ARE YOU COMING TO THE VATRA?
LEMKOS. BOYKOS. HUTSULS. RUSYNS. RUSNAKS. RUTHENIANS. SUBCARPATHIAN. TRANSCARPATHIAN. CARPATHO-RUSYN. UHRO-RUSYN. JUST RUSYN. HALF RUSYN. QUARTER RUSYN. RUSYN BUT YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT HAD A NAME. RUSYN AND YOUR FAMILY SAYS SLOVAK. RUSYN AND YOUR FAMILY SAYS UKRAINIAN. RUSYN AND YOUR FAMILY SAYS POLISH. RUSYN BUT YOUR FAMILY SAYS NOTHING. RUSYN BUT THE CHURCH SWITCHED TO ENGLISH BEFORE YOU WERE BORN. RUSYN ON YOUR MOM'S SIDE. RUSYN AND SOMETHING ELSE. RUSYN BUT YOUR LAST NAME'S ITALIAN. OR, IF YOU ARE NOT RUSYN AT ALL—IF YOU ARE GREEK. EGYPTIAN. KOREAN. MEXICAN. IRISH. DOMINICAN. SENEGALESE. FILIPINO. ROMANI. INDIGENOUS. IF YOU'RE AN ADOPTEE. IF YOUR GRANDMA'S SLANG SITS FOREIGN IN YOUR MOUTH, AND YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO THE PLACE HER MOTHER FELL IN LOVE, BUT YOU'VE HEARD THE STORIES, AND YOU HOPE YOU CAN AFFORD TO VISIT SOMEDAY. OR IF YOU JUST WANT TO SIT WITH PEOPLE, REAL PEOPLE, AND LEARN SOMETHING, AND SING—
YOU ARE INVITED TO SOMETHING DREAMED UP BY A QUEER DIASPORIOD—THE GRANDCHILD OF COAL MINERS AND UNION LEADERS, A QUEENS TRANSPLANT—SOMETHING ENGINEERED AROUND THE IMPOSSIBLE:
A LEMKO VATRA [BONFIRE] in NEW YORK CITY.
WHAT'S A VATRA?
The first official Vatra took place in 1983, thirty-six years after Operation Vistula scattered them across Europe, Canada, and America. Lemko activists in the Carpathian mountains built a bonfire and invited others to gather around it. Together, attendees sang, danced, and celebrated the culture others had fought to erase. Today, Carpatho-Rusyn and Lemko organizations hold Vatras in Europe and North America, keeping that practice alive. Vatra Diaspora is one artist's independent effort to continue the tradition in New York City.
Vatra Diaspora invites people of all backgrounds to sing Carpatho-Rusyn folk songs around a simulated bonfire. Attendees receive printed songbooks (to keep) containing pronunciation guides, then learn each short refrain line-by-line. The organizing artist provides alt-electronic arrangements of Lemko folk melodies and leads the group in singing each, if they so desire. Vatra Diaspora is made possible by support from the Queens Arts Fund (QAF) by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
Vatra.NYC | follow for updates.
WHAT'S A LEMKO?
The Lemko people are a subset of Carpatho-Rusyns, originally from the Poland-Slovakia-Ukraine borderlands.
IS THE VATRA JUST FOR LEMKOS?
No. People from all backgrounds are encouraged to attend. We really love our culture and we want you to come too.
HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS?
The Vatra is FREE to attend.
WHERE'S THE VATRA?
New York City—and it might be the first ever Vatra in the five boroughs. Because NYC law prohibits open flames in public spaces, this Vatra will create its bonfire using projections and fan-blown fabric. That constraint inspired the concept: diaspora communities can never recreate homeland in its exact, original form; so, why should that be our goal? What would happen if we built something honest using what we have, where we are? Adaptation is not failed imitation. Culture is not a nebulous concept in a museum where you're not allowed to touch anything; it's what you do—every day, once a year—with your community. It's how we live, together.
A specific venue will be announced to subscribers of the mailing list at least 1 month ahead of the event.
WHO'S ORGANIZING THIS?
An independent artist called Medusa. Medusa's family tree has several Rusyn roots. The Lemko side emigrated from Wola Sękowa / Воля Сенкова / Volya Sen'kova, which they called home for hundreds of years. Medusa's great-grandfather was president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Local 7519 for 20 years, protecting fellow “hunky” workers in the same mines which took his father's life. He served as president of the Ukrainian National League of Luzerne County, a conglomerate of 56 organizations, and as officer in several mutual aid organizations serving the Ruthenian-American community, including the Friendship Club and the Wyoming Valley United Fund. Medusa embarks on this in his honor.