Building bridges through festivals: Dnipro meets Rotterdam
We are happy to share a beautiful story about the power of the network: from a meeting in Edinburgh to a collaboration between Dnipro and Rotterdam that will unfold soon, from 18 to 21 September in Rotterdam.
Written by Franc Faaij, Head of Festivals at our EFA Member Rotterdam Festivals:
On 29 August 2025, the Dnipro-based festival of contemporary art and experimental music Construction Festival is making a return. The three-day programme will feature public discussions, music events, audiovisual performances, an art exhibition, and a series of film screenings. Examining themes of instability and resilience, contradictions that can coexist, friendship that sometimes turns into hostility, and the ability to be both strong and vulnerable.
I was very fortunate to meet Dinara Khalilova of the organisation at the EFA Arts Festivals Summit in Edinburgh last April. It was very impressive to hear how a group of young artists and festival makers are creating an exciting and sometimes challenging artistic festival programme for a young audience in a city close to the battlefront in a war-torn country. Dinara told me how their audience remains resilient and eager to keep visiting the programming in spite of blackouts and air raids. Demonstrating the importance that cultural programming and festivals can be in people's lives. Especially in terrible and difficult times like these.
We talked about how sad it is that it’s impossible right now to visit Dnipro. We also discussed that, if it is not possible to go to the Construction Festival, then perhaps we could bring the festival or part of it to Rotterdam.
And we did. Or we're going to, to be precise. I’m happy to share that we have been able to make the connection between the organisations of Conflux Festival in Rotterdam and the Construction Festival in Dnipro. With additional financial support from Rotterdam Festivals, we have made it possible for the Ukrainian artist Krystyna Kirik to perform at the Conflux Festival in Rotterdam, from 18 to 21 September, with her audiovisual spatial installation State of Latitude.
If you’re able, please give a shout-out in the next couple of days to Construction Festival on their socials. And if you’re near Rotterdam from 18 to 21 September, please come and visit Conflux Festival and the work of Krystyna Kirik in particular. Tickets are available on their website.
I would like to thank everybody who made this possible. First and foremost, everyone associated both festivals. And, of course, Dinara and Krystyna in particular. I would also like to thank everyone at the European Festivals Association for organising the Arts Festivals Summit and our friends and colleagues at Festivals Edinburgh, The City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh International Festival for being such gracious hosts.
Without these kinds of important meeting places, this exchange would never have been possible.
Reminding us that the Europe we share is not determined by borders, treaties or Brexits (or even continents), but by the hearts and minds of the people and the values and culture we share.
To everyone who will be visiting the Construction Festival in the coming days or is involved in its organisation: stay safe. But above all: have fun.
EFA and its members continue to stand with their Ukrainian colleagues through humble yet meaningful initiatives such as Joining Hands and Hearts. Construction Festival has been collaborating closely with our member Culturescapes. During EFA’s yearly rendez-vous, the Arts Festivals Summit 2025, Culturescapes introduced Construction Festival to our also EFA member, Rotterdam Festivals, who then stepped in with support to make a new collaboration possible.
In this framework, we invite you to listen to a conversation in which Simon Mundy speaks with Dinara Khalilova, PR Manager of Construction Festival, and Jurriaan Cooiman, Founder and Director of Culturescapes Festival: Listen here.
Construction Festival is a platform where contemporary art, experimental music, activism, and the transformation of public space converge. Taking place in abandoned and repurposed sites across Ukraine, the festival embodies coexistence of dualities: resilience and fragility, strength and vulnerability, destruction and creation. Dnipro, a city so close to the frontline, becomes both fragile and alive, wounded yet resilient.