Culture Shift with Olga | White Eagle Hall, JCTC, Theater Culture, Ukraine & Breaking Borders

Culture Shift host Duda Penteado sits down with Olga, creator and founder of the Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC), for a profound conversation on her artistic roots, the creation of White Eagle Hall, and the role of art in fostering global peace.  

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In this episode, Olga discusses her early life in Ukraine and Belarus, where her mother and grandfather first sparked her lifelong passion for the theater. She shares the miraculous, against-all-odds story of acquiring and restoring White Eagle Hall with her husband Ben during the 2008 economic crash. Olga also delves into the importance of global cultural exchange, the resilience of her family in war-torn Ukraine, and JCTC's vision for its upcoming 20th-anniversary celebration.  

This episode covers: • Discovering a profound connection to theater at just three years old in Belarus and Ukraine • The differences between European ensemble theater and American Broadway styles • The struggles and "miracles" behind purchasing and restoring White Eagle Hall as a cultural landmark • Exploring cultural diversity, sharing stories, and breaking borders through the arts • Uncovering family secrets surrounding the Ukrainian Holodomor and the Holocaust • Finding inspiration in the resilience of Ukrainian artists working through the current war • A look ahead at JCTC's 20th Anniversary Gala on March 10th and the upcoming international festival  

Watch, subscribe, and stay connected for more conversations with creatives, artists, founders, and culture builders.

#CultureShift #JerseyCity #JCTC #WhiteEagleHall #TheaterArts #ArtAsActivism #Podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Welcome to Culture Shift with Duda Penteado. And I have today a very, very special guest. Olga, my good friend, her husband Ben. You guys are amazing. Olga is the creator and the founder of JCTC.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Jersey City Theater Center, right?

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Yes. Which to me is the best theater you can find around here because it really brings a variety of experiences. But before we get to Jersey City Theater Center, we are going to, which I'm familiar with, I serve on the board, I still in special committee. So we've been together in this long journey. I want to ask you where you were born and how the spark of theater began in your life.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Well, the first question first. I was born in Ukraine. I was born in Kiev, and I grew up in Belarus. When we're talking about Spark of theater, a lot of it is my mother. My mother introduced me to theater, to poetry when I was very young. I grew up surrounded by books. But I also have to say that in my life, especially in Ukraine every summer, I would travel to Ukraine to Velika Starica. It's a village next to Kiev. And over there, I would run freely on the fields, pick up flowers, swim in lakes, and I believe that all that freedom when you grow up as a child is very important for us as artists, right? But uh first introduction to theater, it was my mother. She brought me to theater for the first time when I was about three years old, maybe a little bit uh later, but that's what she told me. And she brought me to see Molière. And I when I grew up, uh, and she told me, you know, when you when you were three years old, I brought you to see Molière. I'm like, mom, Molière is all about intrigues and you know attractions. Um, why did you uh why did why did you decide uh to bring me to see Moliere? And she said we didn't have babysitter, I didn't want to leave you home. And as soon as you woke in, you said this is where I belong. But also my grandfather worked as a dispatcher on a railroad in Belarus, and right next to his office, it was a theater, and it was it would be always empty because he worked at night. So I begged him every every night uh every time he had to work at night to take me with him. He would work, and I would go to that theater and read poetry and imagine that I'm acting, and I believe that all those little pieces made me who I am today. And of course, later on I went to all the professional schools. I got into Belarus School of Arts at the age of eight, and it was actually very interesting because uh my mother also brought uh to my attention that there's school, uh, and if you want to get in, and at that time I loved dancing. Um, if I wanted to get in, I had to go on audition for the school, and I said, Mom, I really would like to go and learn an audition, and then the day when uh auditions were she um she got sick, and I took two buses by myself at eight years old. Wow, and I went and auditioned, and when they called me back, my friend mother went back with me, and uh they said, Well, uh, we really like your audition. Now you have to sign. And uh the mother of my friend, she is actually my sister, sister-in-law right now in Ukraine. Um, she married my uncle. So her mother was um talking to administration of the school as she was my my parent.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Oh wow. So that's how it started.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Yes, that's how it started.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Eight years old then. That's how everything really like you got your first school and assignments. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

