Polyana and East Piano at Cafe Istanbul

May 18, 6:00pm  **New date and time!**
Polyana and East Piano at Cafe Istanbul

This will be a double feature of two 30-minute pieces, followed by discussion.

Polyana
Short film by Ukrainian-American acupuncturist Katya Chizayeva. Katya "commutes" to Ukraine to provide treatments to Ukrainian soldiers alongside local Ukrainian acupuncturists at the Lisova Polyana Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv. These soldiers have suffered from traumatic brain injury and amputations as a result of their military service. The film aims to raise awareness about many challenges that Ukrainian society holds as a whole while fighting on many different fronts-- personal, cultural, economic, etc.

"Polyana" is dedicated to the ordinary people of Ukraine-- focusing on soldiers and health care workers-- who continue to fight, care, recover, and live amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. To learn more, go to @ukrainewellnesslisova or @librewillness on Instagram.

Katya Chizayeva is a New Orleans-based Ukrainian-American artist, community activist, and acupuncturist. Her artistic work is rooted in bridging communities to tell the stories of resilience and belonging through the media of film, dance, and theater. *For those who have been in this group for some time, the piece "Top 5 Survival Moves" at the CAC (a collaboration between Katya and Goat In The Road Productions) was one of our first Meetup events!*

East Piano, The Frontline Sonic Journal of a Ukrainian Musician-Soldier.
East Piano, an audio production by Cicely Fell from the BBC's Between The Ears, is a sonic journal by musician-soldier Timur Dzhafarov (aka John Object). An electronic music composer before the war, he volunteered to defend Ukraine when Russia invaded and was sent to the frontline to fight. There, he recorded sounds that are compiled into this sonic journal.