"Studio-117: a new project of drummers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Odesa-based music and dance group Studio-117 is well known outside of Ukraine. They travel all over the world, collecting awards and creatively helping the military. Recently, the members of the group decided to paint spent military shell casings brought back from the front line. The works will be sold at auctions, and the proceeds will be donated to the needs of the Armed Forces.

An Intent correspondent visited the band's rehearsal and talked to the drummers, artists Victoria and Daria, as well as the founders of the project, Ihor Tkachuk and Yulia Binyovska.

For reference: "Studio-117 " is an art school located in Odesa gymnasium #117. The team has existed for over 20 years. These are children aged 6-14 who are engaged in gymnastics, choreography, dances - jazz, tap, classical, folk, and learn to play percussion instruments. The older participants, the show group, is a dance studio that performs drum and flag shows. They actively participate in international festivals and competitions in the US, Germany, France, Switzerland, and other countries.

"We wanted to try something new"

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

How did you come up with the idea to paint shell casings?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Vika: One evening at rehearsal, Ihor Leonidovych told us that his friend was doing something similar and invited us to try it. Daria and I immediately agreed. A week later, we received our first canvases, and we took them apart.

What kind of paint do you use?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Vika: We work with acrylic. On the Internet, we watched how experienced craftswomen paint, so that the paint would stick well to the metal and not peel off in a few days. It was also important to treat the surface so that the sleeve would not rust and would serve the new owners for a long time.

Have you ever painted professionally before?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Dasha: I went to an art studio for a while because I was planning to study to be an artist.

In the Hrekovka studio in Odesa?

Dasha: No, at that time I was still living in Pokrovsk, although I was originally from Donetsk. When I moved here, I passed my exams and entered the university to become a translator. But I kept painting as a hobby. And then I got this opportunity to paint on shell casings to help the military.

Vika: I also used to attend a children's art center. We both just love it, we enjoy it, we live for it.

What are your plans for the future?

Vika: I want to create a painting called "The Guardian". It will have wings that cover the ground from the bullets. And I will make the bullets themselves out of real small shell casings. They were given to me by the father of our colleague from the studio.

How does your family react to your hobby?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Vika: I showed my work at home, and they really liked it. They support the idea of sending us more shell casings, because it is a real help to the guys on the front line. We have relatives there, many friends and acquaintances.

How long does it take to paint one small shell casing?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Dasha: It depends. Most of the time is spent looking for an idea: what exactly to depict, how to combine colors, how it will look in general. The painting itself can take several hours, one evening, or even several days, if you take into account the time for the paint and protective coating to dry.

Do you work in a studio or at home?

Vika: At home. If there is light, of course. But we also paint by candlelight and with flashlights.

Is the subject matter imposed on you?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Dasha: No, we have complete freedom. The only request is not to paint over the shell completely so that the metal remains visible. So that it is always clear that it once served a completely different purpose.

"We have a different mission now"

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

We've talked to the young artists, and now we want to turn to you, Ihor Leonidovych. Who exactly suggested that the drummers start painting the shells?

Ihor: I communicate with the photographer Boris Bukhman. Once he suggested that we make something creative and interesting out of the shells. I told the girls about this idea. Victoria and Dasha immediately agreed. There is also Polina - we prepared a special case for her, a foam liner from a 155-caliber shell. It was given to us by the father of one of our students, he is a military man.

PHOTO courtesy of the studio staff

Have you already decided which brigade will receive the donation from the upcoming auction?

Ihor: I think Borys Bukhman will tell us who needs help the most right now. I don't know how much it will be, and we won't set a high price on purpose. It's important to explain to people that this is handmade work that takes time. The girls are either working or studying, and no one gives us money for paint - acrylic is not cheap.

In the studio's social media, you write that patriotism is "not about loud slogans, but about content." How did this content change after February 24?


PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Ihor: We are trying to be a kind of "creative diplomacy". This is how our flag and drum shows work on the international stage, where hundreds of thousands of viewers watch us. We have to be on top of our game visually and perform our program with high quality.

For the first time, we went to Nice for the Grand Carnival, an extravaganza on the Côte d'Azur with giant platforms, flower battles, and nightly shows. We were the first from Ukraine in more than 300 years of the carnival's existence.

Yulia: Despite our tragedy, we were invited by France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, and Lithuania. Many countries even hung our flags at their events as a sign of support. We try to make our shows interesting and professional. We take part in events where only professional bands work: adult musicians with education, experience, and seniority.

Video provided by the studio team

Have you ever performed on the same stage with Russians since 2014?

Ihor: After the full-scale invasion, they are not invited anywhere. But once, right after 2014, we performed together with two bands from Perm and Moscow. I had the feeling that they were afraid of us.

Nowadays, no one invites Russian bands to decent international military music festivals. And it's very difficult for them to cross the border because the KGB is watching. And if local Russians in Nice suddenly have any questions, we immediately switch to Ukrainian, and all questions disappear by themselves.

Four months in Nice as refugees

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

How did the team meet the first days of the full-scale war?

Ihor: We were in Nice. We were sitting in a cafe, watching the news. The waiters started pointing fingers at us, shouting that we were "rashen". Then we hung up yellow and blue ribbons and there were no more problems.

We left Ukraine on February 19, 2022, for the carnival and stayed there for four and a half months. On the first day of the war, we had a day off. We started hysterically calling consulates: there were 36 children in the group, we were in a foreign country, and there was a war in ours. What to do? The phones we always take with us for emergencies were not answering.

Then the manager came and said he would cancel the concert. We said: "No, we're going to work". We weren't smiling, we were just living through the day. We kept the kids busy with preparing costumes, makeup, and other household chores. And people in the hall were shouting: "Glory to Ukraine!". We had two or three more carnival days left.

Nice is like the Olympics: you can't position a country there, no politics. Our costumes had Ukrainian patches and a flag on them. The organizers said: either change the costume or take off the patches. We changed our costumes. But on the last day of the carnival, something incredible happened.

When we reached the central square, where all the VIPs and main stars gather, the carnival suddenly stopped. The music stopped. A French television announcer announced: "Madam, sir, this is a group from Ukraine." And Christian Estrosi, the current mayor of Nice, came out to us. He took a picture with us, and the presenter said that there was a war in Ukraine, and we supported them.

Yulia: After that, we went back to the hotel and had to leave in the morning. But representatives of the city authorities came to us and asked: "What are you planning to do?". We didn't know. The parents said: stay, support the children. Where should we stay with the bus? The officials replied: "We have no law, we don't know what to do. Stay in this hotel at the expense of the city hall." They fed us, allowed us to wash our clothes, even though we were traveling for four days in February and left on June 15.

Then the court proceedings began. Legally, we were the children's representatives only for the duration of the festival, and then they became "homeless". The French wanted to place them in families, but we persisted. We said: "No". The mayor's office had to sue, and the court recognized us as legal representatives. We lived in a hotel for two months, and then we were relocated to a youth and sports center. We were registered as refugees. We stayed there for four months.

Parents came and took their children away little by little. When there were few of us left, we decided to return. We spent almost a month "begging" for money for a bus. Our bus left for home almost immediately because it was taking out military families. The bureaucracy in France was even more complicated than in Ukraine. We waited until Easter, then until May 1, then until May 9. May 9 passed, Odesa did not become Russian, thank God, and we went home.

"Art has a special power in times of war"

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Tell us about your recent trip to Bremen. You wrote on social media that after your performance at Bremen Military Tattoo you felt "sincere support and respect from the public". What exactly, in your opinion, spoke to the foreign audience the most?

