GogolFest as a rehearsal for the celebrations of Gogol’s birth

The bicentennial of the birth of the outstanding Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol (Mykola Hohol) will be marked on April 1, 2009. As part of the celebrations honoring this writer, philosopher, and mystic, on Sept. 7— 14, 2007, Kyiv will host the first of three stages of GogolFest, an international festival of contemporary art. The organizers’ aim is to present a new view of Gogol’s oeuvre, as well as a new perception of the phenomenon that was Gogol — not only as historic heritage but also as a crucial resource of public and cultural development.

GogolFest will be a kind of rehearsal for the 2009 celebrations. Over the next two years the most diverse events embracing practically all the arts will take place in Ukraine: theatrical and artistic performances, installations, literary debates, etc.

The week-long events in September will feature such artistic, theatrical, musical, and literary projects as Gogol: A Portrait (in which Ukrainian artists will present works dedicated to Gogol), the staging of Gogol’s Death by the Dakh Theater, chamber music concerts, and a soiree-cum-debate “Gogol as a Metaphor” in which Ukrainian and Russian writers and literary critics will take part. The second stage is planned for May and the third one, for September 2008.

The Day interviewed the man behind GogolFest, curator and producer Vladyslav TROITSKY, who is also known as the founder of the Dakh Theater and the group DakhaBrakha.

“We hit upon the idea of GogolFest, first of all, because we are going to be marking the writer’s 200th birth anniversary. Nikolai Gogol is one of the few great Ukrainian figures who are important in the worldwide context. This is what inspired us to hold a Gogol festival, a European-level festival comparable to the Edinburgh or Chekhov festivals. I would like any theatrical company or artist to consider it an honor to participate in it.

“GogolFest is a polyphonic event, i.e., it will feature such diverse creative genres as devotional, classical, and contemporary music; theater; a film festival, etc. Very often festivals lack intellectual components, so we had the idea to involve our writers, who could also discuss Gogol and perhaps write novellas that will form part of the album Gogol: A Portrait during the first stage. We will probably launch a similar journalistic project to emphasize this topic (I mean the anniversary as a whole, not just the festival).

“I became friends with Bohodar Kotorovych, and on Sept. 9 he and the Kyiv Soloists offered to perform a concert of works by great 20th-century composers, such as Yevhen Stankovych, Valentyn Sylvestrov, Krzysztof Penderecki, and others. I am sure a concert like this would grace any top festival. We will also be offering the history of ethnic jazz. We have invited Katya Chili and Dakha-Brakha. It’s going to be a kind of ethnic evening. If you look at the festival program, you will almost certainly find an event for every taste.

“It is important for us not just to hold the festival but to make sure that it causes a public and cultural stir. This is a pilot project, and its purpose is to get ready for the full-fledged 1st International Gogol Festival of Contemporary Art in 2009, which must be held on an appropriate level.”

To what extent is the Creative Arsenal culture and museum complex participating in the project?

“First of all, the complex is furnishing the premises, which are still under construction. Obviously, a cultural context should be formed before the space itself is put to proper use.

“Mykola Skyba, Andrii Dotsenko, and Yulia Valova are assisting us with administrative and market-study matters (a department of cultural and creative work has been functioning since April this year). Incidentally, the Dakh Theater recently staged the 100th production of Macbeth. The Prologue at the Creative Arsenal, which was a kind of rehearsal for the first stage of the GogolFest.”

What does Gogol mean to you personally?

“Naturally, he is a great writer and playwright. He is also a mystic and philosopher, a magical figure in Ukrainian and Russian cultures. I am interested in his biography, including his travels to Europe, his view of the Russian Empire, the European view of Ukraine, and Gogol’s road to Orthodoxy, which was quite painful.”