Anton Kats / ILYICH: After Hope – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin
Anton Kats / ILYICH:
After Hope

After Hope
10€/15€/20€/25€ (Performance)
As part of Gallery Weekend 2025
On the showing days of After Hope in May, the set-up of the performance will be accessible for free as an installation as part of Gallery Weekend Berlin 2025.
Performance:
30.04., 20:00
02./03./04.05., 20:00
Ca. 1 h
Installation:
02./03./04.05., 12:00–16:00
Performance
Kherson’s vast shipyard looms large in the shadows of history. Situated in the Delta of Dnipro in southern Ukraine, it was once the largest shipbuilding site in the USSR, giving birth to Vishwa Asha – Universal Hope, a cargo ship built in 1974 during the Indo-Soviet partnership. Decades later, Vishwa Asha – Universal Hope is decommissioned or lost, a ghost ship drifting through the fractured narratives of war.
Created by artist Anton Kats, also known under the fluid, semi-fictional identity of musician ILYICH, After Hope blurs the boundaries between performance art, music concert, and exhibition to examine the processes by which hope is built. Driven by the need to respond to the continuing global fascization, the work embraces the temporality of transmigration, a nonlinear understanding of time in which reincarnation becomes a mode of navigating life’s cyclical chronologies and invites audiences aboard Vishwa Asha to sail the waves of birth, death and rebirth. Through sonic readings of philosophical concepts like suchness, musical-theoretical principles of harmony, and feminist perspectives for sisterhood, After Hope proposes anti-heroic strategies on how to build hope that are rooted in listening, care and renewal.
Installation
The performative site and sound installation Cemetery of Melodies Alive will be open to the public on the showing days of After Hope. It accompanies the nighttime live performance in the weaving of storytelling, music and sound art into a visceral experience. Reflecting on anti-fascist artistic positions through the lens of the military invasion of Ukraine, the project is driven by a crucial question: What is the responsibility of the artist in times of fascism and war?
Beginning with hopeless hope, this performative exhibition invites the audience to fearlessly reflect on the intertwined narratives of the present and offers a space to imagine and enact another world after the storm.
Listen now to ILYICH feat. George Lewis Jr. (aka Twin Shadow): Don't Be Afraid
The information on accessibility is still in progress and will be updated as soon as possible. If any questions remain unanswered until then, please feel free to contact the communication department at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35. Please note that details may change by the day of the event. Therefore, if you find out after you have purchased your ticket that the performance is no longer accessible to you, you can contact us for a ticket return at ticketing@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 45 until 5 business days after the event (Monday through Friday between 10am and 6pm).
Early boarding
If, for artistic reasons, the door to the auditorium does not open until very shortly before the performance begins, there is the option of early boarding.
Tickets
- Reservations can be made via the ticket telephone at 030 283 52 66, Monday to Friday from 4pm-6pm
- Via the online ticket shop
- At the box office
You can also find more information about accessibility at the house here.
Original music by: ILYICH
Recorded in collaboration with: Andrii Barmalii, Maxim Hladetskyy, George Lewis Jr. aka Twin Shadow, Olivia Lucy Phillip, Susanne Sachsse, Yuri Shepeta, Valeri Volkov, Fanni Zahár
Mixing: Viktor Kurando
Mastering: Eugene Diggidon Don
Dramaturgical collaboration: Dragana Bulut
Structural Design: Byron Kalomamas
Sound Installation Manufacturing: TSET
Outside Eye: Ligia Lewis
Light: Jacqueline Sobiszewski
Costume collaboration: Yupanqui Ramos
Animation: Marcus Eich
A production by Anton Kats in co-production with Sophiensæle and the Berlin Artistic Research Programme. Supported by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The sound installation Cemetery of Melodies Alive was commissioned by steirischer herbst. Media partners: Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.
Anton Kats works as an artist also known under the fluid identity of musician and performer ILYICH. Kats’ practice draws from the everyday, inspired by the complex narratives of Satelite Island, his hometown neighbourhood in the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson. Kats’ projects take the form of installations, objects and drawings, concerts, lectures, performances, poetry, films, radio shows, radio plays, vinyl releases and publications. His work has been presented at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, steirischer herbst, SAVVY Contemporary, Serpentine Galleries and Tate Modern among many others. Kats took part in documenta14 and performed at Roskilde Festival, Fusion Festival and Sonic Acts. Anton Kats is a fellow of the Berlin Art Research Programme (2024-25).
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Bild/Photo: Silke Briel -
Bild/Photo: Silke Briel -
Bild/Photo: Silke Briel