KARTA SVITU finds ‘The Space of Important Things’ with help from Robe moving lights

Popular Ukrainian rock band KARTA SVITU launched their new album The Space of Important Things with a high-profile, hi-energy showcase gig at the Bel Etage venue in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was recorded for subsequent broadcast.

The show was directed by Mari Pogrebynska and Pavlo Zakrevskyi and included eye-catching lighting designed by Anton Semeniuk who utilised 32 Robe Spikie moving lights, six ColorWash 575s and a BMFL Follow Spot controlled via a RoboSpot system … among other lights, all supplied by Ukraine’s largest lighting rental company, Alight.

Like everything in Ukraine, the show, production and entertainment industry has adapted to the realities of wartime, and while Alight has moved much of its equipment inventory to Poland for the moment – for obvious reasons – Anton explained that he was still very keen to use whatever Robe kit was available at the time of the show.

“The stage space was too restricted to realise our initial ideas, so we found ourselves needing small but multifunctional devices, and Robe’s Spikie immediately came into my mind,” he explained.

Mari, Pavlo and Anton collaborated on the stage set design which included LED tubes rigged to create an abstract but interesting space. Within this were the band and their music which captures some of the spirit and the moments of Ukraine in 2024. The set concept was to have the three walls of lighting wrapping around the band leaving the fourth wall open at the front, inviting the audience in to join them.

Anton used Spikies for several tasks, including in an almost architectural context … to change the shape and meaning of the performance space as the band played through their 18 album songs. “The fixtures were a brilliant solution for setting and changing the look and styling,” he declared.

16 Spikies were hung on two rear trusses rigged in the roof and the other 16 were deployed across four vertical truss towers – stage left and right – on the deck.

Having a good number of Spikes in these different positions brought great dynamics and vibrance to the stage which radiated out into the packed audience.

He appreciated the speed of the fixtures and their ability to “create impressive effects”. He loves Robe’s patented multi-coloured Flower Effect which “perfectly complemented” certain points in the song lyrics and show narrative, helping to make each song distinctive.

He notes that Robe’s colour saturation and colour mixing in general is excellent and nicely matched across all the different fixture types.

For smooth high-quality key lighting and specials on lead singer Ivan Marunych, the BMFL FollowSpot was another great result. A standard follow spot would have been impractical and consumed a lot of space in the venue, so RoboSpot was “a logical option,” confirmed Anton.

The BMFL FollowSpot was rigged on a separate front truss, with the RoboSpot operator located backstage.

The six ColorWash 575s – one of Robe’s best sellers from the noughties and still going strong so many years later – are a testament to their great build quality and Robe’s reputation for engineering excellence. They were hung on the front truss and used for general stage washes.

The biggest challenge for any show or performance staged in Ukraine right now is unwanted interruptions – typically by air raid alerts, missile and drone attacks or power outages.

Thankfully, none of these occurred during this show and the band delivered a fantastic set that delighted their fans.

The opportunity to work on this show alone was the most enjoyable aspect for Anton. “When the whole team unites to realise a great show and you see everything perfectly harmonised with band and audience on the same wavelength … it’s very special! It’s such a great feeling,” he says with passion.

He is also the first to compliment the great technical team from Alight who helped make everything happen, including crew chief Andrii Konovalyuk.

For audio and video, the band utilised the Bel Etage in-house systems.

Anton’s first interactions with stage lighting started when aged 9, operating a follow spot for his father Fedir, who is also an LD, and was a big inspiration for him to make lighting his professional career. In 2015 he became a freelance LD working with a variety of artists both in Ukraine and internationally, and he now designs lighting for clubs, bands and theatre shows.

He first worked with Robe in 2018 at a club in Prague, “It was an extraordinary experience!” he recalls, and he has specified Robe products ever that time since whenever possible.

He’s also recently used Robe fixtures on projects at the new Leoland complex in Lviv, installed last year by Robe distributor Sound House from Dnipro, and at the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theatre.

He thinks Robe’s marketing and communication channels are very strong in illustrating how the products are used worldwide – from small clubs and art installations to huge tours and television shows, “enabling everyone to stay abreast of the latest news and trends in our field!”

Photo by Andrew Kharlamov.