This is the heart of VOLUME 17 of the INSTITUT experiment. Every week, a different hypothesis. Underground at 620 Spadina Ave — around the back, through the lot to the steel doors, down the stairs, past the mechanical room, through the swinging wood laminate door...
Stick around — Legend of Princess Olha screens at 7 PM, Adewolf takes the stage at 9 PM, and Johnny Westcoast closes the night on vintage vinyl at 11PM. But RSVP even though it's PWYC so we know who to expect.
5 PM | UA THEATRE SALON | After the Front: New Short Plays About Veterans
KRYVA KOSA is a collective of musicians and artists dedicated to sharing folk traditions from their diverse backgrounds. "Kryva Kosa" — meaning "crooked scythe" in Ukrainian — brings timeless village melodies from Ukraine and neighbouring Slavic, Baltic, Balkan and Finno-Ugric cultures to life through music, dance and communal exchange. They've performed and taught at the Bloor West Village Ukrainian Festival, Drom Taberna, Kosa Folk Arts Melanka, and recently completed a four-month residency at Hart House, UofT.
Directed by Mariya Khomutova, After the Front presents three short plays developed through the Theatre of Playwrights in Kyiv with frontline defenders: A Text for Theatre by Antonina Romanova, Balance by Alina Sarnatska, and New York: 38° by Oleksandr Zhuhan.
RSVP
7:00 PM | FILM | Legend of Princess Olha (Yuri Illienko, 1983) — curated by Pylyp Ilienko
History becomes myth. Myth becomes memory. Yuri Illienko's final film in our banned Ukrainian Poetic Cinema series reimagines one of the most enduring figures in Ukrainian history.
PYLYP ILLIENKO is a Kyiv-born filmmaker and the son of director Yuri Illienko. He served as Head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency from 2014–2019, overseeing the support of hundreds of productions. He is a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy, the European Film Academy, and the National Union of Filmmakers of Ukraine, and has served as Head of the Board of the Ukrainian Film Academy. He is presenting tonight's film as part of an ongoing effort to bring Ukrainian Poetic Cinema to new audiences.
RSVP
9:00 PM | CONCERT | Adewolf (NG)
Lagos and Vancouver. Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, and soul. Stories of migration, memory, and belonging through the language of rhythm.
ADEWOLF is a Nigerian-Canadian artist based in Vancouver and the creator of Afrohop—a blend of Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, and soul. Raised in Lagos, his songwriting explores identity, migration, and nostalgia through contemporary African sounds.
RSVP
11:00 PM | VINTAGE VINYL | JOHNNY WESTCOAST (UA)
Classic Ukrainian recordings, forgotten gems, and dance-floor favourites from across the decades. Johnny Westcoast closes the night with a vintage Ukrainian vinyl party.
Johnny Westcoast spins an all-vinyl selection celebrating the breadth of Ukrainian popular music, from classics and deep cuts to unexpected discoveries.