Photo courtesy of the studio team

Video provided by the studio team

Yulia: We carried the main message through the rhythm, movement, stage image and nature of our program: Ukraine exists, Ukraine is strong, Ukraine sounds. The children felt the audience's sincere support, interest in our country, and respect for what we do. And this once again confirmed that art has a special power in times of war. It is able to unite, explain without words and remind us what we are fighting for - for life, freedom and the right to be ourselves.

Ihor Leonidovych, what impressed you personally?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

This is a professional gathering of military bands and incredible musicians. It is very large-scale and interesting. The finale is especially impressive, when all the orchestras play the same music at the formation - it's just goosebumps, incredible sound. This is a show that does not exist in Ukraine, and I'm afraid it won't in the near future. It's a very big expense. Unfortunately, we have a poorly developed culture of marching bands, the culture of big events where people come to listen to music, not to "dance" to something incomprehensible. In old Europe, this is a cult: children play, adults enjoy going and watching. We are focused on Europe.

By the way, we try not only to perform, but also to introduce children to the culture. So, on the way to Bremen, we stopped by the Dresden Gallery. We wanted them not just to get into this creative "meat grinder" but to be able to stop and see something beautiful.

"Children become individuals in a team"

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Tell us about the themes of the rooms. I saw that you even have an "Odesa Yard"...

Ihor: We have developed many themes related to Odesa and its flavor. Unfortunately, a lot of them were forgotten because of the kovid. We had a Jewish theme ready, and the Moses number was very strong in choreography and content. There are several stylized Ukrainian numbers with elements of folk dances. There are numbers with flags, a tango for four girls, and the Mozart number. But for the numbers to be alive, and not just "on the shelf," they must meet the organizers' needs. That's why we make the numbers universal, which can open or close any event, regardless of the time of year or the situation in the country.

Over the 20 years of the project's existence, there must have been crises. How do you survive them?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Ihor: Perhaps the last crisis hasn't passed yet. For me personally, the biggest crisis was the beginning of the war, when we realized that we had lost an entire generation. There was a break in the continuous chain where kids grow up, start dancing, then take up flags, then drums. Simply because there are no children. Through no fault of our own.

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Yulia: Now we are trying to get out of this situation. But little depends on us - there are simply not enough children in the country. Not everyone is ready to live here. It's the most difficult time, and it's not just our problem, but the problem of all the collectives in Odesa and all over Ukraine. So bring your children. It is important for them and for us.

If you imagine the future in ten years, what would you like to see a graduate of Studio 117 look like? Regardless of their profession, what qualities should stay with them?

PHOTO courtesy of the studio team

Ihor: Self-sufficiency. I want them not to be afraid of anything, to know that you have to take small steps towards a big goal, and that nothing is given for nothing.

AnAchild from our studio is a personality. And personality is formed in a team. The team shapes the individual, and the individual shapes the team. The child must understand what responsibility is, what a shoulder is, what brotherhood is.

Yulia: I want to add something. Nowadays, there are a lot of studios where people come, buy a subscription, and just "let off steam." But there is no result. Many bands go to festivals and competitions. We went through this 20 years ago and were unpleasantly surprised by the small-town nature and subjectivity of the judges. Once we took the "Scarecrow" performance to the World Step Dance Championships in Germany.

Video provided by the studio team

We were supposed to make it to the semifinals (12th place), but representatives of Russia came in with a team of 300 people and a suitcase of money, and we ended up in 13th place. That was it. Since then, we have refused to participate in such festivals. Why pay for travel, accommodation, and fees if the decisions are often unfair? We just make quality acts.

Ната Чернецька

"Studio-117: how drummers paint shell casings for the Armed Forces and conquer international stages

"We wanted to try something new"

<span><span><span><span><span><span>"We have a different mission now"</span></span></span></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><span><span><span>Four months in Nice as refugees</span></span></span></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><span><span><span>"Art has a special power in times of war"</span></span></span></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><span><span><span>"Children become individuals in a team"</span></span></span></span></span></span>

Також Вам може сподобатись: