Ukrainian bullet casings bell from The Hague on tour in Germany

HIIIT’s ‘Battles & Silences’ to perform with percussion ensemble at Friedensfest Augsburg

On 9 May at Friedensfest in Augsburg and 5 July at Wonderfeel Festival, HIIIT will perform Battles & Silences, a production featuring a bell forged from 8 kilograms of melted Ukrainian bullet casings. The bell weighs 45 kilograms and carries with it a deeply personal and symbolic story. The casings were sourced through a personal connection to a fallen Ukrainian soldier, a poet and artist before the war. After his death, the casings were melted down in Kyiv and transported to the Netherlands to be recast into a bell.  

The performance is created by electronic duo Poulson Sq. (Anthony Fiumara & Mathijs Leeuwis) and features two HIIIT performers, Dirge Seçil Kuran and João Brito. Using analogue tape, Fiumara & Leeuwis build a dark, sinister drone, gradually interrupted by percussion. Accompanying the piece is a newly written text by Dutch-Ukrainian writer Lisa Weeda (known for Aleksandra, Dans Dans Revolutie), offering a poetic reflection on the bell’s origins — a story intertwined with personal history and memory. A story of remembrance and renewal. 

“During the Second World War, church bells were seized and melted into weapons. The ringing of this bell reminds us never to take peace for granted; at times, we must cherish silence.”- Fedor Teunisse, Artistic Director, HIIIT 

Follow HIIIT with Battles & Silences: https://hiiit.nl/en/performances/battles-silences/   

Read this and other stories from the international city of peace and justice on https://storiesofpurpose.thehague.com/humanity/bell-made-ukrainian-bullet-casings