Kyiv Biennial Concert Week

The Kyiv Biennial is a nomadic, international project that interweaves artistic, political, and social issues. “A Bird That Cannot Land,” its chapter at KW, takes the form of an extensive live and discursive program and a large-scale exhibition spanning the entire building, contributing to the biennial’s reflections through contemporary art, sound, and exchange.

Set against shifting political realities, “A Bird That Cannot Land” centers on the concept of “Middle-East-Europe” and its histories of conflict, colonialism, and imperialism. Recurring conflicts reopen the wounds of those that came before them and challenge our sense of shared experience, language, and imagination.

By linking post-Soviet Eastern Europe with Central and Southwest Asia, and the Mediterranean, the exhibition and its live and discursive events explore questions of how we make meaning and experience a sense of belonging in times marked by war, uncertainty, and estrangement. Navigating realities where the continuity of meaning is disrupted, the biennial views exile within and from the world as a central condition of contemporary life.

The Kyiv Biennial’s live program unfolds through a range of formats, highlighting Berlin’s diasporic communities in dialogue with translocal artistic practices. At its heart, KW’s main hall hosts a week of concerts and performances exploring music’s emotional power across diverse sonic practices and vocal traditions. This is complemented by a series of listening sessions that explore different geopolitical dimensions of sound. Throughout the program, process-based practices approach polyphony as both an aesthetic and social practice of resilience.

Kyiv Biennial Concert Week with Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, Abdullah Miniawy, Nour Sokhon, Wafaa Saied, Katarina Gryvul, Ihor Tsymbrovsky, and Nazanin Noori

July 8, 2026
7:00–8:00 p.m.: Heinali and Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko – ‘Гільдеґарда (Hildegard)’
9:00 PM–10:00 PM: Abdullah Miniawy – “The evens, Rahma”

July 9, 2026
7:00–8:00 p.m.: Nour Sokhon – “Beirut Birds (طيور بيروت)”
9:00 PM–10:00 PM: Wafaa Saied

July 10, 2026
7:00–8:00 p.m.: Katarina Gryvul – “SPOMYN”
9:00 PM–10:00 PM: Ihor Tsymbrovsky

July 11, 2026
Nazanin Noori – “A LETTER TO EUROPE”