A loss for Donetsk, a gain for Kyiv

Let us recall that on June 9, 2014, the premises of Donetsk Insulation Materials Plant, which housed the Foundation, were taken over by armed representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), who claimed they intended to use the property as a storage facility for Russian humanitarian aid. In fact, it is still used as a military base, a prison, a warehouse of stolen cars, and a film set for Russian fake videos. With its team evacuated (most exhibits were destroyed by the DNR pogromists), the Izolyatsia has continued to work outside Donetsk, carrying out its activities in eastern Ukraine, in Kyiv and abroad.

This year’s retrospective program is dedicated to the international residence project “Partly Cloudy” (2011), which was curated by a classic of contemporary conceptual photography, winner of the Hasselblad Award Borys Mykhailov from Kharkiv, who, incidentally, represents Ukraine’s National Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale. The project channels the reflections of the residence’s eight participants from seven countries who were engaged in the study of several cities in the Donetsk oblast. One of the study objects was the abandoned Palace of Culture in Horlivka.

The photo exhibition “House of Culture” features works by Flavia Junqueira, Andrei Loginov, Marco Citron, Marina Black, Dima Sergeev, and Zhanna Kadyrova. Taken at different times, the photos record a process of gradual decay of the Horlivka Palace of Culture building, which was built in 1951. The House of Culture seems to be one of those phantoms of the past, which the Izolyatsia opposed while working in Donetsk and which the Foundation urges us to reflect on while in Kyiv. In a separate remark for the exhibition, it displays Kadyrova’s work Honours Board (see in photo 1), which was exhibited in Donetsk and got damaged during the capture of the Izolyatsia’s premises. The work is exhibited un-restored as documentary evidence about the events of three years ago.

The exhibition was accompanied by a presentation of the Izolyatsia Library which is an interactive archive of the Foundation’s projects that have included catalogs, videos, books, and photos. In addition, film EURO 2012 in Donetsk, produced by Andrii Horokhov and group DDK, was screened on June 9. The documentary shows the city through the eyes of its inhabitants and provides a unique opportunity to look at the everyday life of pre-war Donetsk during a European soccer championship. The night was wrapped up by a special program of experimental and dance electronic music featuring DJs Stanislav Bobrytskyi, Sasha Dolgiy, Dunaewsky69, Mussalina, and Komitet.

The Day of the Izolyatsia was held at the creative community IZONE, located on the premises of Kyiv Ship Repair Yard in Naberezhno-Luhova Street.

Probably the main result of three years of exile is the Izolyatsia displaying an incredible ability not only to survive, but also to use adverse circumstances in its favor. While talk about the transformation of industrial zones into modern urban spaces remain just that – talk, the Izolyatsia team have been turning their urban utopia into reality. A somber Soviet shipyard location in the Podil District of Kyiv has acquired an entirely new meaning and form after it was turned into the IZONE. It features now an ultramodern coworking office with designer furniture, cafes both inside and outside, exhibition rooms and a concert venue. Everything reflects good taste, everything is comfortable and modern. During these three years, the Foundation’s founder Liubov Mykhailova and her team have managed to build a multipurpose creative space which appeals primarily to thinking young people. In effect, one can come and spend a long day there working, communicating, eating, visiting exhibitions, and watching movies, and even going to a concert late in the day.

It was not the Izolyatsia that lost Donetsk, but rather the city lost the Izolyatsia as it went mad.

Ultimately, it will be the Izolyatsia and its ilk who will work to revive the Donbas when we return there.