Like people, monuments each have a life story. Some can be stated using a single sentence, others are long enough for a novel in several volumes. Monuments faded and ravaged by time are restored, those annihilated by the totalitarian regime are tried to be reproduced. Static as they are, monuments move in both time and space.
There was a movie often played under Brezhnev, where a Soviet spy was exchanged for an American one. Today, it is fashionable to exchange monuments and one is reminded of the movie in which most of the exchange procedures remain offscreen, so that the audience takes what it is shown for granted (in that movie, despite the fact that both spies were arrested, the Soviet one looked like a hero and his US counterpart a nincompoop). It is hard to imagine how a palm made of a rail can make Moscow viewers picture Ukraine, but the Tsar Cannon in Donetsk is a vivid symbol of the historic might and glory of the Russian empire.
There are no irreplaceable monuments. The bronze statue of the Archangel Michael, the guardian angel of Kyiv that used to embellish Independence Square, has been replaced by his younger brother with all the hallmarks of modern age acceleration. Michael the first is rumored to have been disliked on high precisely because of his ascetic looks. Michael the younger’s athletic figure towers over the Liadski Vorota [Liadski Gates] and appears an apt addition to the monumental sculptural crowd in the heart of the Ukrainian capital. Unlike the creative chaos on Independence Square, the monuments of Donetsk are positioned in straight lines on both sides of Lenin Avenue. The renovation of Independence Square drastically changed Michael I’s destiny. In Kyiv, the two meter statue was erected over the stormy sea of the capital’s life near the Holovposhtamt central post office, which perhaps explained the secular, at times even unceremonious public attitude toward the religious statue. The latter was often referred to as Postman Pechkin [a character in a popular Soviet animated cartoon series]. Students called it Batman and often met their dates there, but before long they had to bid the statue farewell. It was dismantled in the course of renovation and Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko declared at the ceremony of unveiling Michael II that Michael I had been presented to Donetsk: “And they responded by sending us a palm made of a rail...”
Michael I went on a long trip. We won’t go into the details of loading or unloading. After all, the statue is not meters and tons but an image; the archangel has a pair of wings, so he must fly. And so Michael I has to Donetsk, landing not far from the Olimp [Olympus] on Lenin Avenue (gods are men, aren’t they?), on a crossroads of sorts, where the local religious and atheistic paths cross. At present, the monument embellishes the square in front of the Transfiguration Cathedral on one side. and Voroshilov district on the other. Voroshilov is primarily associated with the Voroshilov Marksman [a badge awarded young people in the 1930s for marksmanship as part of a nationwide militarization campaign]. It is like a toothache, you hate it, but you are bound to have it, sooner or later. And so Batman cum Voroshilov Marksman is another invisible transformation of the monumental image. As for Voroshilov district, a small referendum was held under Gorbachev and perestroika. Most respondents wanted the area renamed Central district, but the turnout was obstructed by local party functionaries (“There can be no second Party Central Committee in our country, even a district one!”). The Central Committee and the Soviet Union are history, but Voroshilov district is still there.
Actually, Donetsk residents are lucky to have the monument, because Michael I is an original work of art, just like his Kyiv sibling. In other words, it is exclusive, unlike the Tsar’s Cannon, which is a copy of the famous Moscow original – and it is about as much of an embellishment as the Voroshilov district, because the party functionary never visited the city, nor was he at the Battle of Borodino. Unfortunately, monuments are erected in this country not because the people want them and most of them have nothing to do with the people and everything to do with the elite. By presenting and exchanging monuments our elite often pursues purely political objectives. There are gifts and there are gifts. The Ukrainian diaspora believes that public libraries are the best presents for Ukraine. By crushing all domestic publishers with unbearable taxes, we made a present of our book market to Russia: a regal gift, albeit completely senseless. It is not a cast iron cannon or marble fatback.
The monument in Donetsk was unveiled several weeks ago, timed to the seventieth anniversary of Donetsk oblast. The Kyiv delegation was headed by Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko. He presented the monument as guardian angel of Kyiv to now stand guard over Donetsk. Donetsk presented Mr. Omelchenko with a watch inscribed Shakhtar Team of Champions and the city “people’s” soccer team’s victory (why people’s? are all the other teams against the people or the people against them?) turned into unprecedented pompous festivities. The organizing committee invited Moscow pop stars (as though we lacked our own and those in Italy had lost their voices). In his speech Mr. Omelchenko touched on the soccer subject and declared that his native Arsenal would not let Shakhtar score a single goal if they could help it. His declaration was prophetic. In the very first round of the Ukrainian championships Arsenal caused a sensation. A young and inexperienced team, it showed courage, skill, and will. It was a pitched battle and the champion nearly lost all three points. Donetsk residents continue to visit their new monument. On a hot summer day few passersby approach mustering the courage to appear on suffocating streets to approach and gaze at it under the scorching sun reflected in the broad wings, sword, and cloak. Believers make the sign of the cross and bow. Most likely Kyiv’s Archangel Michael will be a religious rather than secular hero in Donetsk. Not far from it the construction of a grand cathedral is nearing completion and parishioners stop at the foot of the monument and the archangel will hear prayers more often than whispered words of secular love. Today, everybody prays for our coal miners, living and dead.