So yes, but but unfortunately, my mother couldn't pay for the school, and I remember walking around, uh, walking around the school, and the principal of the school saw me outside, and he said, Why are you not in class? And I was so embarrassed to say, I we don't have money to pay. And it was five rubles uh a month, I believe. Uh, and I just started crying. Uh, I shared that with him, and he said, Go to class. Nobody ever gonna ask you for payment ever again. And he did all the documents, and I went a full scholarship scholarship for five years, and then beyond that as well, because I was also performing almost every weekend. Uh, so the free time um in my life also associates a lot with Ukraine because when I was in Belarus, I had two schools and I also performed every weekend. It was very busy for me. Uh, but yes.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

See, that that is connecting a lot of dots. Why I know you for years, and every time I work with you, it's so important to give opportunity to others and to children, and now it's home because that's how it was for you. And if it wasn't that full scholarship, you'll not be able to learn and do the things you love, and that was the thing that you know made a difference for you. So so you understand that. Um, what I want to I have a question about Ukraine, but before I get there, let me just finish this point. Is it right for me to say you're from like the Eastern Europe air uh area? I don't know. I I always thought it is right. So let me first put my question and you correct me. Um you come from a school that is European and Eastern kind of European uh theater school, right? What what do I mean by that? When I grew up, when I grew up in Brazil, Brazil has a lot of European influences, so I always saw a lot of things, theater, then comes from Europe. Um, so our school is more the European school. I mean, meaning, meaning the Broadway show, as we know in New York, is something really new. Then I only got in touch when I came to New York City, which to me, the Broadway show New York City is kind of the Hollywood movie from Hollywood style, right? Then, you know, they had similar styles in the way became the American style. I was never familiar with that. I was more like European, more organic, more uh stage, built in different ways. Um, so I when I got connected with JCTC, this is what touched me because I'm like, she's bringing something else to America then is becoming a hybrid, but has this very routine, I guess, Greek and beginning theater impressions.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Yes, yes. Um, I and it all comes from the history, right? From the history of theater. So Broadway, uh, which has also a lot of great productions because the way actors trained, um, but the history of Broadway, uh based on bringing the star from Europe, usually it's a singer or just a singing star, because a lot of people in the United States uh didn't understand English, so they had to, the producers had to manage that. And then Americans mostly were a background for that big star, and they would go from state to state to state, and this is how Broadway was born. So it's very much star-based productions, whereas um, and I wouldn't say that it's only European because it's um all over the world, a lot of uh theaters and storytellers, right, they come together and they tell different stories in very organic and it in very organic way, but in different cultural languages and different cultural styles. And I'm very, very attracted to that. And of course, I do come from um you can say Central Europe, Eastern Europe, um, Ukraine, Belarus, and a lot of the technique um that I have learned based on Stanislavsky technique, but I am attracted in ensemble performance and uh repertory theater when people work together for many years and then they also have an opportunity to tell different stories. So what you see um a lot of the art that I bring and also what we have created at Jersey City Theater Center, it's basically that. It's more organic and uh ensemble theater. Because I grew up with that, right? I grew up with people working together, um they get familiar with each other, and when they tell the stories, they understand each other. It it becomes a second nature. Uh, whereas in uh Broadway productions, it's always changing, right? It's always well, some long-running shows, people also become a family and work together, but yes, and then a lot of actors also train in theater like that.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Is a lot of your foundation come from the basic Greek style of school, theater school?

SPEAKER_00 11:41

I studied Greek theater like everyone else, as history of study, uh everyone studied, and I do have uh I believe in philosophy of theater is uh a democratic tool uh because because of Greece. But of course, I like so many others have uh Stanislavsky training, although I did study at least Strasbourg Theatre uh studios, and I studied with Jorge Kachero, who is an exceptional director, who started this company with me. I was lucky enough that my professor supported me and started Jersey City, Jersey City Theatre Center started with um yes, uh student and and professor. Um he supported and he helped me uh and he directed the first production, which was uh Land of Fire in 2007 by Louis Santero. And we produced in New York because we couldn't find one single, even a basement in Jersey City to uh invite union actors.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Oh wow, so okay, we transitioned now to this. Um so 2007 is the first year of JCTC?

