More than a photo

On December 18, Den’s intellectual commandos landed in Ukraine’s southern outpost, the city of Mykolaiv, for the second time in two years. It was in this city that we held the opening ceremony of Den’s Photo Exhibition, housed in the Old Fleet Barracks Museum. It will run till January 24. Let us tell everything in order, though.

That day saw all citizens of Mykolaiv invited to an intensive intellectual experience with the newspaper’s contributors, who appeared at TAK TV channel in the morning to present this year’s journalistic triptych “Contemporary History for Dummies.” “Our latest books deal primarily with the contemporary history of Ukraine, but they were preceded by many volumes of the Den’s Library series devoted to various historical periods and our country’s relations with its neighbors. We strive to build up our identity, restore and strengthen it,” editor of politics section Ivan Kapsamun remarked. “The name of the book ‘The Trap’ refers to the fact that even before we had our troops lured in frontline traps, we suffered from political traps that had led to today’s sad consequences. The Gongadze-Podolsky case is a litmus test of our politicians’ ability to change. Unfortunately, they are not ready for now.”

Den’s journalist and author of the book I, an Eyewitness Valentyn Torba said: “There are volunteers who provide tangible aid to the Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the east of the country, while some artists help to raise their spirits. We at Den provide intellectual assistance. Therefore, I call our team ‘the mobile group of journalists.’ All Ukrainians, including soldiers, should know the reasons behind the ongoing war.”

Society section editor Maria Semenchenko presented the book Catastrophe and Triumph. The Stories of Ukrainian Heroes. She noted that it “gave voice to participants and witnesses of war in eastern Ukraine. These events will be interpreted differently in the future, but these pieces of living history will help people to see the complete picture of what is happening now,” she stated.

However, the morning broadcast was only a warm-up for the intellectual commandos. Following a coffee break, Den’s journalists went to the opening of the Photo Exhibition, which was also attended by city and regional officials, cultural and public figures. “I am delighted to see so many guests at the opening. The presentation of Den’s Photo Exhibition-2015 was a unique event in Kyiv. And it is highly symbolic that the exhibition came to Mykolaiv directly from Kyiv,” Kapsamun said in his welcoming speech. “Photo art was Den’s ally from its inception. As stressed by our editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna, this year’s exhibition has become the intersection of views, featuring perspectives of soldiers, politicians, volunteers... It is important to notice that this is not just some pictures, but analysis as well. One can stop at every picture and analyze how we have lived through this year and how we are to live in the future. The two winners of this year’s photo contest, I mean The System’s Founding Fathers and Justice Shuts Its Eyes, just show the cause of everything that happens here, and reasons for the current state of not only the political class, but the entire nation.”

We gratefully note that this year’s visit of Den’s Photo Exhibition was enabled by our local friends and partners, including director of the Press and TV College Hlib Holovchenko and newly elected Mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Senkevych. The latter became this year’s political sensation in Ukraine because Mykolaiv showed its true colors both immediately after the Russian aggression and during the local elections. Thus, mayor Senkevych said: “This photo exhibition is well-timed, opening as it is on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, the holiday which we want to implant in the DNA of our city, because it was marked rather than celebrated here before. I want to congratulate on this occasion all those involved in this opening of Den’s Photo Exhibition. When people ask me how I see the future resident of Mykolaiv, I reply that they should be a thinking and well-read person. We, unfortunately, lack a culture of reading printed media, but I hope that we will shape it in cooperation with Den.”

“These 170 photographs make up a mass media outlet by themselves. We can see now the main events of 2015 through the eyes of professional and amateur photographers from all over Ukraine,” deputy head of the Mykolaiv Oblast State Administration Oksana Yanishevska noted in her speech at the photo exhibition. “It is very important event for the Mykolaiv region because we have experienced many seminal moments this year. Many of our lads are fighting in the anti-terrorist operation area, the region has been admitting internally displaced persons, and we have seen a strong volunteer movement taking shape. For me, photo exhibitions are just as important as the development of documentary filmmaking, because we need to document our time to the best of our ability. I thank all the organizers of the exhibition and wish it as many visitors as possible.” Yanishevska bought a complete set of Den’s books, thus joining our intellectual readership which this newspaper is so proud of.