Art Space Research Articles

Audio Visual Based Scenario of Kondobuleng Performances as A Learning Formula for Actors and Potential of Performing Art Tourism

This research is a form ofstrategy to preserve Kondobulengtheater through the process of transforming print-based scenarios into audio-visual-based digital scenario. The urgency of this research is due to the lack of regeneration of actors in the Kondobuleng theater which has become oneof the causes of the dimness of the Kondobuleng theater group which then has an impact on the Nusantara art tourism sector. In addition, the actors are known to be in a phase that is quite difficult to transfer knowledge of Kondobuleng performances, especially on scenario. Therefore, this research provides a solution by creating a supporting media to facilitate the process of transmitting knowledge related to Kondobuleng theater performances. The method used is the documentation through cinematography technique. These efforts produce new media so as to produce academic novelty in the form of product in the form of audio-visual-based digital scenariosin Kondobuleng theater, especially in the world ofperforming arts. This new media can be used as a medium for learning and actor training in understanding plot, dialog, texture, mimicry, and artistic sets in a performance. To measure the effectiveness of the output product, a survey was conducted from the product trial using the action research (AR) method and structured interviews to several theater actors to avoid subjectivity in the assessment of theproduct findings. On the other hand, this research is usefulas a solution to the threat of regeneration crisis in the Kondobuleng theatre as well as creating artistic spaces thathave the potential to impact on the tourism industry sector of the performing arts world.

First draft·ings

This practice-based essay explores the nuances of intimacy through the coming together of bodies – their gestures, languages and sensorial occupation within a (physical) space of sharing, socializing and reflecting in a pandemic and post-pandemic world. The initiative stems from first draft – a collaborative project that began in 2018 as an alternative art space initiated by a group of artist-friends. The process behind ‘drafts’ becomes essential in creating a playful space to invite a flux of dialogues, mistakes, accidents, revisions, incidents and receptivity among others, challenging the conventions of producing and displaying ‘artworks’/exhibition-making. The initiative has now evolved into a space of gatherings, called first draft·ings, where we meet in small groups at a residential/non-commercial space in New Delhi, India. These gatherings have provided a niche for people from varied fields to connect through conversations, involving performers, researchers, sound/visual-designers, engineers/makers, educators and others. It offers a space to come together, share, eat, drink, chat, play, rest, recuperate and perhaps create (/not) around a pre-decided collective prompt. How can we reimagine/question/provoke new forms of art making and its dissemination through these acts of coming together? The essay takes a closer look at these ongoing ‘slow’ gatherings whereby we do not necessarily create, yet reflect over the conversations that sprout into more connections, extensions, and leave/take forward its residues. In the essay, we follow a non-linear approach by revisiting the sessions through narrative writing, and oscillating between the expository two-folds of the binaries. We explore the methodologies of first draft·ings and touch upon the questions of intimacy through transmission as a performative strategy. We attempt to explore the methods and vocabularies of a gathering by responding to the specific prompts through actions of – storytelling, compassionate listening, walking, watching films, playing games, gifting, laughing and more. We propose to traverse the peripheral nature of gatherings through proximity, collaboration, improvisation, slowness, rest, thus partaking in the intimate act(s) of transmission.

THE IMAGE OF THE CASTLE IN THE NOVELS OF H. WALPOLE «THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO» AND C. REEVE «THE OLD ENGLISH BARON»

The image of the castle is described in the novels of H. Walpole “The Castle of Otranto” (1764) and С. Reeve “The Old English Baron” (1777). It is explained that the castle is the central concept of English Gothic literature, while performing a plot-forming role. The general and special features of the spatial structure of the Gothic castle in the works of the founders of the Gothic novel are highlighted. It is proved that the artistic space of the castle in the Gothic work is characterized by a multi-composite image.

