Peter Doroshenko, Director Of The Ukrainian Museum, to lead SLAP! post-show talkback

On Sunday, February 2, Peter Doroshenko, Director of The Ukrainian Museum, will speak about the legacy of Futurist painter David Burliuk and its place in the current decolonization of Ukrainian culture at East Village Basement, 321 East 9th Street.

The talk is presented in coordination with Yara Arts Group's production of "Slap!"--a comedic cabaret interrogating the life and journey of the famed, outrageous Ukrainian painter--which is playing at that venue January 23 to February 9.  The talk will begin at approximately 3:15 PM at the conclusion of the Feb. 2 performance, which begins at 2:00 PM and runs 70 minutes.

Burliuk was a major contributor to the seminal period of modernism in the early part of the 20th century. He has sometimes been called the father of Russian Futurism to distinguish him and other contemporaries from the proto-fascist Futurism of Italy's Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. This reference has enabled imperialist Russia to claim Burliuk as its own, along with many other non-Russian cultural figures. In his autobiographical essay, "Memoirs of a Futurist," Burliuk  declared “Ukraine has its most faithful son in me. The bones of my ancestors are in Ukraine.” Peter Doroshenko's remarks will examine the place of Burliuk's legacy in Ukrainian decolonization efforts today.

"Slap!" is a musical/poetic look-back at Burliuk, who was not only a painter but also a performance artist. He toured with Vladimir Mayakovsky, both dressing in colorful vests with radishes on the lapel and painted animals on their faces. Their Futurist performances drew packed houses, scandalizing many and winning converts. During the Communist Revolution, Burliuk created Futurist shows and exhibitions in Siberia and afterwards, in Japan. In 1922 he settled New York, living on East Tenth Street--a stone's throw from the East Village Basement at 321 East 9th Street where this cabaret is taking stage stage. 

The cabaret is a devised work that was created in rehearsals by Bob Holman, Susan Hwang, Julian Kytasty and director Virlana Tkacz. It contains 17 original songs and weaves Vaudevillian elements--including poems by Bob Holman and songs by Susan Hwang--into a Futurist canvas with Scythian imagery, dumy (16th century Ukrainian epic songs) performed by Julian Kytasty on the bandura, and projections of some of Burliuk's paintings.

More info on David Burliuk and the production of "Slap!" is available at: http://www.jsnyc.com/season/Yara_Slap.htm. 

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