“Remaking a clumsy peasant folk into one of warlike defenders”
Artists have deciphered the cultural code that will help Ukrainians to win
The exhibition room of the Institute of Contemporary Art Problems is hosting exhibition of art project “Strength of Materials,” organized by the ArtHuss Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. The idea of exhibition is innovative in some respects, since it not just combines a clear social orientation and psychological depth, but also seeks to establish communication between business and art. As the foundation’s president Kostiantyn Kozhemiaka told Den in an interview on September 25, “the goal of the project is to try to investigate how soft clumsy peasant folk has been remade by external factors into one of warlike defenders, ready to give their lives for their freedom.”
The implementation of the project was the responsibility of artistic team consisting of Volodymyr Bakhtov, Petro Bevza, Oleksandr Hliadielov, Mykola Zhuravel, Larysa Pukhanova, Anatolii Tverdy, and Viktor Khomenko. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a soft toy, serving as a symbol of Ukraine. The central part of the exhibition includes two-meter long soft dog toy made of faux fur, drawings, paintings and a film. Zhuravel’s installation, consisting of a giant soft toy shackled to a district heating radiator, is a major part of the project. Visually, the project’s plotline starts with a series of psychedelic studio photos and hyperbolized installations.
The cultural code that encourages the Ukrainians to resist their enemies has been subtly and lyrically outlined in works by Bevza and Bakhtov. An installation by Khomenko and Pukhanova and an object by Tverdy accurately convey the atmosphere which formed the subject of our research, the homo sovieticus. A series of photographs by Hliadielov, taken in Maidan last winter and in the warzone recently, revives our perception of sharp edges of reality, which mold people’s characters and cut illusions off resolutely.
MYKOLA ZHURAVEL SHACKLED A SOFT TOY TO A DISTRICT HEATING RADIATOR FOR THE SAKE OF ART
In addition to social and therapeutic components, “Strength of Materials” has its quite specific materialistic goal as well. Kozhemiaka noted at the opening ceremony: “This project is an attempt to establish communication between business and art, which has to become a source of creative inspiration for business, a form of manifestation of social responsibility and improving one’s social standing.”
According to the organizers, the change that has happened in many Ukrainians over the past year consists of breaking with the victim mentality and making an existential leap into the state of resistance and active readiness to cope with their own problems themselves. The project is an attempt to investigate which personal and spiritual qualities of the Ukrainians have helped them to accept the challenge of time and make this leap. “The page has been turned on Ukraine’s past. Old stereotypes are dying. We are witnessing the birth of the freedom-loving, courageous person who aims to be the creator of their own destiny,” the artists stated.
