Marko Halanevych: ‘My Art Is About Helping My Country Survive and Endure’

On Nov. 15, DakhaBrakha will launch a major European tour. For the Ukrainian band, it is not only an opportunity to meet international audiences but also a chance to continue telling the world about Ukraine and its struggle, while raising support for the country’s Defense Forces. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Kyiv Post recently interviewed Marko Halanevych, the Ukrainian musician, actor, and DakhaBrakha frontman and vocalist, ahead of the band’s Ukrainian tour. This time, we introduce another side of his creative life: Halanevych as a visual artist whose graphic works and paintings have become part of his personal contribution to supporting Ukraine’s military. Nearly 400 works are now part of his #DakhaBrakhaArt project. After the band’s concerts, his paintings are offered at charity auctions, with the proceeds going to support Ukraine’s Defense Forces. His visual language also extends beyond painting and graphic art. Halanevych’s drawings were animated for a project addressing the search for Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. An empty cradle became the central symbol – a metaphor for loss and a reminder to the world of the tragedy of these abductions. Hanka Tretiak, a director, artist, curator, gallerist, and civic activist who worked with Halanevych’s visual material, describes him as a multidisciplinary artist: Other Topics of Interest Senators demand SpaceX records as top House Democrats warn that satellite restrictions cost Ukrainian lives and strengthen Putin’s negotiating position. “Marko is able to see profound meanings and has a remarkable sense of composition. This applies to his photography, painting, and graphic art. There is light in his work, in both the broad and symbolic sense. It is an energy that viewers can feel. That is what distinguishes art amid the overwhelming flow of visual information people produce. “When we created the music video for the song ‘Dytiatochko’ against the backdrop of ‘Black Cloud,’ which was later presented at Burning Man, Marko’s works became the foundation of the video’s visual language and were animated for the clip. Each of his works already contained a profound story told by the artist. Our task was simply to bring his world to life.” Ahead of the European tour, Kyiv Post spoke with Halanevych about the beginnings of his artistic journey, what inspires his work, how childhood memories and Ukrainian landscapes shape his art, and why every painting sold is, first and foremost, a contribution to Ukraine’s struggle. Painting by Marko Halanevych. (Photo courtesy of Marko Halanevych) Kyiv Post: You are a musician, actor, designer, and now an artist whose works are sold at charity auctions. How did your story with drawing begin? Marko Halanevych: Everyone draws, especially as a child. I was no exception. I used to draw a lot. My mother says I would come home from kindergarten, go into my room, and draw until bedtime. It was far from academic drawing, though. Mostly, it was “battle scenes”: Native Americans, medieval knights, Cossacks, and “our side” fighting the Nazis. Drawing as a school subject was very boring and uninteresting to me. I would draw during other lessons and even during university lectures. Later, I worked in publishing in my professional field and became acquainted with graphic design. I subsequently improved my skills in graphic software during a course taught by the outstanding Ukrainian artist and graphic designer Andrii Levytskyi. Although the course was not particularly long, it taught me a great deal about composition and color. In 2004, DakhaBrakha was formed, and I began creating almost all the visual content for the band. I also started designing for most of the projects at the Dakh Center for Contemporary Arts and, later, for GogolFest. But the idea of painting came to me only three years ago, and it had an entirely practical purpose: I wanted to have interesting lots for charity auctions and raise money for Ukraine’s Defense Forces. Painting by Marko Halanevych. (Photo courtesy of Marko Halanevych) The #DakhaBrakhaArt project already includes nearly 400 works. That is an impressive number. What prompts you to start a new drawing? At first, I did not document or photograph these works because I never imagined that this “project” would continue for so long. But it has now become a substantial series, and I have started treating it with greater respect myself. The main motivation for creating a new work is knowing that it produces a very tangible result: money that helps save the lives of our defenders and makes life harder for the occupiers. As for the artistic impulse, it usually comes from looking at the work of a great many artists from around the world. I often borrow from and draw inspiration from their styles, subjects, and compositions. You grew up in central Ukraine. To what extent have the places of your childhood – their landscapes, colors, people, and atmosphere – shaped your artistic vision? I was born in the Vinnytsia region, but I attended middle and high school while living in the steppes of the Kherson region. The natural landscapes of these two regions are quite different, and