THURSDAY 25

“Fedir Pryymachenko’s Signs of Polissya”

Artist Fedir Pryymachenko, whose works were once highly estimated by President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko himself, presents his new exhibition “Fedir Pryymachenko’s Signs of Polissya.” The son of the world-famous Ukrainian artist Maria Pryymachenko, Fedir spent his whole life in the country not far from Kyiv working as a forester. Therefore, the beauty of nature around him has served as the main inspiration for these works.

Arena-Kolo (Arena-City, 2A Baseyna, 286-6978).

Exhibition opening at 7 p.m. Through May 31.

SPECIAL EVENT

SATURDAY 20

Europe Day

The celebration of Europe Day in Kyiv will offer another opportunity for Kyivans to feel like real Europeans at least for a day and learn more about being European by visiting the so-called European town at Maydan Nezalezhnosti, where they’ll be able to meet up with representatives of 26 countries and receive information on each of them. Among other entertainment of the day is the concert of Ukrainian and German jazz that will start at 5 p.m. The official opening of the European festival will take place at 6 p.m. at the main stage, while the main event of the day – the concert featuring Ukrainian stars VV and TNMK and special guests Swedish band Cardigans  – will start at 6:30 p.m.

Maydan Nezalezhnosti and Khreshchatyk. Free admission.

SATURDAY 20

Human Rights Documentary Festival

The Ukrainian Human Rights Helsinki Group and the Public Organization “Contemporary Information Technologies and Visual Arts Center” will hold the third festival of documentaries united by the topic of human rights in order to demonstrate burning problems connected with this issue in Ukraine. The program of the festival will include about 80 films from 20 countries in original languages with Ukrainian subtitles. After each show the viewers will be offered to participate in a discussion on the problems brought up in the movies. For detailed program and more information go to http://docudays.org.ua.

Budynok Kino (6 Saksahanskoho, 417-4118).

Free admission. Through May 25.

FRIDAY 19 – SUNDAY 21

The 4th International Kyiv Photo Fair

According to the program of The International Photo Fair, it will be interesting not only for professional photographers, but also amateurs and regular photography fans. In the course of the Photo Fair, the organizers from Ukraine, Russia and Great Britain are planning to conduct “Profoto 2006” –– an exhibition of professional Ukrainian photos, an advertisement photo exhibition, “Master”, a festival of various national photo competitions, an exhibition by Pope’s personal photographer Grzegorz Galazka, and many other personal exhibitions and contests sponsored by leading photo companies, such as Canon, Epson and others.

International Exhibition Center (15 Brovarsky Prospekt, 451-4160).

Tickets Hr 10.

LIVE MUSIC

FRIDAY 19

Krykhitka Tsakhes and Dymna Sumish

In spite of differences in music styles, the bands Krykhitka Tsakhes (Tiny Tsakhes) and Dymna Sumish (Smoky Mix) will hold a common concert called “sXe party” during which they will play one song of each other’s repertoire and also perform a song called “No” aimed at urging joining vegetarianism. In fact, the main idea of the event is to promote two lifestyle trends the leaders of both bands are following – vegetarianism and “Straight Edge” – a subculture that appeared in the U.S. advocating rejection of drugs, alcohol, nicotine and disorderly sexual contacts in favor of self-control and monogamy.

Ring (8 Nauky Prospekt, 524-2209).

8 p.m. Please, call for ticket information.

FRIDAY 19

Concert of Classical Music

Before the main festivities of the Europe Day celebration begin, the festival will open with a concert of classical music that takes place at the Opera House and is organized by Kyiv City Administration.

National Opera and Ballet Theatre (50 Volodymyrska, 234-7165).

7 p.m. Call for ticket information.

