in Ukraine. “The son is fighting in the army, the husband is trying to keep the flat going. There are long periods with no electricity.”

So there’s a serious point to all this. But what about the events themselves? Mayor Anderson says there’s something for everyone. The vibe is “accessible, joyous, thought-provoking, colourful, community-led, inclusive and free for all”. Eye-catching events will include the flying of 900 hand-painted kites by British and Ukrainian children and the placing of twelve giant internally-lit inflatable birds around Liverpool, each representing a different region of Ukraine, each decorated with patterns from Ukrainian embroidery and each playing music. Murals will appear across the city. There will be a contemporary opera called Chornobyldorf, and an “immersive audio experience” called With Fire and Rage, which will follow the stories of artists on the frontline in Ukraine, combining poetry, music, video and personal testimony. The National Lottery will put on a huge outdoor concert in the shadow of St George’s Hall.

The “English National Opera does Eurovision” concert on 9 May will feature big costumes and combine the “campery of opera” with Eurovision, explains the ENO’s chief executive Stuart Murphy. “We’re going to bring international opera stars together with former Eurovision contestants to perform classical arrangements with our full world-class orchestra and chorus,” Murphy says, although he won’t be drawn on which former Eurovision stars with perform. Songs will, however, include ABBA’s Waterloo and the song Zero Gravity, which was Australia’s 2019 entry. The prospect of last year’s UK runner-up Sam Ryder belting out Space Man out over Liverpool’s docks, backed by a full orchestra and opera chorus, would be quite something.

At the more hedonistic end of the spectrum, Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle will become the “Eurozone” after-hours district – rather like Glastonbury’s late night “naughty corner” – complete with a dedicated Eurovision nightclub at the Camp and Furnace venue. And the Rave UKraine event has the strapline “two cities, one rave” – the Content nightclub will host and livestream DJs at the same time as a club in Kiev.

Andrew believes that Liverpool is prepared for the extra influx of people. “We’ve got lots of plans in place to make sure that people can come here,” he says. Even the minister is getting excited about what lies ahead. “My partner is a huge Eurovision fan and for the first time, I think, in my time as an MP he is actually interested in what I’m doing.” The King’s coronation falls in the middle weekend of EuroFestival (and a week before the Eurovision final). The pair of weekends will showcase two different sides of Britain, Andrew says. “It’s going to show us as a country that has all of the tradition but also has an amazing party at the same time,” he says.

Filevska says that Ukrainians like to celebrate. “Once we win, we will celebrate victory together,” she says. I think she’s talking about Eurovision but she could equally be talking about the war.

For more information go to visitliverpool.com