American producer David Junk has launched the podcast 'Art During Wartime' about Ukrainian culture during the war.
The first guests of the podcast were art curator Katya Taylor, opera singer Volodymyr Shchuk, photographer Serhiy Melnychenko, actor from the film 'Dovbush' Luzer Tversky, founder of the Leontovych Institute Tina Peresunko, as well as film producer Daniel Bilak.
Producer David Junk held the position of President of Universal Music East Europe, worked with albums by Elton John, Sting, Metallica, U2, and also launched the Universal Music branch in Ukraine. Currently, Jank manages the Bang & Olufsen store network in the USA.
"In the summer of 2022, I visited Borodyanka and Bucha, which divided my life into before and after. I am impressed by the bravery and heroism of this nation. But I also understand that in the imagination of the American audience, the image of Ukraine is somewhat stereotypical. Not everyone in America knows that Ukrainians are a very talented, progressive nation that achieves great success in the arts. It is even more impressive when you realize that Ukrainian art is experiencing a renaissance right now, during the war. I decided to delve deeper into this phenomenon and tell my fellow countrymen about it," says Junk.
In the first season of Art During Wartime, we plan to expand the range of topics and characters. The podcast producer, Olya Dibrova (Ready in Led), mentioned that episodes with Otoy, Anton Timoshenko, and Tumazar have already been filmed. 'There is still a lot of work ahead in promoting the podcast in the USA and Ukraine. I think we managed to find the right perspective and balanced tone for the podcast. Americans write that this is exactly what they need to understand Ukraine – the personal experiences of interesting individuals,' says Dibrova.