SPEAKER_00 13:02

2006 is when we incorporated and we had the first yes nonprofit, we had to raise money, uh we uh had first events in 2006, but Jersey City or New York? Jersey City, and then in 2007, um we announced the first edition uh and we started receiving headshots. We wanted for this particular production for each and every actor, and it was 12 of them that we were casting to come from different cultural backgrounds, but most agents of union actors wouldn't even allow the actors to come and audition and act here because they didn't know Jersey City uh culturally, artistically, and they wouldn't allow their clients to come. So we had to bring um our first production just outside of Jersey City, Christopher Street, in New York, and we rented Wingsteera for for the first production, Land of Fire.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

And for 2006 to we're now in 2026, 20 years.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yes, and I'm so so so happy that the first production was actually about native people.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

Yeah, we started with telling the story of and giving uh respect and memory of uh you know native native people of United States of America, not United States of America, because the story is about Argentinian tribe.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

So it is about the people were here before people came. Because they here mean in the Americas, in the the the old uh this is Argentina, so it's South America.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

I but um yes the idea then I guess you guys are working in this is like you don't discover a place there's already there's people you know say yes but the story is about uh this particular story was about European um um European uh explorer explorer came uh to Elador Fiego. How is how do you say land of fire in Spanish? Oh the uh uh the land the land yeah oh land of fire and he um he he saw the stripe and he some people think he fell in love with the fuego that thank you and uh he took that boy back to England and it's a real story, it's a piece of history, and uh this boy who was so different had presents with the queen, they baptized them him in England, and then they gave him a lot of gifts and he brought all of this gifts back to his tribe and started explaining in his own language um how people live in England, and uh the captain uh thought that the tribe is gonna change their ways. Instead, they pushed they pushed him out, they pushed their own uh the the boy out of their tribe, and he was very lonely with all his with all his clothes and medals and everything that they gave him. Tribe uh um resent him. So there's beautiful message in that story of how one culture is not better than another, right? It's a different way of living, but it is not superior.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

And I think the second story is sometimes we embark on a journey. You know, I always tell people if you don't travel the world, you're never gonna know what's about. You need to experience, and those experiences change you. So I think the other story is the people who stays insular, they less uh open to experiences, and the person that goes got transformed, and so you're no longer the same person. So he comes back, he's these two per two people, right? You know, the one before, the one after, and he wants to be understood, but these people never changed. So I think that's the story in the end of the day of every immigrant, right? You know, I came, you know, I I that story makes me think. That's what I love about theater because it's amazing. I now have two years more in the United States than Brazil, and every time I go to Brazil, I see the duda side that became very Americanized. And but I still have the some Brazilian in me because I was born there. So so I'm always in conflict with myself. What's going on in here? How do I like this? Where do I really belong? That conversation is always like there's embrace and there's rejection at the same time. But the reality I tell people, I'm I'm I'm no longer the same guy. I left, and you know, the way I see the world, the way I see the leadership of America and Brazil change completely. When I was in Brazil, never came to America was very different. So I always gotta think about when I'm talking to my own people in Brazil, like, do they really I I was I thought like then. So you know, so it's incredible that story, yes. And I think theater, thank you, Olga, because you always being so you you're just not a great director, you're just not interested in people in community, but you have a great one of the greatest gifts I think you have is a curatorial gift. You're always finding the right place that is like impacting people. You know, my mother came to that one, she was here, and I brought her to see the one about education. There's an amazing play. I forgot the name.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

