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Zurich supports Ukrainian artists who have fled. Among them was a young actress.
400,000 francs for ten cultural projects: the city of Zurich awards funds to projects by Ukrainian artists and cultural workers. In doing so, she wants to support artists who fled their home country to Switzerland because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
From the orchestra to theater projects
A total of 21 organizations have applied for a municipal subsidy: from the orchestra to film projects to the theatre. The ten selected projects will receive amounts between CHF 10,000 and CHF 70,000.
One of them will be implemented in the Theater Purpur in Zurich’s Quartier Enge. Right in the middle: Viktoria Mytsyk. The 27-year-old comes from Kyiv and fled to Zurich in the spring.
Legend:
The Ukrainian actress Viktoria Mytsyk (centre) together with Claudia Seeberger, head of the Purpur children’s theater (left) and Melissa Melvin, theater teacher (right).
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The Ukrainian actress came across the Theater Purpur in Zurich – together with other Ukrainian mothers and their children. The children’s theater has been around for over 20 years. It performs plays for and with children, tells stories and is a place for human and cultural encounters.
At first she didn’t speak a word of German
When Viktoria Mytsyk came to Zurich in March, she didn’t understand a single word of German. And she didn’t really speak English either. In the beginning she had to communicate with her hands and feet, a bit like pantomime in the theater.
The actress met the theater teacher Melissa Melvin at the Theaterhaus Purpur. The two young women took a picture book by Carson Ellis as the basis for their first collaboration. The picture book «Wazn Teez» (roughly: What is that?) takes the reader into a realm of insects and into the cycle of growth, flowering and decay. Together, the two tell this story to young children.
The special thing about this picture book is not only the lovingly funny illustrations, but also the fantasy language that the beetles, ants, spiders and other animals speak. In the summer, the two tried out their story format four times – and were initially a little nervous about whether the children would like it. But the children immediately liked the format with the non-existent fantasy language of insects, says Melissa Melvin. They would have participated right from the start.
Legend:
The children follow the explanations and presentations with great interest.
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Not only did the children like it, Viktoria Mytsyk also enjoys it, although the language is still a hurdle at the moment. It is like becoming a child again when you tell a story in this way. And when she can talk and play, she never feels uncomfortable, says the actress.
Subsidy for the further development of the project
The city has promised 10,000 francs for this cooperation. The project at the Theaterhaus Purpur is now to be further developed with the money: the Ukrainian actress and the Zurich theater teacher can continue to work in tandem and bring other picture books to life through acting.
At the same time, the offer is to be further expanded and offer other cultural workers from Ukraine a low-threshold opportunity to practice their profession and to network with the local cultural landscape.