ARTISTS AT RISK, IN RESPONSE TO THE WAR IN UKRAINE

Horrified at the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we wanted to help artists whose lives the war disrupted and overturned. Internet searches (with immediate and effective outreach published at resartis.org) guided us to Artists at Risk which helps displaced artists in need. Through their assistance, we provided a residency to the dancer/choreographer Dasha Sedova who had fled to Tblisi from Moscow during the first week of the war. Dasha came to Sacatar with an interest in Brazilian capoeira and trance dance as witnessed in Brazilian candomblé.

While I was in my last weeks in Sacatar, Russia announced a military mobilization, and it shocked me – not only because all of my brothers and male friends were in danger but there were direct nuclear menaces from the Russian president, and it felt extremely real and frightening. At the same time, while people were massively leaving the country (and yes, most of my cousins, relatives, and friends managed to escape) there were manykilometer queues at the on-land borders, particularly, at the Russian- Georgian border. Although Georgia was very generous to accept the majority of Russians, there were some refusals. Simultaneously, in Tbilisi my friends contemplated another crisis with housing, traffic, and overpopulation... the prices in Tblisi got crazy. All this felt very confusing and disorienting, and being in Brasil, I had no idea how to proceed – whether to stay longer in South America, or go to Europe and ask for asylum there, or come back to Georgia. In the Chapada Diamantina (ed: the beautiful mountain range five hours inland from Sacatar), I had a clear vision that I had to return to Georgia …

Since I returned, I have been working on organizing a festival – with a focus on dance and communities as a form of resistance, and exploring grass-roots self-organization as a resilient political structure. I now realize, that the concept of COLLECTIV_A (https:// www.instagram.com/p/CkgCnCtKVho/) was the fruit of my residency at Sacatar, strongly influenced by my involvement with the communities in Bahia – those of capoeira groups and Candomble houses. I had been observing how culture preserves itself through people coming together, transmitting the hidden ancestral knowledge and consistency of collective practices. In early December, I am bringing dancers from Brazil and Argentina to Tbilisi, along with my capoeira professor from Moscow and traditional Georgian dancers. I’m convinced it is going to be a very important event for us to self-reflect and start a dialogue with the Georgian dance scene here… My time in Sacatar indeed was an important period for reflection and insights -- not particularly peaceful, but deeply meaningful -- and I will always stay grateful to Sacatar for granting me this opportunity in one of the most troubled periods of my life.

Dasha Sedova (Dance / Russia > Georgia)

In partnership with Artists at Risk