As a project, Kontenta dates back to 28-29 January 2024 when the first audiovisual studio was installed in the Chernihiv Regional Youth Center. Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO decided to talk to 19-year-old Dasha Skaliun, a youth worker who has been handling projects at Kontenta in Chernihiv since its opening—and find out how the adolescents use the studio for their creative tasks.
— Hi Dasha! Please tell us more about your decision to do youth work.
— Hello! My story as a youth worker began when I was bored sitting at home during blackouts and online learning, so I was looking for any opportunity to not be stuck at home anymore. So once I saw a poster on the page of the Regional Youth Center about an internship opening, I submitted my application. I got in. It’s been almost a year since I’ve been constantly learning something new, getting to meet cool people, taking part in incredible projects, and also creating projects of my own!
— You make music, right? Tell us a few words about the kind of music you create and the instruments you play.
— I have been making music since I was 12 years old. At the age of 12, I first went to sing at the Children’s Art Studio of the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble “Siverski Kleinody”, and then, at the age of 13, I started playing guitar. After that, I’ve been learning how to play the cajon, kalimba, and steel tongue drum.
Until 2021, my friends and I made covers of whatever we liked. In the summer of 2023, we organized another band, where we played heavy metal mixed with folk motifs, but it did not work out either because half of the band members left to study in other cities. Now my friends and I are working on creating a new indie band and we’re already thinking about new songs.
In addition to all this, I regularly organize musical and literary evenings called “Veresaiky” at the youth center, where anyone willing can come and showcase their talent, or simply enjoy art as a spectator. I also perform at these events myself.
— Talking about Kontenta, how did you find out that it would become a part of your youth center? How did that make you feel?
— Since I’m a youth worker there, I found everything out directly from the management. I remembered the Spilno Camp that the Cultural Platform held in the fall, so when I found out that an audiovisual mobile recording studio was coming to us, I thought that it must be something really cool! I was happy that we’d have a nice standard set of audiovisual equipment in the youth center for all the learning and creating of our own cultural products.
— What opportunities did Kontenta give to your community? What’s been happening at the studio in Chernihiv since it opened?
— Already on the first day after the opening, my friends and I were sitting at Kontenta until 8 in the evening and figuring out how it all works and which wires go where. From that moment on, the work never stopped! Students came to guided tours of Kontenta and learned to make recordings together; many come to do individual studio work. We have workshops, too.
It’s also a great opportunity for people who don’t understand it at all—to just come and sit down to learn. To prepare for “Veresaiky”, I, just like all other youth workers, learned how to use everything and connect the setup correctly. So we conduct “Veresaiky” events much better now thanks to all the equipment. I personally also play around with the MIDI keyboard making different sounds because I want to come up with a way to use it somehow.
— Maybe there are some interesting stories related to Kontenta that you would like to share? Is there anything important that we forgot to ask about?
— I would just like to add that this is a very cool thing and a very cool opportunity because Kontenta inspired me to put my thinking cap on and come up with something of my own, and not just play song covers. Maybe I’m not ready to reveal it to the world yet, but at least I can try to make my own music freely now.
The Kontenta project is implemented by the Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine. In 2024, we plan to install 20 Kontenta studios in different communities across Ukraine. The community selection process is still ongoing.
Photo Margo Kornienko
Anastasiya Mishustina
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