Who awards, wins, and deserves the Shevchenko Prize today?
President Viktor Yushchenko has signed a decree to award the 2006 Shevchenko Prize, this country’s most prestigious decoration. The prize, instituted during the Soviet era (1961) and conferred this time on 13 Ukrainians working in the sphere of culture and art, still triggers a mixed reaction among arts activists. Some call it the state’s attempt to tame artists, while others have always considered it the highest appreciation of their lifetime achievements.
“The tablets of Ukrainian history will bear the names of many cultural and artistic figures that represent the different regions of our country,” says Roman LUBKIVSKY, chairman of the National Taras Shevchenko Prize Committee of Ukraine. “They have different artistic styles and features, but their powerful potential is Ukraine’s pride. The new society now being formed in difficult political conditions badly needs Shevchenko’s spirit, love, and living word. In our day, the life and works of the national prophet and spiritual state builder symbolize Ukrainians’ unity and cohesion, their ability to identify themselves as a civilized European state. I hope that the Kobzon era (Russian pop singer — Ed.) is giving way to that of the Kobzar, even though symbols alien to our history and culture are still catching our eye, and a lack of culture continues to assault Chernecha Hill (Shevchenko’s grave — Ed.). The Shevchenko Prize Committee has undertaken to protect the Kobzar’s name from all kinds of Ukrainophobes. Our mission is that the individuals who have been awarded the highest national prize in the field of culture should be the bearers of Shevchenko’s truth and devotion to an independent and united Ukraine.”
The Day talked with some past and current laureates, award committee members, and well known artists about the essence, role, and importance of the Shevchenko Prize, as well as the criteria of selecting the best.
“We in Lviv are very glad that two of our fellow countrymen have won the Shevchenko Prize (artist Yevhen Beznisko for a series of illustrations to Ivan Franko’s works, and my colleagues at the Les Kurbas Theater: stage director Volodymyr Kuchynsky and actors Oleh Stefanov, Natalia Polovynka, and Andriy Vodychev),” said the actor Bohdan KOZAK, from Lviv’s Maria Zankovetska Theater.
“This is the highest award in Ukrainian culture and art; it is still highly regarded. Earlier, it was awarded in individual fields, and I think we should revert to this practice because the different arts should not be mixed. It will make it easier for committee members to select the nominees, monitor phenomena, and assess the achievements of artists in a certain field.
“Maybe the general public does not know all the current winners, but this is due to the warping of our information space. If you live in Lviv or Ivano-Frankivsk, you know very little about what is going on in Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and other cities. The information space should be more mobile. The Culture TV channel should also work more effectively, spotlighting all events in the various regions of Ukraine.”
“When I conceived God’s Seeds 20 years ago, I would never have guessed that it would win Ukraine’s highest award,” the writer Hryhoriy HUSEINOV recalled. “I come from the industrial area of Kryvyi Rih. Throughout the long history of the Shevchenko Prize, only such famous countrymen as Oles Honchar and Pavlo Zahrebelny have won this top award. Now I am very proud to find myself in this select company.”
“Today the general public is not very familiar with all the winners, but in my view, they don’t have to be known by everyone,” says the poet Borys OLIYNYK. “They are little known right now, but a lot people will be talking about them soon. The committee follows a certain system when it chooses the best of the best. I recall past times, when optimal decisions were not always made. This time the awards were conferred on those who really deserved them.
“The Shevchenko Prize Committee has a statute that sets out the ‘scenario’ for selecting the laureates. They must work for the state and must not be Ukrainophobes, as was sometimes the case. For example, the poet Anatoliy Kychynsky (Kherson) is one of the subtlest lyricists of contemporary Ukrainian poetry. We have also honored the works of the distinguished poet, translator, and literary specialist Ihor Kachurovsky, who lives in Munich. Or take the Franko illustrations by Yevhen Beznisko. His work is quite an achievement of Ukrainian art. They enrich our country’s intellectual potential and spiritual culture. I congratulate all the winners, but, frankly speaking, I sided with the artists nominated by the Ukrainian Culture Foundation: the lyrical kobza-player Vasyl Nechepa and the art historian Zoya Chehusova. Incidentally, all those who cooperate with our foundation sooner or later win the Shevchenko Prize.
“This prize is very important, but geniuses are not born every year,” artist Ivan MARCHUK stressed. “But if the prize is there, it should be given to somebody.”
“The Shevchenko Prize seldom finds its way to geniuses. For example, Nikita Khrushchev was not a genius but still became a Shevchenko laureate. That was profanation,” said Les TANIUK, chairman of the League of Ukrainian Theater Specialist. “At first they awarded three prizes, then five, and so on. Now 13 artists have won the award. I still think it is not the number that matters. This prize can embrace all fields of culture. Today every winner receives 100,000 hryvnias, which is good.
“But I think we should institute a Les Kurbas national prize to be conferred on theater masters. An Oleksandr Dovzhenko prize is needed to honor the best filmmakers. I think an award should exist for painters, while the Shevchenko Prize must be ‘literature-centered,’ intended for writers and literary specialists. As it stands, men of letters, who basically form the committee, award the prize to painters, actors, and musicians, although they do not know much about these arts. Still, for example, awarding the prize to Beznisko was a good decision. He is really an excellent and very meticulous artist.”
“When Ivan Dziuba headed the committee, he dramatically raised the standards for Shevchenko laureates,” art historian Nelly KORNIENKO emphasized. “There was not a single complaint at the time. But this year the prize went to the fine actors of the Les Kurbas Theater, although their troupe has in fact disbanded. Still, I am glad that their efforts have finally been appreciated. But the stage director Kuchynsky has not been the head of this unconventional theater company for one year, and the actress Polovynka has long been on limited contracts, and the theater is not in the best shape. This means that they received the prize for their past achievements (10-12 years). The decision was made to support the company in some way. Ironically, when the theater used to stage highly intellectual productions, its work went unnoticed, but now that the theater is on its last legs, it has won the prize.”
“I have been on the Shevchenko Prize Committee for many years, and not once did the government influence my opinion,” said Academician Mykola ZHULYNSKY. “We always vote by secret ballot. Of course, there are many drawbacks in the way the prize is awarded. Times are changing, and I think we must also change the status quo. First of all, there should be changes made to the decisions on conferring the Shevchenko Prize. I am convinced that the current practice of nominations by artistic associations, civic organizations, and various collectives is faulty. We should establish a different procedure, one that would be patterned, for example, on the way Nobel Prize nominees are chosen.
“We must form a group of independent experts who will monitor what is going on every year in literature, painting, and art. They would be the ones who submit the names of nominees to the committee after a detailed analysis. I think we should dispense with public discussions because they are of little use. Some nominees can ‘organize’ a rave review of their work in the media, while others cannot. The prize should be awarded every year. The point is how to award it and what should be the system of nomination, discussion, and evaluation.
“Incidentally, before presiding at the awards ceremony, President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yekhanurov visited the Taras Shevchenko Institute of Literature, which I have the honor of heading. They examined manuscripts of our classics and discussed the problem of building Shevchenko House, a special research, cultural, and informational center, which would house not only valuable manuscripts but also the Shevchenko Prize Committee, and provide space for exhibits and concerts.
“So far, the committee has not made a thorough analysis of Ukraine’s cultural sphere. It must study the culture of other nationalities, the work being done in the Crimean Tatar, Russian, and other languages. We have never endorsed the idea that the Shevchenko Prize should only apply to Ukrainian-language culture. We mark the achievements of the best artists who work for the glory of Ukraine. Today’s winners reflect the committee’s fine choices, although I wish some other writers had received prizes.”
