Exiled Russian artists Elina Kulikova and Dima Efremov have created three musical performances that resonate as direct, intimate, sensory and political responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as to the repression unfolding in their own country against all forms of dissent and minority expression. Comédie de Genève invites audiences to experience these three musical and performative works, bound together by a shared dramaturgical thread, like three complementary perspectives, either separately or as part of an exceptional full trilogy presentation on Saturday 7 November.

Un champ brûlé - Tuesday, November 3
It all begins like a classical concert, formal and academic. Draped in an immense white gown, Kulikova sings celebrated pieces from the Russian repertoire, accompanied on stage by Efremov. Yet above them, projected on a screen where one might expect translations of the poems by Alexander Pushkin or Mikhail Lermontov carried by the music, runs a fragmented text examining the causes that led Russia to invade Ukraine. From the dissonance between the melancholy lyricism of the music and the political nature of the text emerges a profound unease, undermining the Western gaze upon Russia and its “great culture”, so often tinged with romanticism and exoticism.

Un endroit perdu - Wednesday, November 4
Alone on stage, Kulikova performs Russian folk songs while, above her, a text unfolds on screen, poised somewhere between poetic writing and documentary reflection, exploring the cultural roots of violence in Russia and the war crimes currently taking place in Ukraine. In this chapter, the Russian—specifically female—tradition of lamentation and sung mourning, historically intended to accompany the painful stages of a woman’s life, becomes the foundation of a ritual: a total performance that immerses spectators in a sensory experience at the heart of darkness.

Une nuit blanche - Thursday, November 5
Set against the atmosphere of an electro music party, this final performance shifts to Efremov’s perspective. A sound artist, performer and co-creator of the trilogy, Efremov became actively involved in the defence of human rights in Russia from 2022 onwards, founding a clandestine network helping those threatened by repression to flee the country. Through this narrative, pathways of resistance to the prevailing ideological, military and political system gradually emerge, opening onto the possibility of a future beyond war and the authoritarian regime that gave rise to it.