Serhiy Zhadan received an award in Wales for his musical creativity

Serhiy Zhadan received an award for musical creativity at the Hay Festival in Wales. He announced this on his Facebook page.

“I thank the organizers for supporting Ukraine. I do not wear medals, so I will sell it at some auction. And the money will be donated to something useful. In any case, thank you all,” Zhadan said.

The concert of Zhadan and the Dogs at Hay Festival took place on the evening of June 3 at the Wye Stage. “Six-member ska ensemble Zhadan and the Dogs is a band that defines the musical scene of Eastern Ukraine. Their two-decade long career includes two acclaimed studio albums. Join them for a night of dance, good music and songs that will make you think and feel,” the festival’s website said in an announcement for the event.

Hay Festival (Gŵyl Y Gelli) is an annual literary festival. It has been held annually since 1988 in the town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales, which is known for its large number of bookstores (more than 20). Over the years, the festival has become a landmark event in British culture, gaining international reputation as well. The main festival is accompanied by a children’s festival, Hay Fever. In addition, Hay’s sister festivals are held in a number of countries, including Denmark, Spain, the Maldives, and others. In 2020 and 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all festival events were held online. In 2020, the Hay Festival and the Mexican Book Fair in Guadalajara jointly received the Princess of Asturias Award for online communication and humanity in difficult times of the pandemic.

Zhadan and the Dogs is a Ukrainian rock band from Kharkiv that was formed in 2000. It was originally named “Sobaky v kosmosi” (Dogs in the Outer Space).

In 2007, the compilation album The Choir of Mongolian Policemen was released, for which various artists, including Dogs in the Outer Space, recorded songs based on poems by Serhiy Zhadan. This was the beginning of their collaboration. In 2008, the band recorded a joint album with Serhiy Zhadan, “Sportyvnyi klub armiyi” (Army Sports Club), which included Zhadan’s recitations of his own poems accompanied by the band’s musicians. Subsequently, the collaboration continued in the form of joint performances (including a tour in 2011 with performances in Kyiv, Poznan, Tübingen, and Prague).

In March 2012, Serhiy Zhadan and Dogs in the Outer Space presented their second album, “Zbroya proletariatu” (Weapons of the Proletariat), recorded in collaboration. In 2014, as a result of Serhiy Zhadan’s close collaboration with Dogs in the Outer Space, the band was renamed Zhadan and the Dogs. With this new name, the band recorded three albums.

As a reminder, Internat by Serhiy Zhadan will be translated into 26 languages.

Main photo (illustrative): Poltavska Khvylya