Closer (Kyiv) Jazz Concert Program 2018

Editor: This program for the "Closer" Jazz Concert in Kyiv, created in 2018, features watercolour and line drawing. It's quite ethereal and a little haunting, with the figures almost dissolving into the background. What do you make of it? Curator: Immediately, I'm struck by the figures themselves. The one on the right, whose head appears to be an abstract cello or bass, swathed in musical notation. Consider how this visual symbol resonates with ancient ideas of music as a divine or supernatural force. What emotions do these symbols evoke in you? Editor: I feel a sense of the surreal, almost like a dream state, perhaps? Curator: Exactly. Think about the cultural memory associated with jazz—improvisation, freedom, but also sometimes, melancholy. The ambiguous form and dissolving nature might represent the ephemeral nature of a live performance. And then we have the female figure to the left; the two characters almost form a hybrid. The flute she carries, bisecting the two characters, is this a symbol of concord? Editor: That's an interesting interpretation! I hadn’t considered the flute as a uniting element, but now that you mention it, it does seem to bridge the two figures. Curator: Yes, it could signify harmony between seemingly disparate elements. This concert poster then becomes not just an advertisement but a visual poem on music's power to connect. Don't you think? Editor: I agree. Thinking about it that way adds so much depth. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. The enduring power of symbols never fails to fascinate.