INVENTED FOLKSONGS: Album Release + Exhibit | Second Gathering

Step into Invented Folksongs, an album and visual art exhibit that brings Ukrainian folk traditions into conversation with contemporary music and visual art. Composer and vocalist Anna Pidgorna guides audiences through her creative journey in an intimate atmosphere, surrounded by an exhibit curated by Roksolana Uhryniuk.

The Highbrow is a very intimate venue with only 33 seats, so reserve your spot early.

In "Invented Folksongs" Pidgorna draws on poetic imagery and musical gestures from Ukrainian folk to create original songs exploring sexuality, gender roles, gendered violence, and female joy. Desribed by reviewers as "freak", "gothic", "freewheeling" and "feral", the album fuses the raw energy of village playing with classical music techniques to create something entirely unclassifiable.

Curated by Roksolana Uhryniuk, the exhibit features illustrations by Olha Kriuchkovska, created especially for this album, along with her earlier graphic drawings. Like the music, Kriuchkovska's work explores traditional Ukrainian symbols within a contemporary interpretation of ink and pencil drawings. Kriuchkovska's stylized graphics are contrasted by Roksolana Uhryniuk's hyper realistic pencil drawings exploring images of traditional Ukrainian femininity.

The Highbrow is a bespoke salon space in a late-19th century home, combining heritage West Coast architectural elements with contemporary industrial design aesthetics, vintage mid-century modern elements and mosaic inspired by traditional Ukrainian embroidery.

Pickle Underground is a scrappy little non-profit organization with no operating budget. Please consider giving a donation to help us cover the costs of shipping and preparing artwork for the exhibit.

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