SATURDAY 20

5’Nizza

Ukrainian duo 5’nizza, presently signed to Moscow label “Vdokh”, will come to perform a concert in Kyiv after a very long break. Since the concert is taking place at such a small venue as Baboon, the tickets to this mini-concert will cost no less than Hr 200, but even such a high cost will not drive away most of Kyiv fans of 5’nizza, so don’t hesitate to order your tickets right away. Kharkiv-born members of 5’nizza Andriy Zaporozhets and Serhiy Babkin are presently seen at the parties and concerts in Russia much more often than in their homeland, where their unique style, which combines reggae, hip-hop and the unusual vocals of Zaporozhets, wasn’t appreciated by local producers and record companies until they became really big in neighboring Russia.

Baboon (39 Khmelnytskoho, 234-1503).

8 p.m. Call for ticket information.

SUNDAY 21

Mumiy Troll

Though no more quite as madly popular as they were just a few years ago, the Russian band Mumiy Troll has still retained a certain number of its fans, who remained faithful to the band despite the noticeable changes in style and mood. However, Mumiy Troll can still easily attract big crowds of fans to their concerts, and they’ll try to prove it by performing at Kyiv’s biggest concert venue, Palats Sportu. The songs from Troll’s new album, “Fusion and Absorbtion”, may sound a little too clever and wise, however, the main Mumiy Troll trademark, the mewing voice of the charismatic band leader Ilya Lagutenko, has remained the same.

Palats Sportu (1 Sportyvna Ploshcha, 246-7405).

7 p.m. Tickets Hr 50 to 100.

WEDNESDAY 24

ManSound

Ukrainian jazz band ManSound will present their new solo program “Razzsolnik” at a concert that will consist of two parts. The first part will include world-famous jazz pieces, Gospel, Italian hits and some Beatles’ songs arranged by the Ukrainian band while the second part will be devoted to Ukrainian, Russian and Jewish folklore. The organizers promise to provide the audience not only with the sound of high quality, but also with different special visual effects. In spite of the performance being labeled “solo,” singer and ex-minister Oksana Bilozir, opera diva Valentyna Stepova and step-dancer Volodymyr Shpudeiko will make guest appearances in the concert.

Zhovtnevy Palats (1 Instytutska, 279-7482).

7 p.m. Tickets Hr 20 to 200.

Sport

SATURDAY 20

Drag Racing Cup of Ukraine

The Drag Racing Committee and the Ukrainian Automobile Federation have organized the first Ukrainian Drag Racing Cup with the participation of professional auto pilots from the biggest cities in the country. Some teams of racers will also come from neighboring countries, such as Belarus. The racers will compete in both qualification and final rounds in one day.

Chayka (motor-racing circuit; Svyatoshino metro station).

11 a.m. For more information call 240-1340.

SUNDAY 21

The Final of the Hockey World Championship

The 2006 Hockey World Championship is coming to its end and Sunday will define the teams that will win third, second and first prizes in Riga, Latvia. The country-favorites of this year’s championship won’t surprise any sports fan, because countries such as Canada and Russia are the usual leaders in the tour tables. Last year’s Olympic champion Sweden and last year’s hockey champion the Czech Republic are also ranked among the leaders. Therefore, the battle for the prizes is going to be hot and dramatic until the end.

TV Channel Inter and various sport bars.

Clubs

SATURDAY 20

Sex in Dallas

French trio Sex in Dallas, which lives and works in Germany, will come to Kyiv without its soloist Mia von Matt a.k.a Billadoll, but will still play the band’s trademark electro-pop music. The other two members of the trio actually coming are Adrien Walter and David Ducaruge, who prefer to work with a laptop instead of a 4-track recorder, using samples rather than live guitars. And this very approach to music has just brought them success and popularity, leading them to work with Miss Kittin and some other prominent musicians.

Kayf (20 Artema, 482-0001). 11 p.m.

Please, call for ticket information.

By Kyivpost

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But before any cigars are pulled out and any celebrations get under way, it first has to come to the Kyiv Post Best Of team to determine from where said celebratory cigars should be got. After all, it’s one thing to get a real Cohiba in your hands – especially for embargo-embattled Americans – but it’s a whole other thing to have it fresh in your hands, and in a place where it’s easy to relax and savor every robust puff.

