St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kyiv
Nothing has remained unchanged in Kyiv during the last thousand years. Except for one thing – St. Sophia's Cathedral still rises high in the city's center and attracts people.
Back in the year one thousand and eleven, one of the most prominent rulers of Kyivan Rus, Volodymyr the Great, initiated the cathedral's construction. The best builders of the epoch, the Byzantines, were invited to erect the main church of the then-powerful state. Thus, one of the largest structures of its time appeared: the cathedral's width is 55 m, its length 42 m, and its height 29 m. It is made from whole blocks of granite and quartzite with rows separated by ancient flat bricks.
Inside, there are 3,000 sq. meters of frescoes and 260 sq. meters of mosaics, many of which are a thousand years old, and their color palette would impress even modern designers. There are 34 different shades of the color green alone. The Oranta mosaic is deemed the pinnacle of craftsmanship. It seems that this majestic image of the Virgin Mary watches all visitors, no matter their location in the cathedral. Apart from the “official” images, there are more than 7,000 examples of graffiti on the cathedral walls, which although prohibited, were made by both princes and ordinary laymen. Nowadays, these are unique artifacts of a long-gone epoch. However, they are in danger.
St. Sophia Cathedral has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List for many years. In 2023, the organization included the church in the list of endangered monuments. “This is a reminder to the 195 member states of the Convention of their obligation to monitor and contribute to the protection of these objects,” stated UNESCO. After all, this war has not only been destroying the present and the future of Ukraine, but also the unique relics of world civilization.
Oleh Shpudeiko
Oleh Shpudeiko is a music composer and sound artist who records as Heinali. He possesses a stylistically diverse back catalogue. However, his core practice reimagines Early music with a modular synthesiser, exploring intersections of the Providence and Contingency, the past and the present, technology and the sacred. Oleh writes music for games, films, choreography performances, creates sound art installations and performs live shows. Amongst his works is award-winning music for the video game BOUND by Plastic/Sony Santa Monica, the 2020 album MADRIGALS shortlisted for the Shevchenko National Prize, and compositions and sound art installations commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), The National Art Museum of Ukraine (NAMU) and The Museum of Odesa Modern Art (MSIO).
Heinali's latest album KYIV ETERNAL, released in 2023, is an intimate tribute to his home city under attack and a side-step from his established practice of reimagining early music. It features pre-war field recordings of Kyiv juxtaposed with ambient 'memory loops' from Oleh's archives described by The New York Times as 'a ravishing audioscape of the Ukrainian capital' and 'a citywide portrait of beautiful resolution'.