I'm so sorry. What's the name of that? Um uh uh Lines in the Dust by Nicole Seltzer.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Talking about redlining and talking about where you have good education when you don't. And first of all, the whole projection presentation of that was so creative and so amazing. But but the content of the conversation, you know, I always tell people, and you can give me your opinion. I always tell people when do you know you saw something with great quality, either theater, art. When do you know that? And my answer always been it's when you walk out of the place, you can stop thinking. Because when that thing is not good, you f you know. I make it next day, you don't remember. Yes, do you know the movie you watched yesterday? They go, no, because it creates zero impact. Well, when the movie is great, the theater is great, you like chewing on that stuff for a week, and then you go around talking to people. Man, I saw this thing, you gotta watch it, you gotta watch it. So that that's great art, right? It creates impact on you, and you have, I mean, done incredible work in bringing diversity, but great messes then challenge people to think.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Thank you, thank you, Jude. And I I believe that it comes from um this desire to learn and uh not taking anything as it is. Um, I have curiosity about the world, and I believe this curiosity is a secret uh for in in my curation and in life because I grew up in a very diverse family. My um ancestors come from, of course, Ukraine, Russia, China, and Belarusian Jewish. My first language is Ukrainian. Of course, I had to learn Russian. I studied, I learned Belarusian, um specially literature. I I loved uh Belarusian literature. There's in some incredible special poets, Belarusian poets. And there was always that um secret about my family, right? Some uh relatives in my family would ask Olga uh even when I was a kid, so who do you like more? Which which grandmother? Or and I knew like you try to represent a different thing. Yes, like I knew what they meant, but me as a kid, I loved every part of all of the grandparents, all of the grand-grandparents, and I always wanted to find out why are people asking me those questions? How are those parts of me or my family different? And uh what I realize that they are all beautiful, and they ask what they ask because me as a kid, I saw the beauty, I saw the kindness, I saw how much they care about me. But sometimes adults fail to see what children can see. And this is why when somebody is trying to put one particular culture in a basket and sell to me, is this is what it is. I say, mm-mm.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Oh, this is the best, and the other one is inferior.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Yes, I say, yeah, in order for me to learn, I have to step into this culture and really find out for myself because I know it is a love, it is tragedy, it's history, everything is there, and you just have to come out of your comfort zone and go and experience it. Yeah, really experience it. This is where this is where the international or world music, global music come into my curation because I really would love for people to feel, to experience a culture. And this is what art um allows us to do, experience different cultures, each other cultures. And I truly believe too that that this would build peace when we understand and come from somebody else's perspective.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

I agree. Put yourself in the condition of the order and the stand they come from, makes you a better human being. And sometimes you don't need to agree with the other person, but you could respect the difference. It's different than agreeing. I don't need to agree with everybody, people have different points of view, but I could respect, which gives a a level of quality, the the best quality human being, you know. We don't need to agree in everything. Who is gonna agree on everything? You know what I'm saying? So, but respect is the important thing, and I think we live in a society that lost all this sort of foundational important things. So, um, yeah, and it's interesting because every time I talk into an artist and becomes uh gets behind a big project like that, there's always a story behind the form deal. And the more we talk, the more uh I understand more about who you I I see you in action, but I understand more about the background, and that's amazing. Okay, so let's just put this together. 2006 and 2007 was Jersey City Theater Center, what's happening? When is the why you go hall appears in the scene and how it happened? Give me a quick retrospective.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Yes, uh, so we uh couldn't find a space and nobody would rent us anything, not even a basement in Jersey City, but we raised the money here for our first year, and we made uh decision to find that venue. And at that time, Ben already heard that White Eagle Hall um he's he actually saw it in 2004, but at that time it was already um under contract to become condos.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Wow, and uh when um another one, another one in D.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Yes, yes, so but he put mess together and he said, listen, this project is not gonna work, especially in 2008 when the um uh economy went down and nobody could build the crash, yes. Um I was we already had Leonardo, my son's second second child, and uh I was also pregnant with Bianca, and Ben would send me to talk to Polish priest. He is like, this project is not gonna work. If you want to build theater in Jersey City, you have to go and talk to this priest. So we are the first one on his mind and on his list when the project doesn't work, and I would be pregnant with a stroller, very pregnant, coming, very pregnant, coming knocking on the door of this Polish priest, and he would be like, Olga, I told you we are under the contract, it's gonna be condos. Like he at some point I felt like he was annoyed that this is this woman, like pregnant woman coming to his uh you know, to his church asking for for about Vitegal Hall. And guess what? The miracle happened, the miracle happened in 2009, um, or 2009, or 2009 or 2010, they called Ben. The church called Ben and they said the developer broke contract. Can you talk to us about your proposal?

SPEAKER_02 28:13

Wow, that's called the God-given moment.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

But guess what? The universe conspire. Oh my god, this is amazing!

