Photos serving to uphold morale in time of war

Den’s 15th Photo Exhibit Competition’s selected works proved a success in Olhopil, Vinnytsia oblast, after the raion center of Chechelnyk, with dozens of local residents and people from neighboring villages (even from the farthest, northern regions of Odesa oblast) visiting the local House of Culture every day. Hundreds of people could explore the photo exhibit (with professional and amateur pictures on display), thanks to the dedicated effort of Pavlo Kalenych who is in charge of the local Agribusiness “Olhopil,” and who is also a member of the local Council. Kalenych was the mastermind of such art exhibits in Ukraine’s remote rural areas. Hopefully, this philanthropist will keep this administrative area, this particular village, in his good books.

COMMENTARIES

Viktor KIKAVSKY, Olhopil grade school principal:

“It is good to have such exhibits organized in the urban and rural areas, in this case in Olhopil. I know that our village is perhaps the only one in Ukraine to boast this photo exhibit – a very good project allowing the populace to watch moments of absolute beauty captured by professional photographers, along with scenes from Ukraine’s current realities. I’ve been fortunate enough to explore the prize-winning items on display during several such exhibits. I’ve told the schoolteachers and students (300 in all at the moment) to explore them. These photos reflect Ukraine’s latter-day history; they reflect our realities, so one has to pause in front of some of them to take a closer look, the way one stops in front of some pictures in an art gallery. A closer look at these pictures shows that none is a random shot but a work of art.”

IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS, PODOLIANS LIKED PHOTOS BY THEIR COUNTRYPEOPLE MOST, AS CHECHELNYK-BASED YULIA KOLISNYCHENKO’S WORK GROWING WISER WON MOST VOTES, WHILE THE SECOND AND THIRD PLACES WENT TO PHOTOS BY OLEH NYCH / Photo by Borys KORPUSENKO

Mykola KACHYNSKY, deputy manager, Agribusiness “Olhopil”:

“We saw a display of photos and our impression was the same: another good job done by true pros. Our company workers, busy threshing soybeans, used every break to explore the photo exhibit. I liked every photo on display, especially those taken by front-line photographers, showing what’s happening in the east of Ukraine. Needless to say, we’d love to explore further such exhibits with works contributed by Ukraine’s top-notch art photographers. I was happy to see the names of our fellow countrymen among the contributors: Borys Korpusenko, Oleh Nych, and Yulia Kolisnychenko (this summer she enrolled in the journalism and philology faculty of Vinnytsia’s Kotsiubynsky Pedagogic University).”

Yurii MATSKO, manager, House of Culture, village Olhopil:

“I’ve occupied this post for 12 years. There have been several photo exhibits, with people standing in line to explore it, from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. On several occasions newlyweds were there, along with the wedding party guests. People would find themselves mesmerized by some of the photos and would often leave without writing in the guest book. We thank the Editors of Den/The Day for organizing another festive occasion, allowing people to partake of this high culture… I’ll keep fingers crossed and believe that another photo exhibit will take place here before long.”

Pavlo KOZORIZ, chairman, Olhopil Rural Council:

“Our local vocational training college recently held a 32-year-old reunion party. They started by criticizing all those ‘upstairs’ and then spent two hours exploring the photo exhibit. I remember the Prysiazhniuks, a Donbas family of resettlers. They studied every photo and seemed genuinely concerned about the destiny of Ukraine… Most importantly, this photo exhibit leaves no one indifferent. I watched people step in, obviously onlookers who would, several minutes later, find themselves studying every picture, refusing to be distracted. This is the power of the arts.”

Yukhym KOLISNYK, chairman, Labor Union Coordinating Council, Chechelnyk raion:

“I believe that the photos on display are very special because they are mirror reflections of our current realities. I hope to see other such exhibits here. I would like to thank the Olhopil contributing photographers, and of course the organizing Editors of Den/The Day, namely the project coordinator, Pavlo Kalenych. This man is concerned about production output and spirituality. Such personalities help rid us of the provincial inferiority complex.”