In 2014, Ivan Dorn decided to become a “cultural bridge” between Russia and Ukraine so that the Russians do not start the war

Now he admitted: the idea has failed

Ivan Dorn was born in Russia and wrote and performed most of his songs in Russian. At the same time, he always emphasized that he is a Ukrainian musician. In this balancing, his creative plan was: the artist sought to become, as he himself says, a “cultural bridge” between the two countries. After the outbreak of war, the musician tore all relations with Russia and began to actively help Ukrainians affected by Russian invasion. His story was released in The New York Times - this is her short retelling.

By February 2022, Ivan Dorn almost finished his first studio album “Dorndom” in five years , which he recorded in the village in the northern Ukraine (Nyt does not reveal its name). The musician’s team was already preparing for the world tour in support of the record, which included performances both in Ukraine and in Russia. But on February 24, the war began, and the release of the Russian -speaking album became inappropriate.

Dorn hopes someday to release his album, but now he decided to give concerts in the cities of Europe and the USA to collect funds to support Ukrainians who suffered from the war. In addition, he remade the Kiev office of his music publishing house Masterskaya to the volunteer center, broke contracts with Russian brands and artists and deleted his music from the Russian streaming platforms of Yandex.Mizoka and VK Music.

Today, like many Ukrainian artists, Ivan Dorn, who previously openly advocated for the rapprochement of Ukraine and Russia, is asked how to give concerts in the country ethically ethics, which does not consider the Ukrainians a nation, and whether it is worth abandoning the Russian language in his own work in favor of the Ukrainian - and thus lose most of the audience.

If some colleagues of Dorn, for example, the Ocean Elsa group and musician Dmitry Monatik, after the accession of Crimea to Russia and the beginning of the war in the Donbass in 2014, stopped giving concerts in Russia, Ivan Dorn saw his task in being a “cultural bridge” between the two countries. In a conversation with NYT, the artist clarified:

My idea was this: I will win the love of as many people as possible with my music so that they never attacked my country. I was sure that the people who come to my concerts would not participate in the war against Ukraine.

Although Dorn was born in Chelyabinsk and almost all his songs - in Russian, he always emphasized that he was a Ukrainian. But in many of his compatriots, these attempts to balance between the two countries and cultures caused irritation.

Today, Dorn believes that his plan to become a “cultural bridge” has failed between the two countries, but emphasizes that he does not regret the work done. In the positive attitude of many Russians to the war in Ukraine, the musician blames the Russian propaganda: “If I spent a week before the TV in Russia, I myself would believe that we are [Ukrainians] Nazis and Nazis.”

In July, Nyt notes, Ukrainian producer Yuri Bardash, advocating the surrender of Ukraine, accused of musicians such as Dorn, that they “advertise the war with the help of their European rounds” to “legitimize it”.

In Russia, Ivan Dorn remained relatives. Once, according to him, he had a warm relationship with his two cousins ​​from the Bashkir Birsk. The musician says that it was they who helped him find his Ukrainian identity. After the outbreak of war, he continues to communicate with only one of them. The brother called Dorn and said that he had left Russia to Turkey, and also said that the rest of the family supported the war.