One of Ukraine’s most popular raves, Cxema, will be joining one of the most influential electronic music platforms in the world, Boiler Room, for an online festival on Feb. 26.
Cxema, pronounced “skhema” and translated as “scheme,” announced the event on its Instagram on Feb. 23.
The first Cxema was launched in Kyiv in 2014, freshly emerging during a politically and economically difficult time in Ukraine. The rave would take place in unusual locations like skate parks, under bridges or in garages, attracting thousands of ravers to its parties.
Since then it has grown to be one of the most popular underground raves in the country. It has travelled to Poland, Lithuania and Germany. In 2019, it took over one of the best techno clubs in the world, Berghain.
This isn’t the first time Cxema and Boiler Room have collaborated. When Boiler Room first came to Kyiv in 2018 it was in partnership with Cxema and held on the grounds of a former Tetra Pak factory.
Boiler Room is a London-based online platform that broadcasts live music sessions. Originally starting as an online webcam livestream to share underground electronic music, Boiler Room has grown to cover 41 genres and topics and travelled all over the world.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic prevented mass gatherings such as raves, many cultural events have had to turn to the online world.
Boiler Room’s event SystemRestart.tv is a ten-day digital festival running on Feb. 18-27 to support the club culture, which suffered from the pandemic enormously.
Having teamed up with Ballantine’s whiskey brand, Boiler Room awarded 20 international collectives with financial support at the start of the pandemic. Now they will showcase some art projects during the festival.
“A mix of 2020 grant recipients & a selection of new collectives will present audio-visual shows, combining talks, interviews, mixes and music videos,” the broadcaster wrote on its website.
Cxema will curate a series of live performances by Maryana Klochko, Voin Oruwu and John Object. The rave will also show a short documentary about itself called “Dedicated To The Youth Of The World 2 (Documenting Cxema),” mixed with interviews with key collaborators for their visual identity as well as the documentary makers.
The festival will be raising money for the #saveourvenues fund, run by the Music Venue Trust that is focused on preventing the U.K.’s vital venues having to close permanently because of the pandemic.
Boiler Room’s first event in Kyiv in collaboration with Cxema was attended by thousands of people, with well-known raver and former member of Ukraine’s parliament Sergii Leshchenko as the host, introducing each DJ between sets.
At the time, Boiler Room described Cxema as “dark, hard, uncompromising and home to some of the most interesting DJs and producers in techno right now.”
The event lasted from 11 p.m. till 10 a.m. in the morning, featuring Ukrainian DJs Stanislav Tolkachev, Voin Oruwu, Wulffius, Konakov presents A-Body, Potreba, John Object, Vladimir Gnatenko, Nastya Muravyova, Recid, Zolaa, Sasha Zlykh and Tofudj. Their filmed sets were later published on Boiler Room’s YouTube channel.
The world-renowned broadcaster visited Kyiv the second time in 2019 in partnership with Ballantine’s.
Back then Boiler Room called Kyiv the city currently at the epicenter of Eastern Europe’s rave new world.
“We’re thrilled to be back in Kyiv, a city full of powerful, passionate and diverse artists,” the broadcaster wrote in 2019.
The event’s lineup featured exclusively Ukrainian artists including Etapp Kyle, Jana Woodstock, Spekulant, Poly Chain, Shakolin and Tofudj.
The party was held at the Kurenivka Palace, not too far from where the popular unnamed club on Kyrylivska Street is located.
Cxema’s slot at the festival starts on Feb. 26, 5 p.m. Kyiv time. Watch online here.
