Amalia's World
One mother from Kharkiv has opened a cultural fund here in Austria named after her artistic daughter, Amalia. Plus what to watch/listen to.
When I received the invitation a few weeks ago from Tatiana, Amalia’s mother, to an art show for her daughter, Amalia, I expected a modest affair, Amalia’s art on display, a gathering of friends and family. I was totally blown away when I arrived on Friday night to the headquarters of Domivka, an organization here in Vienna helping Ukrainian families, in the heart of the second district, on a street I personally associate with shabbat dinners. We entered a party set up like a wedding or special birthday. There was a DJ, an MC, several photographers, finger foods beautifully displayed with lighting to match, and on all the walls hung works of art painted by nine year-old Amalia, who came to Austria two years ago with her mother, grandfather and grandmother, after they fled their native Kharkiv, where Tatiana used to run a successful catering business.
It was immediately apparent that this was not mom’s first rodeo.
Most of the Ukrainian guests did not seem surprised by the show; it was something they were used to at home for special events. The Austrians I spoke with were with eyes wide open, and understandably. It was such an effort which Amalia’s mom put into the event, but then I suppose when you have a child with special needs — you can let it define you, and see its limitations, or you can choose to embrace it, and ask what you can do to help others while also lifting your child up.
It wasn’t as clear to me as it should have been the plans for fundraising — mom wants to open a cultural center here in Vienna for Amalia and other kids. She has big ambitions both in terms of what she wants to fundraise and the price-tags on the art.I worried (I always worry) that perhaps a more modest start would have better chances of success. But you will never know if you do not try. It was really amazing to see how much energy mom put into the event, and Amalia cracked me up when I gave her some flowers and she said to me, matter of factly, “may I talk with my friends now?” as if there had been already more than enough adult conversations for one evening.
Grandmother, whom I met in summer 2022 when I brought them a Hofer card to their dorm, and I met Amalia for the first time then, told me they have been helping some families back in Ukraine. But this is perhaps also another cultural difference, the focus on Friday was a beautiful event which put the spotlight on a talented nine year-old girl who has been raised in a loving environment which embraces her physical limitations and highlights her creative talents. It didn’t feel corporate or even like a classical fundraiser. It felt like a party. Amalia now speaks German quite well, and said hello in both languages, and one of her teachers also came to support her.
For more information about “Amaliias Welt” please see their Instagram page. The fund is registered in Austria as a cultural organization, and Tatiana is fund-raising here in Austria to open a physical location:
Kulturgesellschaft Amaliias Welt
AT60 2011 1849 4969 1800
GIBAATWWXXX
What I have observed in Vienna over the past two years is that Ukrainians are talented and savvy entrepreneurs, they have really unlimited creativity, and they are not afraid to set big goals. The thing is, business in “old Europe” is designed to prevent new market entrants from entering. It is not America which is technically open for business to everyone. And yet what I have witnessed, time and again, is Ukrainians doing it anyway, even when everyone (including myself) warns of the challenges. Even my hairdresser quit her minimum wage job in a salon which never paid her properly for her talent (they didn’t have to — under Austrian law there was a union agreement for wage for this position), and with only really basic German language skills, and as a single mom of three teens, opened her own salon. Every time I see her I tell her how much I am in awe of her fearlessness. The landlords are Turkish, they took a chance on her. The furniture and lighting she designed herself and custom-ordered in Poland. The builders were Ukrainian. And all day long she is full of clients who come to her because she really is a talented hairdresser and colourist.
Perhaps it really is that true talent will succeed anywhere under even the most challenging circumstances.
Then, there are the many others, who are only just managing to hold on by a thread and not for lack of effort. But because the only “jobs” available to them while on social payments pay far less than any normal minimum wage (I have heard €6 per hour for cleaning, for example), and there are legal limits to what they can earn while receiving these payments. Just this week I spoke with a former online children’s bookstore owner who is now working as a maid in a rural hotel, a former teacher of Ukrainian language and literature who is now cleaning the floors and toilets of a rural school, five hours per week, €250 per month (we agree at least the hourly wage is ok). Everyone understands that any job, any income, is better than none, and yet this puts people in very vulnerable situations. The same comes to housing. When you have nothing, you risk making bad deals, like a woman who contacted me yesterday desperate to cancel her lease and leave an apartment filled with mold which the landlord refuses to fix.
In other words, our grocery cards are still very helpful for a lot of people, especially those living in rural areas. I have a waiting list of 15 families at the moment. Donations can be made via Cards for Ukraine, via PayPal, or by sending me a DM (new feature here!) for my email and then emailing me Spar or Hofer e-giftcards which may be purchased online in €50 instalments.
This week I received a lot of photos of single purchases. That is because the Ukrainians who received the Hofer cards are stretching the €50 as far as they can. One elderly man who is living in a hotel in Salzburg where they are “fed” wrote me the bananas are a treat for his wife. Broke my heart. How all of this is allowed to happen in the middle of a rich country in Europe. But if the last two years have taught me anything, it is that do not expect things to be fair nor for there to be happy endings. They are the pleasant surprise rather than the norm.