Bernice

In 1919 the Provincetown Players debuted Susan Glaspell’s first full-length play, Bernice. Over 100 years later, Genoveva Productions, a small Manhattan-based production company, revived the play as part of their 2021–22 season. It is heartening to see this rarity revived.Readers of Jeff Kennedy’s website provincetownplayers.com will be familiar with Bernice’s plot and setting. To paraphrase: the play is set in the living room of the home belonging to Bernice and her father and takes place over twenty-four hours, beginning in the late afternoon of an October day. Bernice—an absent main character in the manner of Mrs. Wright in Trifles—has died. At rise, Bernice’s father, Mr. Allen, and the maid, Abbie, both of whom had lived with Bernice, await the arrival of Bernice’s husband Craig, her best friend Margaret, and her sister-in-law Laura. This group will plan the funeral. Abbie declares that Bernice has killed herself, and we learn that Craig has been having an affair, which Craig assumes accounts for her alleged suicide. As the play progresses, however, we come to understand that Bernice has died of a sudden illness. Craig remains ignorant of this fact and continues to believe that she died because of her love for him. The second and third acts find the characters figuring out whether or not to tell Craig the truth about Bernice’s death. In the final act, they decide to restore the living room to Bernice’s preference to honor her legacy. Margaret, who throughout the play is unable to go into the adjoining room to view Bernice’s body, finally musters the courage to visit her.Performed midtown in a room the size of many New York City studio apartments, this humble production was shaped by COVID-era protocols. Audience members were required to sit six feet apart, wear masks, and show proof of vaccination. While waiting to enter the studio, I overheard guests in the hallway and stairwell discussing their trepidation about attending a live theater production for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. For many, every sneeze and cough during the performance caused anxiety. This production was staged before AEA (Actors Equity Association) announced Coronavirus guidelines for showcase codes (microbudget and independent productions); so much credit is given to the producers, creative team, and cast for determining and upholding safety guidelines while still providing a space for nonunion artists to work.Even on a shoestring budget, Genoveva Productions was able to create the mood and tone of a rural visitation with simple area lighting and set design choices. Upon entering the studio, audiences were met with a sparse living room set consisting of two chairs, a coffee table, and a piano, on which perched a photograph of Bernice. The intimacy of the space informed the spectators’ relationship to Bernice, making us feel the characters’ responses to the death all the more acutely. While we never saw Bernice’s body, her spirit haunted the space.This production featured several strong performances, most notably Kathleen Regan as Laura Kirby, Bernice’s sister-in-law. She brought powerful energy and humor to all her scenes, with a strong presence that radiated through the room each time she entered. I look forward to seeing more of her work. Jack Coogins also stood out in the role of Bernice’s grieving father. He created an authentic character with which audiences could immediately empathize. Both actors made strong and successful physical choices such as adjusting their posture and gait. The cast was rounded out by Misti Tindiglia (Abbie), Gus Ferrari (Craig Norris), and Julia Genoveva (Margaret Pierce), who also directed and produced.Like other audience members in the space that day, I appreciated being introduced to this gem of a play. For me it really shed light on the status of women in the early twentieth century, both in terms of what society thought their place was and how they viewed themselves. Particularly notable in this respect is the second-act disagreement between Margaret, a single activist, and Laura, a traditional upper-class woman, regarding Bernice’s life choices. This scene speaks to the ever-relevant social and personal pressures placed on women, and particularly the likelihood that the choices a woman makes for herself will always seem wrong to someone else. I am grateful that Genoveva Productions resurrected this play.

The Only Architectural Testimony of an 18th Century Italian Gordonia-Style Miniature Theatre: An Acoustic Survey of the Monte Castello di Vibio Theatre

The acoustic characteristics and spatial features of the world’s only surviving Italianate Gordonia-style miniature theatre, one of the smallest theatres in the world, have inspired the author to analyse the acoustic behaviour of the Monte Castello di Vibio theatre, also called “Teatro della Concordia”. In this paper, the geometric and architectural features of this historical and unique performing art space were first reproduced, considering that these features are essential factors affecting acoustic characteristics. Subsequently, the acoustic measurements were taken throughout the stall and inside some selected boxes, and their main parameters were acoustically characterised according to ISO 3382-1. Lastly, the main acoustic parameters of the Monte Castello di Vibio theatre were compared to those of the 1763 theatre in Bologna, which is also a miniature theatre of similar size. The aim is to explore the main influences on the acoustic parameters of miniature theatres, and the results show that the plan layout of the theatre and interior decoration are the main factors influencing the acoustic characteristics rather than volume. Preserving the acoustic features of this unique heritage building is also seen as one of the goals of this paper.

