Polissja / Palesse is a region spanning the border of Ukraine and Belarus, where a cultural and linguistic commons exists, connecting Ukrainian and Belarusian despite imperial attempts to erase both languages and cultures. In Emigrant songs, four performers gather fragments of this heritage, weaving their voices into a living, breathing archive.

At the heart of the piece is the camouflage net — a mesh of fabric and stories, of (in)visibility and protection in the ongoing war. On stage, threads are knotted, hands move rhythmically, voices rise, and heels begin to stomp.

How much do you blend in to stay safe? Cultural camouflage becomes an effort to weave oneself into new social fabrics — to soften one’s outline, to mask a presence, to disappear into the background. Migration turns into a constant dance between the desire to be heard and the necessity to dissolve into the landscape. Between weaving and singing, hiding and revealing, the performers trace fragile ways of staying visible while searching for where their voices come from and where they might belong.

Content Note
This performance unfolds in an open space without fixed seating. You are welcome to sit on chairs or move freely. At the center of the gathering is a shared act: weaving a real camouflage net, which will be sent to Ukrainian defence units in need after the performance. You’re invited to join this process, or simply observe — there is no obligation. At times, soft invitations to move or sing together may arise, always with space to be present in your own way. Your presence, in whatever form, is valued.

Initiated by Nastya Dzyuban, created and performed in collaboration between Nastya Dzyuban, Olen Mamai, Hanna Launikovich, Andrii Punko
Costume: Delphina O. Hennig
Woodwork and emotional support: Nice Kager
Folk singing transmission & guidance: Tetiana Illchenko, Dariia Bakalova and folk music group Bozhedary
Sound design: Hanna Launikovich
Technical support: Felix Schwarzrock

Big warm thanks to Bernhard Siebert, Frédéric de Carlo, René Alejandro Huari Mateus, Barbara Krzoska, Chiara Marcassa, Jenny Flügge, Florian Ackermann and Frankfurt LAB team, Ida Daniel and IX ProsoziTé collective, Natalia Shcherbina, Olena Bronnikova and other members of the Weaving group, Melika Moazeni, Fabian Schäfer and Mania collective, Halyna Oblonina, Polina Oblonina, Tetiana Saienko

Funded by Kulturamt Frankfurt, Gesellschaft Freunde internationales Theater Frankfurt