In recent days, the second stage of a massive international tour of the project «Culture VS War» featuring ANTYTILA took place in the USA. The project «Culture VS War» is a series of documentary stories demonstrating the truth about the war in Ukraine via stories of famous artists and performers having joined the AFU as well as workers in culture leading active voluntary work. The tour «Culture vs war. Antytila» around the USA has been organized by the ANTYTILA band partnering with the Revived Soldiers Ukraine Foundation and United Help Ukraine, on the initiative and comprehensive assistance of the Association «Watch Ukrainian!», supported by the «МХП-Громаді» Charity Foundation , with the support of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Main Department of Communication of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The first stage of the project has been successfully realized in Great Britain.
In Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington open informal meetings of the band with American and Ukrainian communities took place. The key point at each event was screening of the documentary «Culture VS War» and a long sincere talk of the musicians with guests after watching the film. Documentary footage of the first months of full-scale invasion, honest emotions, and personal stories of the musicians of the band – soldiers Taras Topolia, Serhii Vusyk, and Dmytro Zholud about frontline work as paramedics had a really strong impression on the audience. And the opportunity to communicate live with the musicians, sing favorite hits together, raise tough and important topics, ask any possible questions, address for advice or just express their opinion and be heard gave each event its specific meaning.
The guests of the events raised the topics of supporting Ukraine themselves echoing the band members’ calls to resort to decisive action: to lobby for the tough topic of hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war, economic barriers, and permanents slowness of the American government in making decisions. ANTYTILA have called Ukrainian and American communities to affect the changes in economic and political aspect which are to bring oxygen to powerful military operations in fighting the enemy.
Another ANTYTILA’s important objective of the American tour supporting the project «Culture VS War» was taking part in closed events together with representatives of the government, politicians, diplomats, business owners, patrons, public figures, and workers of culture. Thus, private meetings of honorary consuls and ambassadors of European countries with the band members have been held by the Philadelphia City Hall. And the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York has organized a closed meeting of the musicians with the General Consul and representative of Czechia in the UN in the Bohemian National Hall. The Harvard University has invited ANTYTILA to talk to science and creative intellectuals on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Ukrainian Science Institute. And the Washington Capitol has eagerly opened its doors within «Ukraine Action Summit» to make it possible that the band talked to senators as well as members of defense, financial, and state budget committees.
‘In general, we’ve given more than ten open and closed events. We met the vice-mayor of Boston, two American senators, consuls, and ambassadors of many key European partner-countries of Ukraine. We talked about the importance of going on supporting Ukraine, expanding the amounts and speeding it up right now and not somehow later. At each event we reminded about Ukrainian prisoners of war waiting for their returning home, about kidnapped Ukrainian children, about the importance of supporting Ukrainian economy, about the rightness of prohibition of ROC in Ukraine, and about other important topics for Ukraine’, gives his comment the band leader Taras Topolia.
Apart from informational and cultural objective of the American tour as part of the project «Culture VS War» there was also a charity one – to raise funds for the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. ₴10 000 000 is the total result of fundraisers ANTYTILA are coming back home with to hand it over for the needs of special units of Ukrainian intelligence working in the Crimean sector. 600 kilos of unique battle trophies have been brought to another continent by the ANTYTILA Charity Foundation as auction lots to be raffled among Ukrainian and American guests of the events. For the first time in the USA, a unique war artifact – a reconnaissance drone «Orlan-10» that used to be actively used by the enemy for monitoring and adjustment of artillery and remained safe and sound – was sold at the auction. In Chicago, this eloquent evidence of Ukrainian soldiers’ skill was sold for $15 000!
After completing the American tour, ANTYTILA have set off to a big concert tour around towns and cities of Ukraine going on accumulating funds for the needs of the Defense Intelligence
