FROM THE ASHES THAT GARDEN, is a collaborative project between ALTER (Ukraine), Zbiginiew Olkiewicz (Poland) and Cambaleo Teatro (Spain).

The initiative arose in July 2024 as a result of our participation in the Bruno Schultz Festival in Drohobych (Ukraine), with our show From Darkness a Song. From darkness a song.

FROM THE ASHES THAT GARDEN, is a scenic and interpretative proposal to physically occupy a space during 24 uninterrupted hours that in a metaphorical way communicates the tension of the daily gestures in a war scenario.

This virtual mobility project, funded by the Culture Moves Europe program, was developed during the last week of March 2025.

The objectives have been to develop a process of creation, research and preparation of a theatrical-performance action structure, and also to establish collaborative synergies between the team members, who are:

We have generated a large number of proposals for actions, as well as some videos and images.

At the same time, we have come as close as possible to the nature and concept of the performance, and we have also established a roadmap that will lead to the realization of the project in Drohobych (Ukraine), in Madrid (Spain), in Vigo (Spain), and hopefully in Poland as well. All this during the years 2026-2027.

These are some texts as a conclusion of this period of work.  

CARLOS SARRIÓ   FROM THE ASHES THAT GARDEN. Spain-Poland-Ukraine. Synchronize hearts. Adjusting the understanding in the distance. Translating. Project of occupation of a space. Ideas fly in the distance. Opening doors. Catching images. Sitting around an imagined bonfire. To share. To soothe. A house full of sound. Saving books from barbarism. Choosing the stories. Choosing songs. Scraps. The faces of people. Our refuge is the other. The sound leaves home and invades the city.  

OLENKA Y ANDRI YURKEVICH   Нам дуже комфортно бути з вами в одному домі, ось, що ми хочемо сказати Антоніо, Карлосу, Беґонії, Кристині і Збіґнєву. Нам комфортно, ми відчуваємо себе у безпеці і нам хочеться творити. Це відчуття піднесення і водночас очікування спільного мистецького проекту у нашому рідному Дрогобичі. Дякуємо за спільні розмови, за дуже цікаві рішення. Вірю, що ми об’єднаємо навколо себе дуже багато цікавих та креативних людей під одним дахом. Олена та Андрій Юркевич.

"We feel very comfortable being in the same house as you, that's what we want to say to Antonio, Carlos, Begonia, Krystyna and Zbigniew. We feel comfortable, we feel safe and we want to create. It is a feeling of excitement and at the same time anticipation of a joint art project in our native Drohobych. Thank you for the joint conversations, for such interesting decisions. I think we will unite a lot of interesting and creative people from under one roof. Olena and Andrii Yurkevych".  

BEGOÑA CRESPO.   Encounter with different people, different countries, different languages and a house that welcomes us. Emotions, memory and the house as a refuge The house without a key, without a door and a bonfire where we celebrate life. We toast to all the good things in a country at war. In my bag I'll put the apples and some earth, water too and some cookies, the book, the photo and some tears. Samuel Beckett said that war is the absolute distance between human beings.  

ANTONIO SARRIÓ.   A shared space. People. A noise that does not cease. People. Fabrics. Books. Papers. Strings. Poems. Bonfire. Music. Party. People. A noise that does not cease. The passage of time accompanies us. We play at everyday life. Everyday life plays with us. A noise that does not cease. The normal becomes extraordinary. People. A poem that moves. A poet who walks. We meet. It is an encounter. We share not only space. We share air, dreams, sounds, nightmares. People. And always, in spite of everything, a party. What will be left after? FROM THE ASHES OF THAT GARDEN.

CRISTINA SAMANIEGO.

WHERE DREAMS TOUCH

When creative souls meet, time is diluted. There is no beginning or end, only the shared beat of an idea that blooms in the air. Words intertwine in a language that only art understands. Perhaps.

No matter if it is a canvas, a melody or a dance, the essential is the sparkle of a universe being born in a crossing of visions.

In that sort of union to conceive something together, beauty is reborn as a luminous pause, perhaps there is still room for hope. We can reinvent the world, fade tiredness, open new possibilities. Multiply ideas, create, make the world a vaster place, more luminous, more full of wonder. Perhaps.

ZBIGINIEW OLKIEWICZ. Warszawa.

Od 40-tu lat staram się przybliżyć moją część Europy i Hiszpanię. Według mnie jesteśmy gdzieś na dnie bardzo podobni chociaż wydajemy się być tak różni. Jesteśmy sentymentalni, jesteśmy emocjonalni, spontaniczni i uczuciowi.

Nie kalkulujemy. Przeżywamy i okazujemy swoje uczucia nie wstydząc się ich.

A teraz staramy się poszerzyć nasze grono o ukraińskich przyjaciół. Oni znajdują się teraz w sytuacji ekstremalnej i bardzo potrzebują naszego wsparcia i współuczestnictwa w takim artystyczno-socjalnym projekcie.

Cieszę się że będziemy wspólnie starali się poszerzyć granice Nowej Europy.

For 40 years I have been trying to bring my part of Europe and Spain closer together. In my opinion, we are somewhere at the bottom very similar even though we seem so different. We are sentimental, we are emotional, spontaneous and affectionate.
We do not calculate. We experience and show our feelings without being ashamed of them.
And now we are trying to expand our circle of Ukrainian friends. They are now in an extreme situation and they very much need our support and participation in such an artistic and social project.
Me alegro de que juntos intentemos ampliar las fronteras de la Nueva Europa.”