Glad to be back in Mariupol again. Kiev is a nice town, but somehow it’s just a ‘normal’ city. A metropolis with beautiful places, and special people.
fulco treffers: august 6
fulco treffers: august 5
Weather
Definitely we don’t have to blame the weather.
fulco freffers: august 4
back in mariupol
fulco treffers: august 3
Background music and Night life at the station
To enlighten the long trip they put on the music in the train. A couple of old songs that must have been played at the gay parties last weekend in Amsterdam. Including Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive” and “In the army now” by Bolland and Bolland. You know the lady who turned on the music doesn’t speak any English, just like almost everybody in the train, but still… bizarre.
fulco freffers: august 2
Kharkov, Constructivsim and Suburb
I am in Kharkov for the weekend. A city in the east of the country. Through a friend I met a young art curator Sergey Kantsedal who lives here and invited me to step by. Together with architect Oleg Drozdov and (graphical) concept designer Vladislav Kulik we drove around town.
fulco treffers: august 1
Collective?
In the project I am working on I use the word ‘collective’ very often. All people from Ukraine warn me for too much optimism using this word.
francisco lobo: july 31
Mariupol Location Scouting
After 5 days in Mariupol this footage is put together as a visual notebook and a starting point for a documentary movie being shot in the city later this year during the Izolyatsia AU residency program.
Recently put in the spotlight due to the current conflict between pro-Russian and Ukrainian forces it is a stronghold of the Donetsk region but also a very unique city that is struggling with adaptation to an extreme situation.
fulco freffers: july 31
Moving cities
What is a city? Piled bricks? Asphalt? Trees? Or the people who live there? And their activities? Or maybe history?
Since the separatists have taken over a part of Ukraine a massive movement of people has happened. Donetsk for example was a real university city with several big old universities. Since the occupation they simply went away, to among others Vinnytsia en Krasnoarmiysk.
fulco freffers: july 30
Architecture
I am here on a special and impossible mission to contribute to this country as a designer or urban strategist, only in two months. But seeing the advertisements in the subway about new apartment buildings that are being made on several places in Kiev… it is maybe not as difficult as I thought it was. 😉
fulco treffers: july 28
The president and his wife
Today I saw the president of Ukraine and his wife. No way to beat that in the Netherlands. We don’t have a president. Maybe a prime-minister. But even him I never even saw. Let alone his wife. (Does he have one already?).
But today, within 150 meters of our home there appeared to be a special performance celebrating the birthday of Christianity in Ukraine. Special to be there for a little while. Including orthodox choirs. Centre of Kiev. Just around the corner.