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Yes, I didn't know that story, it is so much so much better now.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Wow, yes, yes, yes. But guess what? Ben also lost his project. We had no money, yes, we had to sell our house, move to suburbs because at that time we couldn't even afford Jersey City. And I said, Ben, we have three children. Maybe I know you love me, but this is too much. And he said, Olga, we're gonna go back to the priest and we're gonna ask them for a mortgage. I said, You're crazy, they never, they never gonna go for it. And he said, Well, we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

It doesn't hurt to ask, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Doesn't hurt to he went to the church, he asked for a mortgage, but the and at some point they agreed to it, but in order to pay, you have to give down payment. I'm like, where are you gonna get this money? He said, Well, I'm gonna call all my investors. I'm like, but some of them lost money because it's a crash, nobody is ever gonna go for it. The housing industry was falling apart, yes, falling apart, and guess what? He called everybody, and one person said yes, Jason Levine, said yes. Theater, it's interested, interesting. I mean, and he's not even a theater person. So uh this is how White Eagle Hall, at least the structure, at least the first um purchase uh happened, right? Because of one person who said yes and who believed in in this magic.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Wow, yes, but you know, I I want to make this comment the quality, the architecture. I mean, your husband has you and your husband is a powerhouse. I didn't know until like several conversations after we're like working together a few years ago that he had a lot to do with the design of the place, the restoration. And you guys brought the pieces of the church and created art installation. I gotta tell you, few out there need to hear this. You haven't been to White Eagle Hall, it's an amazing piece of restoration in Jersey City with a touch of contemporary uh environment and art. It's just unbelievable. And the day I found out that he was involved in the design, I always think about this. Why is the developer to guys, you guys in a special category to me? Most of the developers I know they want to build big things and conos and make more money, more money, more money, more money. I get it. People need to make more money, and I I think money is a great tool to do a lot of things. But if you just caught up in this more money, more housing, what do you do to give back? And I think this is an incredible God-given moment project because when your husband and you start thinking about and conspiring against the market, boom, the opportunity opened. And this is now a landmark in Jersey City. We did so many events. I debuted the How Many Lives documentary for you guys. We had like a full house, almost 800 people on that day, and you guys had given back so much to the community, not just beautifying, give a place that it belongs, theater and music, but also um uh really uh touching a lot of lives to people coming in. You know, you can't separate human beings from uh artistic experiences, you know. No, no, you can't. Yeah, every time I walk in there, it's like, oh my god, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

And it's because Ben is an artist, um, to be completely honest, right? Uh he comes from a family of makers, he comes from a family of builders. So his father was a um furniture maker, he also was a carpenter who worked on World Trade Center uh for union, and Ben grew up with that. Uh he grew up also very poor in Italy. Uh, when his family went back um uh when he was very young, and he always talks about how his only toys were rocks. And um when he walks in and in especially historical buildings, uh you have to see him. He always touches uh the brick with so much love because that's his that's his passion. Well, it makes so much sense.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

When you walk in those places in Europe, you're touching history, right? You can go to the Coliseum, you can walk in Florence.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

He always put his uh I I didn't see Weitegal Hall. I have to give him the credit.

SPEAKER_02 33:31

He saw it, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:32

I oh we walked in, it was a gym. So Jorge, my director and I, um, my co co-artistic director, we um came and he looked and he said, Ben, it's a gym, it's not a theater. What are we gonna do here? And Ben said, Behind these dark panels, there's a beautiful theater. You just have to trust me. You just have to trust me. And um, I I remember driving home saying, Ben, it's a little bit too much. Your imagination, it's just a gym. And he's like, No, there's a balcony, there's beautiful stained glass, you know, everything was uh covered.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

It's a you walk there today, and the stained glass is there, the balcony is there.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

100%, and he fought for every piece of history outside, inside, for every brick to be intact, even when he worked with designers, because that's his passion.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

That's amazing. Yes, yes. What I want to ask you to you is like talking about that. I mean, I'm just thinking all this, just think about all the plays I had the opportunity to watch, and you are obviously you have been one of my biggest support in the JC Y Map. You know, you sponsor, you helped me with the melodies to help me for out of all my sponsors, you have been the one I felt like I have a real part. No, uh, people come along. You need you need a they say you need a tribe like to raise a child. JC, JC Y Map was my child designing a program. So a lot of people came along and helped, but you were one of the top ever, and you gave a home to us. We could do shows, do the presentations. So, yeah, yeah. And I'll I'll never forget that the passion for the kids, you know. Sometimes I think the new the universe always is conspiring. If you're not giving, you're not gonna get anything back. And and and it takes years for us to understand the legacy has to be built throughout ears. It doesn't come in one year, two, five. It takes a cycle, 20 years, I believe, for you to start feeling amount to something. Right? I was just having a conversation with my guests here, uh, and we're talking about the Arbezo in Miami. And I say, is people talk about our bezel in Miami so easy so loosely today, they don't know it's 22, 22, 23 years of being doing the same thing with a lot of other things happening around. So it takes a cycle 20 years. Yeah, settle of that. You guys now in the cycle of 20 years coming for 2006-2026, what is ahead for JCTC? What are the dreams, the plans, what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 36:34

