“It is a symbol of Ukraine’s transition to something new”

Past week, a curious sight could have been seen at the intersection Voloska and Khoryva streets in Podil: from morning till evening a man had been moving on the lift along the blank walls of the building of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of Ukraine and gradually making a work of art of them. In five days the dirty yellow canvas on the wall has been replaced with a man in embroidery, helping a deer cross the river. This is a work of Fintan Magee, British artist, who lives now in Australia. The picture is intended to draw the Ukrainians’ attention to some pressing problems.

 “I wanted to create something simple but with clear accents,” says the artist. “That’s why I decided to draw a huge deer and a man crossing the river. For me, it is a symbol of both the unity of human and nature, and the transition of your country from the past towards something new. Crossing the river means hard times, but on the other side there is always a better future waiting for us. This is my reflection regarding the situation in Ukraine: the symbol of the struggle for the better life and of the movement towards it.”

 This is the first time the artist has visited Ukraine. He learned about the revolution and military actions still back in Australia, but those circumstances did not discourage him from giving some of his art to our capital.

 “I knew about the difficult situation you’re in, but it couldn’t affect my decision to come here. No      hostilities could force me to give up the possibility of getting acquainted with the beauty of Ukraine. I am visiting your country for the first time. And I think I would need more time to get familiar with your culture. As for Kyiv – it is a beautiful city with interesting architecture and friendly people. I hope that my work will consort with this beauty.”

The idea came up in Australia, where Fintan Magee met Oleh Sosnov, curator of cultural projects of French Institute in Ukraine. Magee has developed the concept of the picture, and Oleh found a way of bringing the project to life.

 “We chose the building of the Sanitation service for the mural,” says Sosnov. “I wanted to find such a wall that may not be attributed to a historical or cultural site. If we see an example of beautiful architecture or even just a house in a good repair – then I do not see the point of drawing something on it. But one often might find examples of buildings with large walls that do not fit into the urban ensemble. They may be simply decorated with gray tiles, or the tiles may start falling off. And these buildings are a fertile ground for such projects. When I passed by and saw this building’s wall, I knew that a picture would fit well, given the artist’s style. And when I found out what was located inside this building, I realized that the concept might be successful. The project itself is dedicated to protecting the environment. It promotes contemporary values of respect for the nature. With this mural we also want to raise the public support of the ‘Self-gardening’ project, which operates near the building. The organizers of this project on their own planted some flowers on the vacant lot at the intersection of Voloska and Spaska streets. As both our projects are aimed at the improvement of urban areas, they are somewhat related.”

The artist Fintan Magee took part in the mural project on a voluntary basis – in fact, he took care of all the material costs (on that matter, the picture took more than 30 liters of paint). In Australia, Magee is known for his compositions in the street art style which are devoid of the political activism. In his portfolio there are dozens of projects on the buildings, and the artist himself says that he loves working high above the ground.

It should be noted that Ukrainians had mostly reacted favorably on the Brit’s implementation of his idea, took pictures against the background of the mural, and wished the artist success in work; some, though, did not manage to grasp the artistic concept, new to our culture.