Grounding the Global: Pathways to Elucidating Tensions in Chinese Contemporary Art

Abstract This article reviews two recent books on Chinese contemporary art, Sasha Welland's Experimental Beijing (2018) and Jenny Lin's Above Sea (2019), concerned with the sociopolitical contexts of the 1990s–2000s' globalizing Beijing and Shanghai respectively. By examining the two authors' respective methodologies—Welland's ethnographical field research and Lin's urban cultural research—, this article interprets how these two books shed light on the role of tensions in the intersectional global-local spaces of Chinese contemporary art. It argues that this field of art history necessitates the employment of non-art historical methodologies, as shown by the two books, in order to locate and make visible the intangible tensions hovering in the art's global-local spaces.

Формирование темы бедности в художественном пространстве произведений Ф. М. Достоевского

The aim of the study is to characterize the features of the poverty theme formation through the use of language units with semantics of extremes in the literary works by F. M. Dostoevsky. This work has a scientific novelty, since in this aspect the creative work of the word-painter has not yet been the subject of study. In addition, the study allows us to characterize the category of extremes with the greatest completeness. As a result, it has been revealed that the poverty theme formation in the artistic space of the works by F. M. Dostoevsky occurs through a set of descriptions of characters’ place of residence, clothing, appearance, hunger, etc. It has been established that in these cases F. M. Dostoevsky often uses diminutive forms of nouns (the first and second derivational steps). In addition, various combinations of linguistic units with semantics of extremes are also typical of the analysed literary works, namely: the universal quantifier вся (the whole), the particle даже (even), the superlative degree самым безобразнейшим (the most ugly), the syntagmatic juxtaposition хотя (although) and the indefinite pronoun with the affix -нибудь (-something) help to depict a situation in which the poverty of the character reaches the extreme.

STRATEGI PENGEMBANGAN TUNJUNGAN SEBAGAI DESTINASI MILENIAL

This study aims to analyze the development strategy of Jalan Tunjungan, Surabaya City, as a millennial tourist destination. This research method was carried out with a descriptive qualitative approach, data collection methods through interviews and observations. The results of this study are the government has developed and collaborated with the private sector, the community, and business actors for tourism development on Jalan Tunjungan. The development was carried out by, first, rearranging, revitalizing, and repairing the existing corridors in the Jalan Tunjungan area to make it look neat. Second, the creation of Tunjungan Romansa branding to attract millennial tourists. Third, many contemporary food and beverage businesses have been established in Tunjungan with Alfresco Dining’s concept. Fourth, make art, cultural and historical events, such as Mlaku-Mlaku Nang Tunjungan and the tearing of the flag at Hotel Majapahit which is held every year. At every point along Jalan Tunjungan there is a space for artists to express their works of art. The conclusion of this study is Jalan Tunjungan area is suitable as a millennial tourist destination because it integrates modernity and heritage. Keywords: tourism development strategy; heritage tourism; millennials tourist.

Pictures in Conversation

Immediately prior to embarking on her adventures in Wonderland, Alice considers, “Where is the use of a book [. . .] without pictures or conversations?” The extensive history of re-imagining through re-illustration over 150 years of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland demonstrates evident cultural agreement with Alice’s position on the interdependent nature of words and pictures. Through an analysis of a selection of editions of Alice’s story ranging from 1864 to 2015, I argue that this extensive history of re-illustration has resulted in a shared Wonderland iconography that has both built a sense of visual familiarity and made space for book artists to re-engage readers with Wonderland through a disruption of this familiarity. This project examines the trajectory of Alice re-illustration and positions four artists’ books (by Salvador Dalí, Barry Moser, Didier Mutel, and Anna Hellsgård & Christian Gfeller) as materially significant contributions to the ongoing visual history of Carroll’s text.

