Maria Burmaka remembered her performance at “Chervoniy Ruta”, which took place in 1989 in Chernivtsi. Then the artist was only 19 years old and the festival had just been founded.

On the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the event, the 56-year-old singer published archival photographs and spoke about the atmosphere of that time. She remembered how she arrived in Chernivtsi from Kharkov by train, having a guitar with her.

At the festival, the singer performed the song “Oh, it’s spring,” based on poems by Alexander Oles. She came across the text in a 1961 collection, which was then removed from libraries. According to Burmaki, a copy of this book was found and brought home by her father.. The collection was among the Ukrainian publications prepared for destruction in Kharkov.

During Burmaki’s performance, the audience for the first time began to take out blue and yellow flags, which they secretly carried with them. There were then two years left before the declaration of independence of Ukraine.

The artist noted that being among the first was difficult, scary and risky at the same time.. This experience, they say, stayed with her for the rest of her life.. She also recalled that she subsequently discovered the work of other banned authors - Vasyl Stus and the poets of the Executed Revival.

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Source: instagram mariaburmaka Recently, the singer also pleased her subscribers with an archival photo from her childhood, in which she was recorded as a first-grader.