Bouquet Kyiv Stage 2026. “Armed Beauty”
The ninth edition of Bouquet Kyiv Stage has come to a close — and the fifth we have held during the full-scale war.
Four days and more than 50 events across the grounds of St. Sophia of Kyiv: music, exhibitions, cinema, theatre, Conversations under the Ash Tree, and programmes for young people and children. Renowned names and young performers, Ukrainian artists and guests from different countries, premieres and music that had waited almost a century to be heard again.
The theme of Bouquet Kyiv Stage 2026 — “Armed Beauty” — was about beauty as a force that helps us remain ourselves, preserve what is ours, and create the future even in wartime. Because we are armed with beauty.
One of the festival’s central events was “The Triumph of the Bouquet,” dedicated to Oleksandr Dubovyk’s 95th birthday. The multimedia exhibition, presented across three halls of the Khlibnia, offered an immersive journey into the Maestro’s artistic and philosophical world — a universe of images, symbols, ideas and meanings, where painting interacted with music and multimedia.
The music of these four days was remarkably diverse — from classical and contemporary academic music to ethno and jazz. The international presence was particularly meaningful: Polish pianist Radosław Sobczak; Israel’s Yogev Shetrit Trio in collaboration with Ukrainian jazz singer Yuliia Roma; German multi-instrumentalist Sebastian Studnitzky; Norwegian jazz star Bendik Hofseth in the Hofseth & Zakus project; and Georgian conductor and composer Nikoloz Rachveli.
Alongside them were Alla Zagaykevych’s opera “Brother Li Bo… Friend Du Fu…” (Journey to the Great River), Mariia Kvitka, the Telniuk Sisters, the Lik Domer Chamber Orchestra, the Kyiv Chamber Choir conducted by Mykola Hobdych, and young musicians performing on the KONTENTA stage. There was also a warm evening in memory of Nazgul Shukayeva, bringing together her friends and admirers. That evening, Nazgul was with us once again.
Another important thread was music that had waited to return. Valerii Poliovyi, Kostiantyn Shypovych, Borys Yanovskyi — and the Liberated Music of Ukraine project, bringing back into live performance the names and works that had remained outside our cultural space for decades.
This year, Bouquet Kyiv Stage gave significant space to young performers and new voices. And that matters: culture lives not only through what we preserve, but also through what is being born right now.
The visual arts programme explored people, time and memory. The first retrospective of Yuliia Lazarevska, “Time of Emergence,” and the photographic exhibition in memory of Oleh Pavliuchenkov, “A Life in Art, Cinema and Philosophy,” brought together very different artistic worlds within the shared space of St. Sophia.
And, of course, there were Public Talks under the Ash Tree — one of Bouquet Kyiv Stage’s important traditions — as well as panel discussions.
The conversations explored protection, testimony, renewal, encounter, the word, responsibility and love, as well as 35 years of Ukrainian Independence and the country’s future. Among the participants were Andrey Kurkov, Peter Pomerantsev, Pavlo Sheremeta, Vadym Prystaiko, Kira Rudik, Oleksandr Filonenko, Oleh Shamshur, Oles Shevchenko, Peter Dickinson, Roman Havrysh, Shelby Wilder and others.
Kinobouquet remained an important part of Bouquet Kyiv Stage. The films spoke about culture in wartime, human strength and the journey back to life. Culture vs War, Capable, and the preview screening of Culture vs War. Veterans’ Theatre — important projects by the Watch Ukrainian! Association — brought us real stories of people who defended, and continue to defend, our right to life, freedom and culture.
There were children’s tours of St. Sophia, workshops and street mask theatre — a small Bouquet Kyiv Stage within the larger festival. And this, too, is an important part of the answer to the question of why we do all this.
And the festival ended exactly as Bouquet Kyiv Stage should — with a grand Bouquet.
The final concert, “Bouquet! Bouquet!! Bouquet!!!”, featured music from iconic films and melodies of European cinema, performed by the National Ensemble of Soloists Kyiv Camerata under the baton of Nikoloz Rachveli. The evening’s special guest was Nino Katamadze.
And above it all — Oranta. Four days of the festival, more than 50 events — and not a single air-raid alert during them.
Oranta protects us.
As Bouquet Kyiv Stage co-founder Eugene Utkin said: “There is more to come.”