🇪🇺 TEEN European Digital Community: Crimean Black Pine from Kolomyia, Ukraine

Crimean Black Pine

My name is Anna Mazurkevych, I’m 16. I’m from Ukraine. I live through art, especially visual art: cinema, photography, painting, and so on. I dream of creating films that will resonate with people emotionally or through their meaning. I have even already worked on shooting a short film.
Empathy overflows in me, so I love expressing emotions through creativity. Sometimes I write poems. I am always very happy to meet new people because I am actually sociable and open. People themselves usually inspire and motivate me 🤍
I am also involved in civic activism, youth politics, and the development of my community and country. A conscious position is important to me, and I try to invest as much as I can in our shared future.
To sum up — I love communicating with kind people, from different countries and with different interests. It is usually a very pleasant and interesting experience that can grow into close connections!

The soil / the need

When I first discovered theatre, I felt there was no sparkle in my eyes. I was missing something — something that would ignite my soul and inspire me forever.

The first seed

A parent / Family.

Tell us about that first spark

Theatre became most important to me after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. War is a terrible thing, and in times like this, people try to find things that keep them afloat. Theatre became that safe place for me.
At the beginning of 2023, it was simply attending performances. In 2024, with the release of the play “Ty[Romantyka]” by MYR, it turned into a hobby and volunteering. I traveled to other cities to help backstage with costumes, decorations, and more.
And now I photograph performances and live through this work.

Roots (people & experiences that shaped your path)

The most important people for me became the ones who coordinated the volunteers when I first came backstage at the theatre (Iryna Kozenko and Anastasiia <3). It was these girls who told me certain basics, showed me everything, and explained the peculiarities backstage. They helped me feel less lost and less scared. I’m still in touch with them!

The trunk (what keeps you in theatre)

The feeling of being alive after every performance I watch or photograph. The understanding that each performance is a small life of its own. That for someone, this performance is the only salvation — just as it once was for me. That for someone, it is the best emotion of their day, or a date they will never forget.

Branches (future / desire)

I hope and plan for theatre to become a part of my stable, long-term work that I will love. Besides that, I hope it will become a means of cultural resistance in Ukraine, because words are weapons.

Are you currently involved in cultural activities?

Yes, regularly.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why?

I would like to be a Crimean black pine (Pinus nigra). It is mostly found on the Crimean Peninsula, growing near the coast and in the Crimean Mountains. My dream is to visit the peninsula one day. So I would be happy to grow somewhere on a cliff by the sea in Crimea.

Contact

Email: annamazurkevych3@gmail.com

Instagram: @prosttoa