Does the Capital Have Its Own Visage?

Vadym SKURATIVSKY, art critic, publicist:

Mykhail Bakhtin said once that culture is implemented on the boundary, at the critical level. Kyiv is a border city, a very special one; it is the capital located on the side of the European forest and Asiatic steppe ending several dozen kilometers from the city limits. This location had a certain meaning in the formation of Kyiv's singular visage, as well as in the tragedy befalling it in the thirteenth century when the city was raided from the steppe. In a more fruitful form, it is what happened in the capital quite recently historically: a baroque synthesis of different cultures. This process continued in the last century and this one, assuming other forms. The Soviet epoch meticulously confined Kyiv to a provincial ghetto. Nevertheless, the polystylistic inertia continued long enough, lending Kyiv its inimitable character. In the past several years a Western exterior has been under construction, yet most of the city's original traits have survived. In fact, it is on the boundary of these pragmatic Western and Eastern baroque trends that Kyiv stands a chance to preserve its unique visage.

Vadym KASTELLI, film director:

It certainly does. This visage is in its slow (compared to other European capitals) and broad lifestyle. It is made up of Kyiv's history, the width of its streets, presence of the Dnipro and its verdant slopes. Hence the manner in which people walk and communicate in Kyiv. Nothing like Moscow, St. Petersburg, even Warsaw (perhaps unfortunately). After our two disasters only islands are left that make us still recognizable. Of course, Kyiv has had bad luck and history has treated us mercilessly. Perhaps cities like Warsaw, Budapest, or Lviv were more fortunate. Well, there are city-monuments and cities with all those special islands that help identify the capital and the rest of the country.

Olha HERASYMIUK, television journalist:

Kyiv is gradually losing its visage. All this modernization, McDonalds, and European construction projects are erasing its singularity. It makes one very sad, especially after visiting Prague, Lviv, or other cities with a very long history (and Kyiv is precisely one such a city), seeing how jealously they care for every drop of their antiquity. And we are making every effort to obliterate such spots. We don't care — I mean those doing this and being responsible for this, because all they care about is their own pockets.

The city has to be rescued, so our children can see it for what it really was, the cradle of the Slavic world. It had its own special spirit. I was not born in Kyiv, but I have had many friends who were fourth generation Kyivans. And then all those patios with little old ladies sitting on benches started to disappear. Communal apartments began to empty, with the tenants moving out with their old chests of drawers into the new residential districts. This was the beginning of the end for old Kyiv. It all started early under the Soviets when butchers, the then elite (actually lumpen), began settling in the vicinity of St. Sophia's Cathedral. And our

nouveaux riches aren't very different from them. It was then the old city atmosphere dispersed. Maybe there are still “oases,” but that specific atmosphere is no longer there. People come to Kyiv from all over Ukraine, even from Lviv. Of course, the capital offers better opportunities. You can hardly blame them, for away from the capital it is an endless blind alley; no jobs, no prospects whatever. I am not saying that Kyiv has turned into Babel, but it is now a parody of its old self.

Anatoly HAIDAMAKA, artist:

Kyiv retains its image owing to its landscape, not architecture. The environs are beautiful, but it loses much in comparison with other cities. One look at the rail terminal or suburbs makes one sad. It will take a lot of work to revive Kyiv's original sparkling visage. Try to compare it to Budapest. Worlds apart. Kyiv needs a creative task force to transform it into a special city. The steps being taken are at the level of cosmetic repair, mostly remaining on paper. Couldn't they find a better architect for Khreshchatyk who would come up with a proper renovation project? At least get the paving tiles of matching color and pattern? Our architects love gray; they know no other colors and use it everywhere, all the time, just to make sure no one on high will blame them for excesses. Yugoslavia, war-devastated and all, boasts beautiful pavement and flower beds. We have nothing of the kind. The giant billboards covering facades are tasteless. And I am amazed to know that they are chopping down remaining forests. Finnish architects build homes using pine colors and our new residential areas are monstrous. Take our Chervonoarmiyska Street. What is it? Incredibly faceless structures, the way it was during Soviet times. Our architects ought to be taken on guided tours to Belgrade, capital of a war-devastated country. Here one walks off Khreshchatyk and finds the city is no longer there, only rows of tiled wardrobe trunks. In Europe, buildings are attractive even when viewed from high up: tiled roofs, rich crowns of trees. Just look at our rooftops!

Myron PETROVSKY, writer:

If I understand the question correctly, the city's visage is a metaphor, putting together historical realities and landscape, being expressed using a voluminous symbol. Whoever said that every city has its own character and rights knew what he was talking about. I think that Kyiv's singular character, as conceived by most people, boils down to its spectacular history, traced back to the beginning of the Slavic world. It has the aura of a northern Jerusalem. But later-day history presents an altogether different picture; not half a century passing without disastrous transformations like wars and revolutions. Kyiv is a city with a tragic fate, marked by Chornobyl, Babyn Yar, and the ruins of the Cathedral of the Dormition.

As for modern Kyiv, changes are so tempestuous, they are hard to follow... A city's visage is a very special form. No makeup will suffice, but long painstaking work, reaching much father than changing the names of streets and hanging up new national symbols. Only such work will bring back a city which could never be mistaken for any other capital. Also, one must consider Kyiv's current reputation, which is very bad, a venue of satraps and rulers of banana republics. It will be only after we get over all this that we will be able to talk about Kyiv's visage. And I hope it will be a very handsome one.

Mykhailo REZNYKOVYCH, stage director:

To begin with, Kyiv is a southern city. Secondly, it is still humane and good-natured at the end of this cruel century. This atmosphere is felt in the streets and at times even elsewhere. This atmosphere with its special fluids make it clearly distinct from other cities, especially Moscow. If only we could retain our present lifestyle, I could not wish anything better. As for architecture, Kyiv has it, but not on Khreshchatyk, because it was built during a certain epoch. In fact, even Soviet folklore knows it as a “wild confectioner's nightmare.” Apart from Khreshchatyk, Kyiv offers truly beautiful spots with all those archways and patios.