Commemoration Reveil Ukraine

Funding: Reveil
Partners: Reveil
Project management: Viktoriia Zhembrovska, Uliana Kostenko
Contact: office@insha-osvita.org

In 2025, we launched a project focused on exploring collective formats of engaging with memory and loss within public spaces, specifically cemeteries. This initiative became part of the Reveil movement—an artistic endeavor that revives the European tradition of mourning the dead. Every year on November 1st, Reveil organizes memorial concerts at cemeteries across various European cities.

On November 1st in Kyiv, at a secluded location near Andriyivskyy Descent, a pilot event was led by performer and singer Yevheniia Melkonian. Yevheniia’s work explores themes of memory, identity, and the intersections between the physical body and the unconscious. This gathering served as a space for collective silence, listening, and presence—without the obligation to speak, yet offering an opportunity to enter into a dialogue with those who have passed. The experience was accompanied by music and Ukrainian and Armenian folk songs performed by Yevheniia.

The Reveil movement began in 2012 when musicians from the Belgian town of Deerlijk organized a concert at a local cemetery in memory of a friend. Today, the project operates as a social franchise, with organizers providing a guide for hosting events. Over the past 13 years, Reveil has seen more than 150 concerts held at cemeteries in various cities. Insha Osvita will continue to uphold and develop this tradition in Ukraine.

We will share updates about new events supported by Reveil Ukraine on our social media channels.