УКСП "Кобза"

УКСП "Кобза" (Ukraine-Canada Joint Partnership "Kobza") was a joint Ukrainian-Canadian music company formed to popularise Ukrainian folk music. After releasing a number of cassettes in Canada, in 1989 The Ukrainian-Canadian Joint Venture "Kobza" was formed as a result of a partnership between the Ukrainian Foundation of Culture (President B. Oliynyk) and the Canadian company "Lastivka" (President M. Moroz). It recorded and released a number of Ukrainian folklore cassettes, as well as some films in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It featured artists and groups from Ukraine including: Victor Morozov, Eduard Drach, the Revutsky National Choir, Не Журись! (Ne Zhurys!), Vika and the Telnyuk Sisters. Its activities ceased in 1996. The company was a sponsor of the Chervona Ruta festival of contemporary music held in Chernivtsi in 1989, a condition of the sponsorship was that all songs must be sung in Ukrainian. The company also produced some award-winning films including "Lebedyne Ozero - Zona" (Swan Lake. The Zone) which won the FIPRESCI Prize in 1990, and "Kislorodnyy Holod" (1991). In September 1992, at the Venice International Film Festival, the film "Oxygen Starvation" was presented with the Italian Film Critics' Association Special Award.