City as an Art Space in Modern Arabic Prose

To study the stated topic, we considered it appropriate to draw on the textual material of two works of modern Arabic-language literature in the genre of the novel, written by masters of the word, well-known not only to the reading audience of the Arab countries, but also foreign ones. These are “Frankenstein in Baghdad” (2013) by Iraqi writer ’Ahmad Sa‘adawi and “Incredible novel. Damascus Mosaic” (1997) by the Syrian-Lebanese writer Gada as-Samman. The text of “Frankenstein…” will be studied most fully, the other novel — in part. Exploring the question of how artistic space is depicted in modern Arabic-language prose, the authors of the article point out that the theme of space and time has not gone out of sight of scientists and thinkers for more than one hundred years. Representatives of various sciences, including philologists, show interest in it. The contribution to the development of this topic by M. M. Bakhtin, Yu. M. Lotman and others. Attention is drawn to a large arsenal of terms and concepts used by philologists in its study. The novel by ’Ahmad Sa‘adawi, who became the winner of the “Arab Booker” in 2014, the authors made the subject of particularly close attention. The artistic space in it is depicted most voluminously — in its toponymic, color, acoustic, odor characteristics, which allows the reader to create a visible image of the environment where the characters live and act, as well as get an idea of the situation not only in the described locus — Baghdad, but also in the country as a whole, and at a critical period in its history. The textual material of the novel G. as-Samman considered from the point of view of the locus-character correlation, deepens and clarifies the reader’s and philological understanding of the artistic space. It is concluded that modern Arabic writers pay considerable attention to the image of artistic space, use its various references, due to which this image appears capacious and realistic. This achieves the goal of the masters of the artistic word — to convey the truth about their country and its people, to draw attention to the tragedy of their current situation.

Design of playgrounds: the space of art and pedagogy

Design of playgrounds: the space of art and pedagogy

Особенности эстетической рефлексии в мемуарно-автобиографической прозе А.Н. Бенуа

The aim of the study is to determine the specifics of the chronotope of St. Petersburg in the memoir-autobiographical work Moi Vospominaniya [My Memories] (1934-1960) of the Russian emigrant artist Alexandre Benois and to identify the relationships between the aesthetic settings of his paintings and their reflection in his perception of the city in the verbal text. The work uses an integrated approach based on historical and literary, comparative-typological, phenomenological and cultural methods. Moi Vospominaniya by Benois is considered as an egotext about art, in which the author represents the concept of his own creativity. This work has been studied in the aspect of implementing the idea of synthesizing the arts through the interaction of pictorial and verbal artistic imagery, relevant to the culture of the turn of the 20th century. Moi Vospominaniya is characterized by a multi-level structure of the spatio-temporal organization of the narrative: the chronotope is embodied both in real-historical, “open” time and in an imaginary space, subjective “closed” time, the space of art, the mystical chronotope. The space in the text is modeled by art, but represents the real world, restored by the author's memory. Sometimes elements of another being dangerous to humans penetrate into it: the mystical atmosphere of Oranienbaum and Pavlovsk, white nights, the oneiric chronotope - terrible prophetic dreams, life-giving pictures. The author concludes that in Benois' memoir-autobiographical narration the images of the artistic space are modeled, in which elements characteristic of his pictorial and theatrical-decorative works, the combination of realistic and fantastic beginnings are realized. The space-time of St. Petersburg in the text is polysemantic, it incorporates various cultural and spiritual phenomena. The real and the surreal mutually influence and condition each other, the conscious and unconscious spheres of life and art are intertwined. Hoaxes in the narrative are exposed to cultural monuments, artifacts, family relics, symbolizing the connection of the life of the autobiographical hero with previous eras, the merging of dreams, fantasies and reality, conveying his attitude. By turning to the art of the past, the alarming symptoms of the future are discerned: dispersal of anxiety and fear in the narrative becomes evidence of the hero's fears of the invasion of something hostile, a sign of human doom, the death of a peaceful way of life, old life, culture, a forerunner of new disasters. Mystical and everyday life exist together not only in the life of the hero himself, but also of his contemporaries, the author pays special attention to this, foreseeing a negative and dangerous trend in the overconcentration of infernal manifestations (growing religious mystical searches, the spread of sectarianism in various layers of Russian society).

Participatory culture or co-creation: rethinking the ways of culture production

The democratic processes that constantly accompany modern society lead to an increase in the activity of ordinary citizens in all spheres. There is a transition from impersonal production to individualized production, from passive consumption to active participation in the creation of various cultural products. Therefore, active and meaningful human participation in socio-political, cultural and artistic processes, which shifts attention from inert consumption to participation in decision-making, or the creation of cultural or artistic projects, or the collective formation of new meanings and values, is defined by foreign researchers as “participatory culture”, and by Ukrainian researchers as “culture of participation”, “co- creation”. It is understood as an urgent requirement for almost every social phenomenon, from grassroots democracy to the implementation of artistic strategies. Participation implies an interest in certain joint activities for self-realization and satisfaction, which is realized through the implementation of own ideas and creative plans, and in the artistic space, the culture of participation leads to co-creation of the creator and the viewer, active co-creation. Artistic cultural practices (street art, immersive theater) are seen as not only offering interactivity, but also giving the viewer subjectivity, making him or her visible through personal experience of perception, feelings, emotions, and experiences. Despite the fact that the participants of a joint creative act often produce not cultural artifacts, but only meanings, a new meaning-making is created, and thus new ways of producing culture are born in joint creativity.