This week I had the opportunity to watch the excellent film — The Zone of Interest. Very powerful, and reminded me of a book I bought when we visited Auschwitz about the German families who lived near the camp, written based on interviews with the young Polish women who worked for them. I don’t know how the film resonates if you have not been to Auschwitz itself, but the cinematography, the way in which it is filmed is truly unique, and certainly worth a watch.
I also went to see Animal Farm in the Vienna State Opera last night. I bought the cheapest ticket available — standing. My first time. It was quite the experience as only about half the stage was visible from our angle, and so naturally people tried to lean forward or move to free empty seats in our area. But the ticket controller was a woman of Soviet stature and mannerisms who took it upon herself during the entire first half to lecture people, poking them for using their mobile phones, “shushing” a group of young Spanish women (they didn’t come back for the second half after being yelled at twice during the first half). So here you are watching this performance about the nature of totalitarianism and you have an overly-enthusiastic uniformed enforcer with no real power in this life dead set on pestering a group of people who bought the cheapest tickets to the opera performance, during the performance itself. It was bizarre.
During the intermission, I thought about sneaking into one of the free seats in the Parterre, but then I had visions of Ms. Soviet running down to pull me out of row 10 during the middle of the third act. I stayed up above, and together with many others, moved to a free seat, which while it too had limited viewing, was at least a seat. The music was strange, the singing in English particularly strange, but the staging was very good, provocative, the performances impressive. My personal story with Animal Farm is that my late mother took my sister and I on a six-week long trip to Yugoslavia back when it was still called that, mid-1980s. I was nine. She didn’t pack any books for us. She let me buy one in an airport. I chose Animal Farm, not knowing what it was about. There wasn’t much choice in English. I tried several times to read it and gave up, finding it incredibly boring. I read the Serbo-croatian pocket phrase book back to back instead that summer. The TV at my grandparents’ summer cottage only showed black & white Soviet war films. It was a long summer. And I still remember exactly what that paperback looked like.
A few podcasts to recommend, as well.
The bonkers story of Jan Marsalek, a Russian porn star, Orthodox priest, and plenty of GRU spies, neatly presented by Der Spiegel in German here. The full report, with all the insane details, in English, here. I love how on the podcast they have to explain to German-speaking listeners what a “honey pot” is.
The most recent episode of Next Year in Moscow by Arkady Ostrovsky of the Economist. It is the best thing I have heard in the wake of Navalny’s tragic death and funeral in Moscow this Friday. If you listen to the end, it perfectly encapsulates how there can be “good” people working within a “bad” system. These are the trade-offs and choices ordinary people make all the time. For selfish reasons. To feed their families. Because no other work was available. Because they justify it to themselves.
I’ll just leave this here in closing. For the record, I do not think his wife has a political future. She did not come to the funeral. After calling Putin a murderer in public spaces, she must know she cannot come back to Russia. So then you become a leader in exile, which is exactly what her late husband knew you cannot be. The future leader of a free and democratic Russia has to, by the laws of physics, as I see them, live in Russia right now. It cannot be one of those people who saved their own lives by emigrating. The future leader must know what it is like to live inside Russia 2024.
If you understand Russian, watch this video. What surprised me the most about Navalny’s funeral was how many elderly people showed up to mourn him. There were young, and old. And the middle-aged, middle class were at work, because it was a Friday, and because they have made an deal with the devil in their heads to continue to work in Russia, to raise their kids in Russia, convincing themselves this was a rationale choice given the circumstances.
Time will tell how long it will take to bring any real change. But I did find myself thinking, while watching Navalny’s funeral over YouTube, that Putin is not immortal, and one day we will all watch his.
I disagree with this statement:
"So then you become a leader in exile, which is exactly what her late husband knew you cannot be. The future leader of a free and democratic Russia has to, by the laws of physics, as I see them, live in Russia right now. It cannot be one of those people who saved their own lives by emigrating"
Why? Ever heard of somebody called Lenin.
At the very least, the statement has had exceptions. Many of the Roman Emperors lived away from Rome before assassinating their way to the top. While that may not seem like very democratic, it would not have worked so often if there wasn't a commonly shared culture.
I watched Zone of Interest. It was interesting. Next to Goring, the commandant portrayed in the movie gave the most straight forward answers during his prosecution at Nuremburg. It's all available on Wikipedia.
Please keep informing us....it's is interesting to learn how governments work in other countries, how they say and mean one thing, and willfully do something else....IMHO it is a common failing of western democracies. How governments report and address "inflation" is a good example. There is the official inflation rate, and then there is the actual inflation rate which most people that are on fixed incomes or work for a living experience. Here in the US, the official rate post covid was and still is much higher than reported. Apparently, there is a movement on social media to start boycotting Kellogg as its CEO recently stated that the solution for those struggling was to eat more cereal(?) yet those (Kelllog's) offerings have gone up at least 20% in two years. The point is when governments say one thing, while ignoring the common realities experienced by most people, it alienates people's trust in democratic institutions.