“A little from here and a little from there”: Ukrainian-Israeli evening “Tales from the Suitcase” to be held in Tel Aviv – October 15, 2026

On October 15 in Tel Aviv, Anna Andrienko’s author project “Tuteshni” will hold a chamber meeting “Tales from the Suitcase” — an evening of stories, family memories, Ukrainian traditions, and that special experience familiar to many people who once arrived in Israel with a suitcase.

Author: Anton Pshedinsky

The meeting will take place on October 15, 2026, at 19:30 at the Ukrainian cuisine restaurant SHO? in Tel Aviv. The organizers deliberately limit the number of participants: the format is conceived not as a large event, but as an evening for a small company where people can truly talk to each other.

The name of the meeting is “Tales from the Suitcase”, which literally means “Tales from the Suitcase”.

And the suitcase here is not just a beautiful image.

“Almost all of us once came here with a suitcase. Some for a short time, some forever, and some, as it turned out, “for a short time” for already fifteen years,” writes the project author Anna Andrienko.

But along with things, people brought a completely different baggage: habits, mom’s phrases, grandma’s recipes, jokes, memories, and family stories.

Such a suitcase should become one of the central elements of the evening.

What will be taken out of the suitcase

The organizers do not reveal all the details of the program in advance. It is known that participants will be treated to stories, questions, small games, tasks, and unexpected finds.

According to Anna Andrienko, the idea is that some things should be taken with you after the meeting, and some — perhaps, on the contrary, symbolically left in the suitcase.

It turns out to be not quite a performance, not a lecture, and not an ordinary meeting of compatriots. Rather, a conversation about one’s own memory and what happens to a person when several homes appear in their life at once.

For the Israeli reader, it is easy to recognize a familiar plot here: the country is largely built by people who came here from different parts of the world and brought with them languages, dishes, family stories, and habits. In the case of this evening, it is primarily about the Ukrainian experience and how it gradually intertwines with the Israeli one.

Old clothes are asked to be brought with you

The evening will also have a quite material part.

Anna Andrienko wants to revive the tradition of her childhood: old things were cut into strips of fabric, and then paths were woven from them.

Therefore, guests are invited to bring an old T-shirt, shirt, or other item that is no longer worn and can be cut without regret.

From the fabric, participants will together make a path. Those who do not want to engage in weaving can make a small item for a bag, suitcase, or keys.

Old clothes thus get a second life — but at the same time become part of a shared memory.

NANovosti — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency talk about such projects not only as Ukrainian events in Israel. Here, the process itself is more interesting: the culture that a person brought with them ceases to exist separately and gradually becomes part of their new Israeli life.

From deruny to hummus

The organizers decided to literally put this idea on the table.

The evening will start conditionally still “there”: with Ukrainian deruny with sour cream and horseradish vodka.

And then participants will gradually move “here” — to pita, hummus, and arak.

“Because we are all already a little from there and a little from here. And, probably, that’s why we are — Tuteshni,” explains Andrienko.

The Ukrainian word “tuteshni” can be roughly translated as “locals”, “those from here”. In the context of the project, it acquires another meaning: a person can remember the place they came from, but at the same time already belong to the place where they live now.

And perhaps that’s why the name “Tales from the Suitcase” is especially fitting for such an evening. The suitcase once helped to transport things across the border. Years later, it turns out that what was impossible to put inside is much more important: language, memory, the smell of homemade food, family expressions, and the sense of one’s place.

When and where

Date: October 15, 2026
Time: 19:30
Place: Ukrainian cuisine restaurant SHO?
Address: 3 Karlebach St., Tel Aviv
Registration:  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14qddGd8dmb/

The number of places is limited.

And the main principle of the project was formulated by the organizers quite simply:

“Tuteshni. Because people need people”.