LANGUAGE MEANS OF DESIGNATION OF SPACE IN THE POETIC LANGUAGE OF V. HOLOBORODKA

The article analyzes linguistic means of marking space in the poetic language of V. Holoborodka. It has been studied that the artistic space as a component of the poetic system of the artist gives an idea of the defining constants of his worldview, which find linguistic expression at the figurative level of his poetry. The key features of the poet’s linguistic style are clarified, the linguistic means of representing the artistic space in V. Holoborodko’s poetic continuum are characterized, and the means of linguistic and figurative poeticization of rural and urban space in the poet’s work are described. It has been proven that the writer’s individual authorial manner is an authentic, genuine, original phenomenon in the history of Ukrainian linguistic and poetic thought, therefore it needs detailed multivector studies. The artist’s speech shows new facets of verbal and figurative coding of ideas, new images and new signs-symbols based on the canons of traditional culture.

Liquid urbanisms: Framing the intrinsic fluidity of the urban

AbstractCities are lived and made and constantly in a state of flux, and the same urban spaces can be used by a variety of people in very different ways. I propose the concept of ‘liquid urbanisms’ to understand these provisional uses of urban space. Liquid urbanisms are provisional places and spaces, connected through the loose and flexible networks of people and projects, that are not immediately obvious but which solidify around a certain project or topic, then become liquid again, until another time in the future. Liquid urbanisms was a helpful concept for me in my research, but also has a wider resonance in how we think about and conceptualise provisional locations in the city. Liquid urbanisms builds on and adds to work in urban studies, focusing attention on the spatial practices of urban actors at the local scale and acknowledging the importance of the temporal in understanding space and place and acknowledging the fluidity of cities. My research conducted in 2013–17 in Dublin initially looked at so‐called ‘temporary spaces’ but quickly grew to include parks, squats, art spaces, urban gardens, autonomous social centres, networking groups and direct actions. I created the conceptual framework of liquid urbanisms to be able to discuss these projects together, as empirically from my research I could see that the projects I was researching had two main shared characteristics: a looser understanding of temporality than existed in mainstream urban planning understandings of the city, and a shared network of people, places and resources, but no body of literature encompassed both of these characteristics. The focus of this article is the concept of liquid urbanisms and how the framework of liquid urbanisms can highlight the different temporalities, spatialities and networks that exist in city spaces, reminding scholars to pay attention to the diverse fluidity of cities.

АСПЕКТИ ВПЛИВУ КОЛІРНОГО РІШЕННЯ НА СПРИЙНЯТТЯ ЖИВОПИСНОГО ТВОРУ

The article examines the properties of color on which the essence of perception of the color component of a painting is based. It is clarified how with the help of color and color combinations the necessary atmosphere is created in the picture, the perception of the plot of this or that work is formed, how the viewer’s attention is focused on the main thing, the image of the general color composition is created, the techniques of color using are analyzed and their influence on the perception of the semantic component of the plot. Based on the theoretical analysis of literary sources, the physical, physiological, psychological, and emotional aspects of the influence of color on a person are considered, based on the conclusions of several sciences and scientific disciplines. The article highlights the most essential constituents of the phenomenon of color as the primary visual medium, and draws attention to the role of color science, as a science that systematizes knowledge about the nature of color and light, and types of color harmonies. The question of how local colors, tonal saturation, and intensity of color affect the perception of the composition of the work is clarified. The main characteristics of color as a tool capable of determining planning in a painting and providing subconscious information about phenomena or objects are considered, how the brightness of color shades affects the perception of the world in the picture, and why warm and cold colors of the color wheel are perceived differently in the compositional space of the work. The article raises the question of the color decision influence on the perception of the emotional coloring of a painting, why shades of one color sound different when combined with another, and how color combinations affect a person physically and psychologically on an associative level. The main aim of the article is to get acquainted with aspects of the color component understanding and types of color solutions, where color is considered the most effective means of creating a coherent artistic form and harmonizing space in visual art.

