Shevchenko at the barricades

“Around Shevchenko” exhi­bi­tion features two dozen works, illustrating the me­moires of the poet’s con­tem­poraries (with captions explaining the specific story or event), as well as Kobzar in the lives of future ge­ne­ra­tions, for instance – “Serhii Nigoyan recites Shevchenko’s Kavkaz.” Ac­cord­ing to the author, the exhibition attempts to bring us closer to Taras Shevchenko, to delve into his essence as a human being, to grasp the motivation of his actions and, most importantly, to know his personality without speculation, distortion or various ideological white noise. Shalenko is certain that “Shev­chenko constantly affects us; 1814 was the year of his birth, in 1914 the First World War started, in another hundred years – Maidan.”

In the context of Kobzar’s birth, “Feeling Ukraine,” a project by Yurii Hnatovsky, started on March, 15 at the Palace of Arts. The concept of this video installation is to meet the present-day Ukraine not only visually, but literally – by touch. The visitors have the option to walk around the exposition barefoot, in order to return to the nature and once more feel like a child making their baby steps; the sense of touch will guide them further, to the new impressions.

Each corner of this “virtual maze” shows video from different parts of Ukraine – the shooting was performed in the Carpathians, Crimea, West and East. The video is accompanied by authentic folk songs – thus the authors are trying to reproduce a particular ethnic code.

The major emphasis of the exhibition is the symbolic value of ancient musical instruments, and the role they play in the self-identification of Ukrainians. Ukrai­nian language, song and tradition are “like a thread, sewing together the large embroidered Ukrainian culture and ethnicity, even in the most troubled times of destruction and decay.”

The video also features films by Vincent Moon, independent French director, made during his travels in Ukraine in collaboration with Yurii Hnatovsky.

“This year’s Shevchenko’s anniversary we are celebrating in acute crisis – in fact, waging a war, not only by weapons, but by information and ideology,” the authors say. “Our enemies strive to destroy not only Ukraine as a state, but the Ukrainian culture as well. The historical wisdom tells us that even if the state might be restored, the loss of cultural values is irreversible. The truthful knowledge of our cultural heritage is a task of utmost importance for each of us.”

After having finished the display in Lviv, the project will move to Germany.