After returning to Kyiv we have set up our studios for work at IZOLYATSIA.Platform for cultural initiatives where we will be based here for the next two months. Nevertheless the AU schedule remains intensive.
AU Diary: JULY 14
AU Diary: July 12
A Giant
Finally we made it to the oldest steel plant Illich Iron & Steel Works named after the Soviet “vozhd” Vladimir Illich Lenin. It was a grand reception – the plant’s management provided us with uniforms and helmets and showed us around the major industrial enterprise in the Donbas area.
AU Diary: July 11
Shadows of the Greek
On Saturday, the fourth day of our journey, we went to Sartana — a small Greek village which is a part of Mariupol’s agglomeration. Most of the town’s population is of a Greek ethnicity. They all speak Russian, while the Hellenic dialect (the language of Greeks who moved to this area from Crimea) is disappearing. The young generation learns Greek in schools, but the city mayor Stepan Mahsma said that this language will be gone soon.
AU Diary: July 10
Good bye, Lenin!
One of the first things we were told when we arrived in Mariupol was that “Lenin has gone” and Lenin’s Square is now “ The Square of Fallen Lenin”. Indeed, this was a wind of change for many towns: more than 500 statues of “vozhd” (a Russian word for a leader, a person in supreme authority) were dismantled during the last year all over Ukraine.
“Where did the statue go?” — asked one of AU residents. “Dunno,‘’ — replied Kostya Batozsky — “It was a bronze statue, probably it was sold as scrap. Ain’t it symbolic: capitalism has won in the end.”
AU Diary: July 9
A Chopsky Salad
While the Bible says that “at the beginning was the word” the contemporary art world is often driven by “not understanding a word”. When you come to a country which is different to the environment you’re used to, a clash of local culture with your personal (in)ability to respond to it and vice versa starts a whole new conversation.
AU Diary: July, 8
On the Road
We travelled almost 800 kilometres down towards the sea of Azov, or, as the local people say “The last Ukrainian sea”. A day long journey (thirteen hours) was warmed up by anticipation to reach “the site”.
AU Diary: July 7
Beginning
July 7, can be memorised as the very first day of the Architecture Ukraine residency — all 13 project participants arrived to IZOLYATSIA.Platform for cultural initiatives (Kyiv) where they were introduced to the IZO team, met project curators Krists Ernstsons and Rick Rowbotham, and discussed the residency schedule and plans for the next two months.