Cultural conversion in Donetsk

In terms of social development, Donetsk is still perceived by Ukrainian intellectuals as unchartered territory, as a Wild Field, undeveloped and dangerous for culture. Yurii Andrukhovych even proposed to separate Ukraine’s south-eastern oblasts.

The main sources of this infernal-proletarian impact on modern life are traditionally sought in the industrial complex of the Donbas, which strongly reminds one of the Soviet past of the region and its “laborious achievements.”

However, it turns out that these colossal heaps of iron, concrete and coal can also be a source of innovation, and it is possible to bring a new quality to the industrial legacy by approaching it with understanding and creativity. As a result, we will have a huge field for creative experiments, which will be able not just to change the gloomy image of Donetsk, but also to bolster Ukraine’s position on Europe’s cultural map.

The basis for such expectations is provided by the first steps of the recent launch in Donetsk of the International Charity Foundation “Isolation. A Platform for Cultural Initiatives” and the eponymous art center established at the initiative of its patron Liubov Mykhailova. The international conference “Cultural Conversion: New Life of the Industrial Past” was a part of this project.

The new art complex is located on the territory of Izoliatsia (Isolation) Enterprise, which in its time specialized in producing heat-insulated materials, and is now going through a hard transition period.

The old industrial areas, fond of collective labor, conveyor-belt discipline and mechanical estrangement, are to a certain extent the antithesis of the artistic world, which cannot exist without creative freedom, personal emancipation, flexibility and spontaneity. Meanwhile, the artistic milieu can redeem the industrial giants, born of super states and cast aside by present-day global competition. Moreover, the entry of art into the industrial space is inherently respectful of its industrial legacy, because modern developers, having acquired the old enterprises, frequently act according to the proletarian principle “ruin everything to the ground, then…” They create standardized business centers, or retail and entertainment complexes. As a result the monuments of the industrial epoch may soon vanish.

On the other hand, the artistic qualities trapped within the gigantic scale of industrial complexes, previously ignored by classical institutions, may be revealed. The main issue is the ability to transform the object’s environment, unlike the traditional function of art, which is to create an illusion of subjectivity and decorate surfaces. The change of symbolic codes of the urbane environment is another important function of art, which has been frequently used to achieve political goals. However, it is namely the redevelopment of industrial areas that enables art to distance itself from politics, market realities and focus on creation.

Actually, herein lies the sense of such a phenomenon as a cultural conversion, which has become one of the attributes of post-industrial transformation around the world, where along with the old goods, like cars, raw materials, food products, ideas and impressions are sold.

Whereas for Ukraine the problem of revival and creative reconstruction of industrial areas and whole industrial regions remains exotic, for many countries of the world this is to some extent a historical stage. Suffice it to mention Great Britain, where in the early 1990s the concept of creative industries was approved and spread, and the city of Liverpool became a training area for these innovations. Now Liverpool is recognized as one of the world’s most creative cities. One can also turn to the experience of Germany’s Ruhr Basin. Museums, cultural centers, concert halls, and whole blocks of creative enterprises were opened, gradually replacing energy, chemical, and iron industries.

Creative processes take place simultaneously with the implementation of new technologies, and this offers an opportunity to spare resources and revamp the surrounding environment. Where ecology is revived, social structures follow suit.

The participants of the presentation of the Isolation project in Donetsk had an opportunity to learn first hand about all of these and other aspects of reviving industrial areas. The program of the conference consisted of many thorough reports by practitioners of European cultural conversion programs.

For example, Dr. Ulrich Borsdorf, head of the Zeche Zollverein Museum (Germany), explained how the former mining and ore-dressing complex Zollverein has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

French architect Tania Konko, the winner of many prestigious international prizes, who works in Paris and Amsterdam and is an expert in the sphere of city planning and rebuilding urban environments, shared her thoughts on how an industrial area can become an attractive neighbor. The recipe is actually quite simple: first of all, one should take into account the lifestyle and way of thinking of the people who live in the blocks, the influence of the new constructions, hold discussions with them, and find common points in terms of values and habits.

The head of the association Trans Europe Halles Eric Baker presented his experience on developing network partnerships. The foundation he heads is very active and has assembled over 50 independent multidisciplinary cultural centers on the sites of former industrial objects.

The Russian art critic Ekaterina Degot, who is the supervisor of the exhibit of Ukrainian Art Yakshcho in Perm, added her bit to the discussion on the role of cultural industries in breaking “the curse of industrialization.” She outlined the pitfalls of this process, which is not so simple in reality, using the example of the First Ural Industrial Biennale, which she supervised.

After this the Ukrainian experts held a roundtable discussion on the prospects of cultural conversion in Ukraine, particularly in Donetsk. On the whole, all the participants agreed with the opinion that there is a need of actual expansion of culture into the fading industrial areas. However, the absence of positive experiences made the participants somewhat skeptic.

For example, Mystetsky Arsenal has shown that even such levers as political will and big capital are not enough. Moreover, when there is a lack of clear concepts, no project management skills, and the desire to please the authorities at any cost, such extensive rehabilitation very often entails various drawbacks, like corruption, a low quality of works, not meeting deadlines and disappointment.

However, in what regards the project Isolation as a private initiative, it is not facing the threat of being forced to do five year’s work in three. Moreover, the project’s advantages include a team of professionals open to dialog and united by a common goal. The team includes Liudmyla Harbuz, Anastasia Butsko, Anton Potikha, Viktoria Ivanova, Alina Yermolova and others.

A problematic moment may be the cooperation of the newly established art center with the local cultural-artistic milieu in the miner’s land, which is a sort of “non-ploughed field” in terms of actual art, because of the prolonged destitution of Donetsk residents in this area.

However, Isolation has a chance to become a positive example, whose lack prevents the conversion from catching on. For this aim the initiators of the project will have to resolve the problem of the target audience as well, and decide how to prompt connoisseurs of contemporary art to visit the art center, located in the city’s suburbs, where it is practically impossible to get by public transport.

An emphasis on landscape design and ecology was made by the project’s team of architects. A pair of British architects suggested turning the pit refuse heap located on the territory of the plant into a park complex with an exposition of kinetic objects and a colossal inspection ground. The industrial shop, heaped up with old iron, has already turned into a clean and severe room conforming to Bauhaus’ ideals. The walls for pictures and graffiti, placed in the center of the hall, are in rhythmic-visual harmony with the doors and windows and architectural proportions of the building, revealing its hidden beauty.

It is here that, in August and early September, a group of young Ukrainian artists headed by the Berlin Gallery curator Adam Nankervis created a number of art objects where one can perceive the illusory and powerful “genius of place,” which seeks to free itself from the Titanic forge of darkness and acquire new quality in art.