AN ARTIST BECOMES A VOLUNTEER AND WARRIOR IN WAR SETTINGS (Review of the book “An Artist’s Life. History Pages” by A. Demchuk, Kyiv, Milenium, 2025. 240 p.)

Abstract

The book “An Artist’s Life. History Pages” by A. Demchuk, contains a wide range of theoretical ideas and concepts able to prove useful to experts in art studies, Ukrainian studies, cultural research, and art education philosophy for comprehension of their topics.
These include, in particular, insights into the variety genre evolution history over forty years, memories of meetings with and activities of a great number of well-known Ukrainian variety artists and cultural figures. The review focuses on reinterpretation of the role and tasks of arts and artistic activities amid the Russian-Ukrainian war. This is especially true of such an artistic activity type as humour. The review analyzes acquisition of new accents by this phenomenon, and deepening of the content of its seemingly usual forms.
The review explores also focus changes in the artistic community members’ performance activities amid the large-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. Artists in their overwhelming majority are becoming volunteers and warriors. In this regard, the review analyzes such an area of changes in artistic activities as emergence of artistic fronts – a new generation of artistic non-governmental associations in war-time settings. These changes are exemplified by the established artistic non-governmental organizations “Mystetskyi Front” and “Mystetska Sich”. The specific focus of their activities includes wide-scale engagement of the media resource and digital platforms in popularization of the Ukrainian patriotic songs, declamation, and authentic humour among the people of Ukraine and the neighbouring countries to which Ukrainian migrants moved. Concert venues frequently turn into tribunes for advocating the interests of Ukraine and Ukrainian culture. In conceptual terms, these artistic non-governmental organizations work actively in cultural diplomacy in addition to fundraising. Besides, the artistic non-governmental organizations “Mystetskyi Front” and “Mystetska Sich” conduct a number of activities returns from which are spent on procurement of accoutrements for soldiers and food products for the front. In particular, these artistic organizations have carried out about 100 charity events since their foundation in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Work areas, forms, and methods of these artistic non-governmental organizations and their specific achievements are covered.