A rapper performed Ukrainian lyrics to lively beats as crowds danced in a former mint in Berlin, bathed in the pulsing light of strobe lights on Saturday.
In other parts of the complex, revelers looked at painted bullet-proof vests hanging from the ceiling and lined up for plates of Ukrainian dumplings and borsch served by women with blue and yellow ribbons weaved into their hair.
The "Art Weapon" event – which opened at Berlin's sprawling Alte Muenze complex on Saturday – also featured a live painting by Ukrainian artists, a Ukrainian-language theatrical performance and the chance to sit for a Ukrainian tattoo artist.
Running nonstop until Sunday morning, the marathon event sold more than 1,000 tickets two hours after opening, its organizers said. Its aim is to show that contemporary Ukrainian culture has flourished since the start of the war.
"The war boosted our artists, and they are now super-passionate about what they are doing and understand their mission," said Kyiv-based organizer Harry Pledov.
Pledov organized several festivals in Ukraine before the war and has held two such events since Russia launched what it calls its "special military operation." But curfews and blackouts in Ukraine made it increasingly difficult to continue.
He decided to apply for funding through a German organization supporting cultural initiatives, allowing him to organize "Art Weapon" in Berlin.
In one room at the Alte Muenze, artist Vitalii Shupliak explained the meaning behind a work comprising two prints showing buttered bread with nails poking through the surface. The images are mounted on separate stacks of cages.
Reading "Famine comes with the sole of a Russian soldier," the work represents both the impoverishment of Ukraine and the detached soles of Soviet-era military boots, Shupliak said.
"The invasion has changed art in Ukraine," he added. "It has forced us to reflect on our identities."