Down on the corner

We have to start this Best Of with a nod to the little kiosk near the corner of Horodetskoho and Zankovetsko, right near the posh Ukraina cinema. In a city where the average kiosk has myriad types of Orbit gum, instant coffee, warm bottled beer and little else, we found this little tobacconist to be a real find. This place carries various types of English, Dutch and other pipe tobaccos laid out side-by-side with a small assortment of pipes, cigars, rolling papers and other tobacco accoutrements. While it doesn’t offer a luxurious lounge in which to sit and delve in said products, for those needing something late at night when the city’s far pricier shops are closed, this place comes in handy. A for effort, D- for comfort. But at least the woman there is friendly.

Moving right along, and also right near the center, the Tobacco Line shop in the newish section of the Metrograd underground mall near Arena City intrigued the Best Of bunch. In a small corner of this otherwise oxygen-deprived shopping area sits this fresh little shop that has, among other things, various kinds of champagne cognac, Scotch whiskeys, real French champagnes and olive oil. Olive oil?

The oil notwithstanding, we noticed the rather adequately stocked walk-in humidor at Tobacco Line, as well as a tall column outside of it in which we found various lighters, clippers, pipes and more. For a little area of a sprawling underground mall, this was a noteworthy find, but sans chairs and any kind of relaxation area – the boys working there weren’t very polite – we decided we could do better, and we did.

Stepping up

The London Cigar Club outside the main doors of the Dnipro Hotel at the other end of Khreshchatyk from Metrograd proved to be a rather sumptuous affair. Wall-to-wall leather-bound chairs, sumptuous tones of burgundy and brown – London Cigar Club gives off a relaxed, cigar-smoking air, and the staff complement includes a coat check attendee, a bartender to oversee various cognacs, brandies and more, and a cigar aficionado to lead anyone through the selection of one of London’s many Cuban, Dominican or other Central American varieties.

In addition to the staff, assembled to wait on clients hand and foot, the London Cigar Club also has a premiere VIP lounge that is separate from the larger smoking room.

Sadly, however, London has made the mistake of putting large flat-screen TVs in both rooms and typically tunes both to Fashion TV. What does FTV have to do with smoking a nice Dominican Robusta? Pretty much nothing, as far as we’re concerned. That was enough to put us off.

A step up from London, then, was the location of the Fortuna smoke shop chain in Podil. While its sister shop on Baseyna tops many smoke shops in the city with its huge walk-in humidor and immense selection of cigars, accessories, pipe tobaccos and pipes – including Egyptian water pipes and assorted tobaccos for these – the place has no smoking lounge. Its sister location in Podil, however, does.

The genuinely impressive Fortuna smoking lounge in Podil has just about everything that a cigar aficionado could possibly want: impressive seating areas, walk-in humidor, plenty of cigars, cognacs, brandies and other liqueurs, and great staff to boot. Still, it fell just a bit short of the mark we set for ourselves. We marched stoically onward.

Up in smoke

If the Best Of team members had to give a reason to distinguish our winner from its closest rivals, we’d just have to say it feels more authentic. And it’s far bigger. And more stately. In short, it’s just better. Our winner then? La Casa del Habano on the Klovsky Uzviz in Pechersk.

To start, the success of La Casa del Habano starts with having franchises in more than 80 cities worldwide, so they know what they’re doing. And in general, La Casa made us feel completely self-indulgent; there’s no end to the comforts afforded there – such as a walk-in humidor the size of many Khrushchev-era apartments – and their wonderful staff served to enhance our smoking experience, as it will for other cigar and pipe smokers in the Ukrainian capital.

By a case-and-a-half of hand-rolled Cubans, La Casa del Habano gets our vote as Kyiv’s best smoke shop.

Casa del Habano

13 Klovsky Uzviz, 496-2458.

by Kyiv Post

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