Story:

This is the last record that I bought in my life. I never played it, because I ordered it when I was already living in Athens, and my record player is in Ukraine. I didn’t take it here because it’s just too heavy and difficult to move in spaces. 

So, this record is an ambient album by a Ukrainian artist called Heinali. It’s called Kiev Eternal, and it’s based on field recordings that he did in Kiev from approximately 2012 up until the invasion. This is the kind of period when I was living in Kiev, which was also very formative for me as an adult, but also politically. So, those tracks in here, for this reason, have this big personal meaning for me, I guess. 

In general, in Ukraine, besides the record player, I also have a bigger box of vinyl records, because at some point in my life, I really wanted to become a DJ, and I took it very seriously. I believed that if you really want to be a DJ, you have to collect vinyl and play from analogue media. Later, the war started.

In this kind of situation, when life becomes so fragile, these kinds of material things kind of lose their meaning, I guess. Because it’s very heavy and sort of like a burden for you, if you suddenly have to move, you cannot really deal with this. And then, it can also be destroyed at any minute. Like, if a missile reaches your home, or a drone, it’s all gone anyway. So maybe it’s not that important after all. 

I never played it, because I don’t have a record player here, so it’s just like an artefact.

– Yustyna