So I I believe in life, um that it's it's very important to follow your passion, right? But it's also important to the most important to see what people what people's needs are. And um I believe that the next step, at least where I would like to see Jersey City Theatre Center, and it does come from my own roots, is uh exploration of different cultures and breaking the borders, breaking our personal borders, breaking borders in our community, and also breaking the borders beyond the United States, inviting people, and uh breaking bread with people, because my relatives right now live in a war in Ukraine, and yes, it is on my mind every day. How do we create peace for the next generation? I come from a Jewish family. How do we create peace so it never comes back? It never so history doesn't repeat itself, and the only way that I see as an artist, um Duda, how we can do that is to introduce our audience, each other, to our cultures, to share stories, to break bread with each other. This is the only way for us to create peace by coming together, by sharing the stories.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

You said something very interesting. Uh, elaborate a little more. Let me tell you why. I always said the opposite. I always said history repeats itself if we don't learn with the mistakes. So, I mean, elaborate with this because a new thought for me. History doesn't repeat itself, I guess it's always changing and moving. That's what you mean by that.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

No, I'm saying history repeats itself. Oh, repeat itself.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Okay, okay, okay, yes, yes, yes, somehow I understood it doesn't. I'm like, oh I'm no okay, right. So in the same idea here, yes, history does repeat. I agree. And I agree with you. Art is that tool that allowed us to make reflection and in a recollect thoughts and processes and say, we don't want to go to that direction, which it goes back when you met my art at the Jersey City Museum. Yes, I took the Guernica of Picasso and I deconstruct that painting and I connect with the Vend of the Old Trade Center. Then I brought kids to talk about that. That was my art installation. And it was exactly the idea that we don't repeat, you know, in one of my lectures, I took what happens with the bombing of the Guernica City, and I swap the image with the old trade center. When I did the lecture, people didn't recognize that I swapped, they just saw destruction. In the end of the lecture, I said, look, I swap the pictures. The reality you're not gonna notice because all you see is destruction. So what do we do to stop restruction? We reflect, we think about the mistakes, we learn, right? So that's why the paint is called Beauty for Ashes, is to change. You you don't learn. There's no beauty in ashes in destruction, but the exchange is the lesson you learn and you don't continue. And that's when we met, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:10

You saw my installation, yes, yes, and I and I loved it. I saw on channel channel one, yes, Jersey City, when I lived in Jersey City at Jersey City Museum, and I went to the museum as well, and I saw uh I saw the process, the video of the process, uh through channel one, and I uh saw the real peace as well, and I loved it. But yes, it it is history repeats itself if we forget um what what happened before us, and I believe that uh what we're seeing right now is the repeat of what happened before, what my relatives that secrets you remember the secrets that we spoke about the family secrets the family secrets every family got their own family secrets and history, yes. Oh, the Ukrainians hungry that my Ukrainian grandmother would talk about 1933. Why, what happened, but it was not, I was I didn't know because it was not in our history books. It's only my great-grandmother who refused to speak Russian would speak about those times. And my grandfather worked for government, her son, and he would walk in and when I ask questions, uh, like, what is what does grandmother mean? Russians left Ukrainians without bread. And uh my grandfather would tell her, Do you want me to lose my job? Why are you telling her that? So growing up as a kid, I was very curious about all those secrets. And uh so it's Jewish family.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Survival secrets, right?

SPEAKER_00 42:03

Yes, they never wanted for us to uh speak or even understand Yiddish, and I would be questioning why. Uh, they wouldn't want us to know about Holocaust that much. Every everybody was the same, kind of like there was you know, and then later on, um when I became a teenager, they started talking about, of course, the whole ju Jewish tragedy, and um a lot of it I also learned from books.