both experiences have certainly influenced my understanding and visual perception of nature in drawing. Recently, archival photographs of the Oleshky Sands, taken during GogolFest in 2021, inspired you. You described that event as powerful and almost cosmic. How has your perception of that landscape changed since the occupation of southern Ukraine and the stories of people forced to leave their homes? Painting by Marko Halanevych. (Photo courtesy of Marko Halanevych) This is a rather personal story for me. My family and I often drove through the Oleshky Sands on our way toward Henichesk. The place fascinated us and amazed us with its unusual character, sometimes even its mysticism. The GogolFest event itself, held six months before the full-scale invasion, remains a vivid memory, although now a rather sad one. I do not think that before or since then this area has seen such a bold artistic engagement with the landscape of Europe’s largest sand massif as part of a multilayered audiovisual performance. Once again, I want to pay tribute to our director, Vlad Troitskyi, who knows how to work with different environments and spaces. But now, when Ukrainians from Oleshky are forced to leave their homes, these memories are truly painful and bitter. The genocide continues, and we must find the strength within ourselves to resist it and ultimately defeat absolute evil. How do you find time to paint while on tour? And do you notice music and painting influencing one another – for example, do visual images give rise to musical ideas, or does music inspire your paintings? It is difficult to paint while traveling, but if I have some time before a concert at a hotel, I can manage it. After all, I create most of my paintings at home, between tours. Sometimes, though, I have to paint a couple more works toward the end of a tour. There was one occasion when we arrived in an American city on a Sunday. I realized I had run out of paintings, and the auction needed to be a good one because it was a fairly large city. So I had to find a canvas. It was Sunday, and all the stores were closed. But a Ukrainian woman offered to help. She contacted a local artist she knew and asked him to sell me a canvas. The artist was very surprised: “This musician wants to paint a picture two hours before a concert and then sell it immediately after the show at an auction? Well, let’s see…” Apparently, he had never encountered the determination of Ukrainians, especially when it comes to helping our defenders. In the end, I managed to raise $1,500 for that painting. Painting by Marko Halanevych. (Photo courtesy of Marko Halanevych) You spend a great deal of time touring, but you also have your family life – your wife and daughters. What rituals help you stay connected when you are apart? You and your wife are both artists and have long been accustomed to spending time away from each other. What know-how could you share with other families separated by the war? How do you inspire one another? Marko Halanevych with his family. (Photo courtesy of Marko Halanevych) Unfortunately, the war has forced many Ukrainian families to experience life apart. Some learn to adapt, while for others such trials become critical. I do not have any particular secrets. I simply love my family very much, whether we are together or far apart. My wife and I are fortunate that our parents are always there for our children. That is an enormous help; without them, everything would be much more difficult for us. I am always grateful to them for that. Returning to your art. After DakhaBrakha concerts, your paintings are offered at charity auctions, with the proceeds going to support Ukraine’s Defense Forces. Has your understanding of artistic work changed now that it has also become a way to help your country? What do you feel when one of your works finds a new owner and, at the same time, becomes part of an important collective effort? My art is, first and foremost, about helping my country survive and endure. And I am very happy with the financial results of my work. I sometimes laugh at myself because I am an artist who has painted and sold hundreds of paintings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet I have not earned a single penny from it. Of course, I dream of the day when our country will no longer need this kind of help. I would finally stop painting for DakhaBrakha. Perhaps I would stop painting altogether and return to woodworking, which I put aside during the full-scale war. Painting by Marko Halanevych. (Photo courtesy of Marko Halanevych) After all, my wife has selected some of my works for her own collection – “not for sale,” she says. She believes there will be an exhibition one day. A new European tour is just around the corner. What state of mind are you setting off with? We are always excited by the prospect of new encounters, new discoveries, and conversations about our country and our war. As always, we want to be useful. We want to be heard, and we want Europeans to feel solidarity with and support for Ukraine. Ultimately, we dream of Ukraine having as many friends as possible around the world. And, of course, we plan to hold charity auctions in support of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.