Underground Shum raves change perception of post-war Donbas

BELOKUZMINOVKA MOUNTAINS, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine — The cretaceous rock formation towers at 25 meters high, surrounded by calm swamplands and sleepy villages. But on the night of the summer solstice, it was anything but. 

The moment the sun set over the horizon, the croaking of the frogs was slowly drowned out by music. A deep low sound started to pump through the air, the vibrations felt in the ground itself. Techno beats took the pace of bright lights and lasers dancing along the vertical chalk wall. The tempo grew quicker and quicker until the lasers came together to form a word, Shum — “noise” in Ukrainian. It shone brightly on the mountain for all in the surrounding swamplands to see.