“Society cannot take shape around something that does not exist”

Almost a year ago, works by Ukrainian artists were displayed at “Isolation” for the first time. Now the second exhibition is open, which is dedicated to society. It has been a year since Chervonyk started working for the Foundation as a curator. Thanks to her effort there and her own project “Artists’ Biographies” we now have an opportunity to learn more about the state of contemporary art. Our conversation began with the current exhibition.

“It seems to me that the exhibition is a logical continuation of gender issues. The society is concerned about both matters, which rise ‘from below.’ The theme is relevant not only for Donetsk, but for Ukraine in general,” Chervonyk says. “In order to be a public social figure, one must leave their own private space. And where do we find ourselves when we leave our space? In public space, which is becoming narrower and narrower. Today people are trapped in spaces. For what is public space? A cinema, a theater, a stadium… There are not that many of those places for an adult. There used to be some infrastructure in the former Soviet Union. One can argue forever about how good and ideological it was. But it did exist. There were cultural centers where grown-ups could play musical instruments, dance, etc. And what happened then? All this disappeared, and now people actually started only to consume culture, but not produce it.

“Concerning politics and democracy: there was a distinct connection between society and locus in Greek democracy: the city square, where a citizen could express his opinion. This place, this architectural spot was directly connected to the cultural democratic system. We basically have nothing of this kind. We wanted to create something like that with our exhibition. Obviously, this is just a metaphor. We are creating a place where people could be a society.

“One more aspect: the place we are building is quite mythical, it is constructed by us. Then another question emerges: if we can construct a place for society, can we talk about creating a new society? Can we change it with the help of a locus?”

What young artists stand out the most in your opinion?

“We have amazing young artists, who create absolutely fascinating projects. Making an exhibition is a very organic process of cooperation between artists and a curator. When I see that the same topic arises in a few authors’ works, the theme of the next exhibition suggests itself. I start off from the local context. This topic of sociality is emphasized by the needs of society itself.

“We have comprehensive and very nice relationship with Zhanna Kadyrova. I think she is one of the most talented young artists in Ukraine. Her work was important during the last year’s exhibition on gender, this year her Shell is also representative. This sculpture is a metaphor for private space where the contemporary Ukrainian finds shelter, since he has nowhere to go out. It is made of domestic construction materials. One can see connection with private space, interior design, European-style redecoration here. I think that our people are a bit too fanatic about it. I have lived in Germany and the United States, and people have an absolutely different attitude towards private space there – they do not rebuild anything, they do not change furniture. Meanwhile, in today’s Ukraine it looks like a disease. Just look at the huge numbers of construction materials or furniture hyper- and supermarkets. And there is an explanation for it: this private space is the only territory where a person is in control, where their word is law. When a person crawls out of their kitchen, they enter a space where their words and will mean nothing.”

Are there any particularly interesting personalities in Donetsk for you?

“They leave somewhere else as soon as they appear. For example, Anatolii Marks, he is rather interesting. But he has moved to Kharkiv. Of course, sometimes he comes to visit. It is amazing how remarkably this city failed to create its own artistic environment. The reason for that is that there is an art school here, but no institutions of higher education, that is why people have no place to meet, discuss things, and grow. There is no place for them to be social. Now, we are coming back to the theme of our current exhibition. Society cannot take shape around something that does not exist. That is why artists and talented young people go someplace, where their social function can be fulfilled.”