“I want people to develop the right needs in themselves”

Having learned that the sand animation artist Ksenia Symonova, the winner of the first season of the show Ukraine’s Got Talent!, was invited to Oprah Winfrey’s show, The Day asked the artist how her life has changed after her victory. It turned out that Ksenia’s story somewhat resembles that of Cinderella. Over the last two years she has performed on three continents, presenting her art to the members of the Windsor royal family and the Japanese Emperor. During a blitz interview to The Day, the artist spoke about whether the world has a need for Ukrainian talents and what attitude different countries have to the eternal values Symonova shows in her works.

“Last March I received an invitation to Oprah Winfrey’s show. In fact I’m quite puzzled by the commotion this invitation caused in Ukraine. Last year I could not take part in this show, because I had a performance scheduled for that time. I don’t know whether I will manage this time, because I have already signed another contract. On the whole after I won in Ukraine’s Got Talent, my life has changed drastically, though I cannot say it was worse before. Now I am doing what I love, I have many performances around the world. As soon as the project ended I started to receive invitations from different countries. I am glad that those are not corporate invitations. I perform at state events; frequently the heads of states or representatives of royal families are present. In late 2009 I had the honor to perform in front of Malta’s President George Abela. After this I took part in a concert dedicated to Norway’s state holiday, where the Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus was present.

“I have also performed at the concert dedicated to the victory in World War II, at London’s Royal Albert Hall. I was the only representative from Ukraine. It was a great honor to represent our country and see Ukrainian veterans among the audience. The members of the Windsor royal family were present at the event.

“I took part in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Solidarnosc in Gdansk at the invitation of Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski. And last fall I performed at an international financial-economic assembly in Hong Kong.

“I have a close longtime cooperation with Japan. Now the situation is hard there, and I am working on a present in support of Japan. This will be a video story about their strength, how they will succeed in overcoming the aftermaths of the recent catastrophe. On the whole, the Japanese are a strange audience. I can’t see the audience, I feel it. In Japan I had a feeling that the audience stops breathing in the period between the first and the last seconds of my performance. I have had three TV projects in this country. I gave a live performance, which was broadcast by the central channel. One of my performances took place on New Year’s Eve, and was followed by the Japanese Emperor’s address to the people. After this Japan’s state TV channel told me that the imperial family liked my work.

“I have also performed in Monaco at the Amber Tournament held by the International Chess Federation. And recently we have returned from Australia, where I took part in a symphonic orchestra concert, YouTube 2011. This is the second concert in all the history of the network, featuring musicians from all over the world, who won in an open music contest. I showed a sand story to the song called ‘A Flying Bird.’”

Your personal experience proves once more that talented Ukrainians are welcome throughout the whole world. At the same time these talents are not duly valued in Ukraine. The Ukraine’s Got Talent! show is an example of this. Some of its participants — musicians or dancers known all over Europe — came to the show so that their homeland could see them. What are the reasons for this situation? How can Ukrainians be taught to see their talents?

“I don’t know what the reason for this is. In fact I perform very often in Ukraine, often free of charge. These are frequently charity events. For example, I’ve taken part in a program promoting awareness that cancer can be healed at the initial stages. We did a huge amount of video work. Of course, there is some cultural decay, but I think that it is temporary. For example, I did not expect to win in the show Ukraine’s Got Talent!, I thought this genre was not popular. In reality we do have an intellectual audience. Perhaps its preferences are not taken into account in the ratings. I think that soon the Ukrainians will appreciate artists, like it happened in the West. For we should seek quality, environmental preservation, and purity.”

Your works are filled with the eternal values that may seem archaic to some people. You perform all over the world and communicate with absolutely different audiences. Does the world need these eternal values? What is the purpose of your art, and art on the whole?

“From the very beginning I decided that I would not show things that do not bring any good. People ask me, ‘Why don’t you do anything erotic or joyful?’ I have an adequate attitude to what is erotic and fun. But I don’t consider it as necessary to show these things in the sand [art]. There are many erotomaniacs in the world, whereas my mission is to clean the people’s minds as much as possible, if I may be so bold as to think about myself in such a way. I want to draw maximum public attention to children. In Ukraine I am working with the Simferopol Orphanage. Besides, since I became famous not of my own volition, I want to draw attention to problematic topics and people in the world that need assistance. In a week, jointly with the BBC and the UN, we are going to shoot a video against the killing elephants for ivory. UN representatives are trying to persuade internationally renowned celebrities to refuse from accessories made of ivory, in order to devaluate this produce. After the stars give away their ivory accessories, they will be crushed into powder and given to me to use it for my pictures. The entire process will be recorded on camera. Using the ivory powder, I will create a video story dedicated to this topic. It may be difficult to work with it, because the powder may leave scratches on the glass, but it seems to me I should do this because I have loved elephants since childhood. The video story will be broadcast on the BBC, the Discovery Channel, and CNN.

“In June I am going to Romania, where I will take part in an international charity ball, organized by the Duchess of York. The money raised will be used to help Romanian children.”

At present the world has vast possibilities, which are not always properly used. How can Ukraine use its media opportunities and present itself to the world in a proper manner?

“Ukraine has a huge potential. I hear this frequently from people abroad. Heads of states say this. Malta’s President George Abela told me: ‘You have a very strong country in terms of intellectual potential. It is one of the cleverest nations in terms of depth of the thinking.’ To much regret, not all people are aesthetes. I want people to develop the right needs in themselves.”