SPEAKER_02 42:41

Right, right. So um, in closing, I want to know. I didn't think about that, but I think it's an important question. Do you think uh answer however you want? You think um is there's hope for this war to finish soon? It's been dragging for a few years now. I mean, give what however you want to say this. Uh I don't know. Uh I mean I can feel your family uh is already in this for what three four three years.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

Uh yes, so it's it uh started in February, actually. It's gonna be uh February 22nd, uh 2022. Four years. We entered the fourth year now. Yeah, it probably goes over um uh uh longer than World War II, right? We could never imagine we could never imagine four years, not to say uh more than that, but what I have to tell you, do that they inspire me every single day. Because when I talk to them, the resilience, right? The resilience. Our designer for Jersey City Theatre Center is Ukrainian and he does everything in final. Five, ten minutes. And when I talk to him, I'm like Maxime, how like why so quick? He said, because we have electricity only for two or three hours. So I have to I have to finish all my projects now because tomorrow is not a promise. But at the same time it's impossible to survive without hope. So there's also trem tremendous hope for everything during these times.

SPEAKER_02 44:36

You know, it's so interesting you're saying sometimes needs makes artists develop styles and techniques and shapes us in ways we cannot even understand. I was just with your son and your husband and mama making introduction with my favorite Cuban artist, um Winfred Olan, and I was explaining Fred Olan working on paper all the time. And then he asked me why, because he said that was cheap. And he also put a lot of solvents in his oil paint. It looks a lot of watercolor, and he in the in the end create this incredible unique technique, just kind of he invented that out of need, you know, and later on they start gluing his paper on canvases because he started becoming famous. And when you put in canvas, the the market is more money, whatever. But out of that need, he developed a whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

So I mean, artist artists is just like vital hole in terms of the world, yes, came out of nothing, nothing, and and and people on uh Facebook beauty for ashes, and yes, yes, and people on Facebook and uh social media used to say, Oh, they reach, they this and that, and I used to look at all of this and just smile. I'm like, should I invite all these people to my apartment? So you know, it's it's it's or tell my story, or you know, sometimes I know, you know, I I dress up and I walk into the room, and um I see people like, oh, she probably reach or whatever else. And I'm thinking to myself, if only you knew that I think only two dresses, and one of them was a uniform. I grew up, I I grew up with very little, right? We should do a documentary.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

I've been telling everybody we should do a documentary, Olga. But listen, in closing, I just wanna, I know it's coming up the 20 years anniversary. Yes, we're talking about that 20 years of being mark and an artist and institution. I want you to look here, the people out there, and leave them, invite them for tell what's gonna be and invite them to be part of this tremendous celebration of JCTC 20 years anniversary at the White Eagle Hall, right?

SPEAKER_00 47:02

Yes, please uh join us for 20 years anniversary. Um, and uh we really would like to host everyone and look in into the future, hopefully, uh the future without borders. And um we're bringing international festival, real international festival, uh funded by New Jersey Economic Development this year and conference to New Jersey and Jersey City, and also come and see incredible artists like we breaking borders all the time. South African artist is c is coming, who also has incredible history. Namfuzi, she grew up um she she she basically uh grew up in a home, uh, and she still became a singer and now world-renowned singer. So please come and see Nam Fuzi. We also um uh Carolyn Dorfman and uh Breaking Borders with Russia outright, uh Carolyn Dorfman.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

This is all separate events.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

It's a separate event.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

What I wanted to do is send to us the invitations we will put here. Okay, but just give me the date of the gala. What day is gonna happen?

SPEAKER_00 48:21

The gala is on March uh March 10th, uh, and it is at 5 o'clock VIP and 6 o'clock uh all the all the guests and it goes all night long.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

No, no, it goes long. It goes on no, it goes to 10, 11, or all night long. This year is too many years, it goes on to any days, Oga.

SPEAKER_00 48:41

We also have international uh artists coming uh this year, but it's uh we have a lot of different events. Um uh the Namfuzi is on March 1st, on March 7th, we're going to have uh Carolyn Dorfman and Russia at right. Please come join us, join the movement. Uh join the movement of uniting, uh building bridges among different cultures. It is important mission. We need this to create peace and um to foster great human connections, Olga.

SPEAKER_02 49:22

Thank you so much. Yes, you are the best. I love you, you're my sister, and to be continuous.

SPEAKER_00 49:32

Thank you, Juda. Thank you so much for inviting me and uh to be continued.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

Sure. Thank you guys for watching another great episode of Culture Shift. A lot more to come, and you know what I say to be continue.