IX Международная научная конференция «География искусства»

Geography of Art is an interdisciplinary synthesis inspired by the theme of creative genius comprehending and exploring space. The project began in 1994, with the first collection of works published at the Russian Heritage Institute under Yuri Vedenin’s guidance; the first conference was held in 2009. In recent years, the conferences have been held annually under the auspices of the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Arts, GITR Film and Television School, the Russian State University for the Humanities. The IX International Conference Geography of Art of 2023 united culturologists and art historians, geographers and philosophers from all over Russia and abroad. Traditionally, the participants discussed issues related to artistic space of literary and pictorial works, local texts, geographical and cartographic images, and virtual spaces created by art. As always, a separate section was devoted to “mastering,” using, modeling space in screen and photography art. An innovation in the scholarly dispute of the 2023 conference was the culturological and anthropological discourse on the visual image genesis and transformation from archaic to modern times, as well as the transgression of genius loci in the online media and virtual space.

Znachenie prostranstva v mediaiskusstve (na primerah novyh media)

New media art, bringing together technology and artistry, possesses certain characteristics uncommon for traditional forms of art. This paper takes a number of new Media artworks as examples to explore three dimensions of the use and the meaning of space in new media art.

ДИНАМІКА І ДІАЛЕКТИКА: РОЗКРИТТЯ ПОЛІТИКИ БІЄНАЛЕ СУЧАСНОГО МИСТЕЦТВА

The sphere of the Contemporary Art Biennale is a place where aesthetic expression and political discourse are intertwined with social engagement. In «The Politics of the Contemporary Art Biennale», Panos Kompaciaris explores the dynamics of large-scale art exhibitions. Using a different theory, the author initiates his research by referencing the 7th Berlin and 3rd Athens Biennales. In his analysis, Kompatsiaris illustrates the transition of the biennale from simple visual art exhibitions to a platform that promotes significant socio-political dialogues. The author proposes a model of the «discursive biennial», outlining its development dynamics within a larger number of social and political movements and its alignment with the goals of the new institutionalism, aimed at the democratization of public artistic spaces. In the review, we consider Kompatsiaris' argument that articulates the «ambiguous politics» inherent in the biennale and his call for deeper engagement with local contexts to enhance the ambitions of the activists powering these events. Despite minor editorial flaws, the book contains an important text offering arguments, a theoretical framework, and case studies that significantly contribute to the discussion of contemporary art exhibitions and their relationship with socio-political narratives. This review combines book highlights with insights from various sources and a collaborative review article to provide a nuanced understanding of the intellectual terrain Kompatsiaris navigated in his exploration of the Biennale of Contemporary Art.

LARISA KADYROVA: LITTLE SIDES OF ARTISTIC TALENT (SKETCHES FOR A CREATIVE PORTRAIT OF THE NATIONAL ARTIST OF UKRAINE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY)

The article is dedicated to the anniversary of People’s Artist of Ukraine Larisa Kadyrova and the celebrations held on this occasion at the Kyiv Academic Workshop of Theater Arts “Constellation” (September 15, 2023). The performance “Chopin’s Secret” based on the novel “Madame Pylinska and Chopin’s Secret” by E.-E. Schmitt (translated by Ivan Ryabchii) with the participation of the actress, the celebrations began in Kyiv. The creative activity and iconic roles of the outstanding Ukrainian actress L. Kadyrova during her work in the Lviv Ukrainian Drama Theater named after M. Zankovetska (1963–1993) and from 1993 – in the National Ukrainian Drama Theater named after I. Franko are briefly analyzed. In addition to the general characteristics of the actor’s work, emphasis is also placed on the artistic-administrative, cultural, and pedagogical activities of the artist, which was especially vividly manifested in the Kyiv period. For seventeen years (2004–2021), Larisa Kadyrova was the initiator and organizer (on the basis of the Kyiv Ivan Franko National Theater) of holding the only international theater festival of women’s monodramas “Maria” in Ukraine, which became an important sign of the openness of the cultural and artistic space of independent Ukraine for theatrical Europe and the world. The article singles out the most important things that Larisa Kadyrova gained and brought to the socio-cultural and spiritual life of independent Ukraine, and also emphasizes her civic position in the conditions of the Russian–Ukrainian war. On the example of a wide spectrum of creativity, the significant contribution of the artist to the development of national-centric Ukraine is shown.