AWAKENING: The Power of Performance Art in Community Building and Transforming Spaces

Daria Pugachova, Multidisciplinary Artist/Performer/Art Activist

Join the event on YouTube Live on April 8th at 5:30pm with this link:

https://youtube.com/live/jzV3Y6jXHiw?feature=share

Co-hosted by Assistant Professor-in-Residence Catherine Masud, and Digital Media & Design students Isaac Martinez and Ariela Martinez; Event Producer: Musawir Abrar

About the Topic:

How can performance art transform the places we live in and care about while bringing people together? From awakening an abandoned fountain in Ukraine to performing in front of the UN International Court of Justice during the war—Daria will share powerful stories of how performance art fosters hope, healing, and connection in times of crisis.

About the Speaker: 

DARIA PUGACHOVA is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, and art activist from Rivne, Ukraine. In her projects, Daria uses participatory practices to unite a community and integrate art into daily life. She studied architecture at Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture. From 2013 to 2019, she played drums in the female pop trio Panivalkova. Since the band split up, she has delved into the contemporary art field, focusing on performance, film, and socially engaged arts. 

Daria is a finalist of Circa x Dazed Class of 2022 and the winner of the Piccadilly Lights Prize. Her film Microcosmos, depicting life in the Ukrainian neighborhood of Poltava, was showcased at Piccadilly Lights in London, as well as in Seoul, Berlin, and Melbourne. In 2022, she received the State of The Art(ist) prize at the Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria. Over the past two years, she has participated in residencies in Bulgaria, Austria, Norway, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Belgium, and Azerbaijan. Daria’s recent projects are rooted in her experience of war. She explores the themes of freedom and limitation, collaborating with communities to address emotional pain and trauma through voice, body, and ritual. In 2023, she performed Cities of War in front of the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague, while simultaneously the hearing on the recognition of Russia’s genocide crimes in Ukraine took place inside. 

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This event is brought to you by UConn’s Department of Digital Media & Design

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