ARTery opened its first road last week at the 34th edition of ILMC – International Live Music Conference in London, UK. The first of many more to come. 

Featured both in the Open Forum as well as in a panel dedicated to the war in Ukraine, our colleagues Codruta Vulcu and Alona Dmukhovska spoke the difficult words about the war in Ukraine. As nobody in the audience imagined, the most difficult thing to say about this war was not asking people and media to stop the nuancing of deaths. That came naturally; it’s a position endorsed by anybody with eyes to see and ears to listen. The most difficult was the call to pick ourselves up from the numbness and start doing what’s right for the now millions of displaced professionals in Ukraine. 

If the mainstream media partially managed to get people used to the word conflict, to describe what’s going on between Ukraine’s borders, the conversation about picking oneself up and trying to live honorably in freedom took a stunningly big toll on everyone’s hearts. Colleagues from Music Export Ukraine sent everyone at ILMC a piece of their heart, and showed the state of the live music industry in Ukraine in the best, most direct way –  by turning up the voices of artists who are now soldiers. We would like to share this video with you and before we do, take a moment to thank Anastasia Vaganova, who also works tirelessly with us and a number of other initiatives, for putting together this exceptionally moving material.

Songs have become a much needed collection of balms and memories since times were easier. The voices of singers now protect comrades and civilians from shell fire. The rhythm of life has been changed to that of marching steps. 

And what can we do? 

For starters, we can welcome our Ukrainian colleagues and #keeptheroadsopen. 

Have a peaceful week!