As thousands of people attended Adelaide’s WOMAD festival, an international celebration of music and art, over the weekend, one small café tucked under the fig trees in Botanic Park offered visitors a space to paint, sing and hope.
While three musicians sang of tragedy and strength, customers decorated the café’s chairs and tables with bright colours, traditional Ukrainian designs and symbols of hope.
The Kobza Café was set up by the to share music, culture and food, and raise money for the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
The singers are displaced Ukrainians who fled their homeland in the past two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Those in the café are some of the 400 displaced Ukrainians now living in Adelaide, many of whom are on three-year humanitarian visas.
With only a year remaining before their temporary status expires and no permanent residency option announced, many are feeling anxious.
They say painting the chairs in bright colours and national symbols lifts their spirits and connects them to their homeland.
“We make a lot of preparations for this event,” one of the organisers Nataliia*, who lost her son during the war in Ukraine, told SBS News.
“All these decorations, and Ukrainian music, and all this nice Ukrainian painting. We share our culture, we share our love and raise money for Ukraine to end this .”
‘We have a lot of pain’
Dakha Brakha, a Ukrainian band headlining the festival, provides the music. Last year, Dakha Brakha performed in over 90 international concerts and, like the café, the band aims to bring Ukrainian culture to the world.
“Our music and our mission is very important for us and for our country,” band member Marco Halanevitch told SBS News.
“We hope we make a very important thing because we have an opportunity to speak with people and speak with our music.”
Marco says the band uses music as a medium to show gratitude and express pain.
“We are not just musicians, we are Ukrainian and we have a lot of pain about our country because Ukraine became a victim of Russian aggression.
“We try to say thank you so much, a lot of people support Ukraine and from time to time we try to remind [people] about this problem because it’s a very very big problem for the whole world.”
A history ‘full of fighting’
Kobza Café is the culmination of an art therapy project for Ukrainians displaced by the war.
Earlier, at an art therapy class at the Association of Ukrainians visited by SBS News, Nataliia painted her chair with a Ukrainian Kaleenah berry bush.
The Kaleenah berry, a traditional symbol of bloodshed in the fight for independence, has personal significance to Nataliia.
“The history of Ukraine is full of fighting and many Ukrainians die defending our independence, like in this recent terrible war, so many soldiers die.
“Even my son was killed one year ago so this is very important for us. From one side it is sad, but from the other side it is very warm to our hearts.”
The Kaleenah berry bush is a traditional symbol in Ukraine. Source: Supplied
Near the Ukrainian Association, Doss* from Coffee in Common uses his roaster to teach young people employable skills.
“The hope is that once they finish here they can then go out in the hospitality world in Australia and grab a job,” he said.
Nataliia says the music and the gatherings offer the Ukrainian community huge solace.
“It connects us with Ukraine, with our situation. We have fun and we have tears at the same time.”
Dakha Brakha performs at WOMAD on Sunday night and in Melbourne on Monday.
* Surnames withheld.
