New East Digital Archive

Prizma: start the weekend with a rave in Donetsk

31 March 2017

Techno is maybe not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Donetsk. In the wake of Kiev’s growing reputation as a rave destination, underground party Prizma hopes to show that Ukraine’s rave scene is not exclusive to the capital.

Inspired by CXEMA in Kiev and raves in Moscow, last year friends Anton and Pasha began to organise the Prizma techno-party in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, currently under the control of separatist authorities. Prizma sees a small coffee house transformed — weekday literary evenings make way for techno-noir and house weekends.

“We drown out the thunder of gunfire with the rhythms of electronic music, and we stop the war, at least inside ourselves,” Anton and Pasha say, explaining that the rave serves as a form of escape.