Photo Exhibit Den-2015 has entered its third day. Several hundred people have already visited halls which host the exhibition, while two dozen new records have been added to the guestbook. The exhibition, which chronicles the events of 2015, has seen visitors not only from Odesa, but also from all over Ukraine and even the world.
Odesa is the fifth city to be visited by the 17th Photo Exhibit Den-2015. Its photos recorded events of the past year – war and peaceful life, our failures and victories, and, as Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna observed, “many photos show our courts that were the scene of subversive work against the Ukrainian spirit and belief in justice. The Gongadze-Podolsky case is the chief example here.”
At the grand opening ceremony of the exhibition, deputy chairman of the Odesa Oblast State Administration for culture affairs Solomia Bobrovska remarked: “These photos reflect the sense of national unity. When the 17th Photo Exhibit finishes its tour throughout the country, we would like to take it to every raion of Odesa oblast, to show our people what their compatriots all over the country experience.”
“Sometimes, a photo gets straight into one’s heart, such as pictures Prayer in Mariupol or Mother Maria, the latter portraying Nadia Savchenko’s mother; such photos touch upon and bring into action some inner strength which makes one invulnerable,” Ivshyna told us. “Lina Kostenko liked to say: ‘Your photos are not just photos, they are rather paintings.’ And I think that many people have become convinced that these are truly pictures painted by the spirit. Of course, we and the Odesaites went through a long warm-up stage, it took time for us to find a common ground. But I would like to see Odesaites, now full of optimism, seize this opportunity to become part of Den’s friendly circle. The Ukrainian era is just beginning, for people of southern and eastern Ukraine and Crimea have learned how it feels to be on the edge, on the brink of your nation’s disappearance. And we have to remember it forever and do everything so that this fear never returns. The war is not over, and we have a very cunning enemy, so we have to win in peaceful life first, particularly in the courts.”
Den has found new friends in Odesa who cooperate with us by supporting the campaign Donate Den’s Library Books to Your Old School. Director General of Brooklyn-Kyiv Inc. Yurii Hubankov donated books to 112 Odesa schools, and bought three sets which he intends to present to his friends. Director of Standart Bud Servis Ltd. Serhii Umniankov joined this newspaper’s initiative as well by donating Den’s books to 10 schools, 2 libraries, and 2 technical colleges in the city of Chornomorsk as well as to the Successful Ackerman cultural and educational center in Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky. Umniankov sponsored Den’s Library books received by the Odesa National Research Library, department of journalism, advertising and publishing of Odesa Mechnikov National University (OMNU), public space “Impact Hub Odessa,” Odesa National Maritime Academy, and Odesa National Economic University. “I am very pleased to be able to join Den’s initiatives. I hope I was able to make a tiny cultural contribution to the nation’s development, a drop that will help to fill the sea which will be called the sovereignty and economic independence of Ukraine,” Umniankov shared his thoughts with us.
IMPRESSIONS
“The exhibition appeals for more visits... And the large number of visitors at the opening did not help if one wanted to have a meaningful viewing of the photos. I wanted more intimate setting, so visited the exhibition again late on March 27 and was impressed even more than on the first viewing. Most terrible scenes from eastern Ukraine were especially touching,” we heard from Svitlana BONDAR, senior lecturer of the faculty of journalism at the OMNU. “We started to recover a little after those shocks we had had to endure, began to return to normal life patterns, plan the future... and this is a documentary reminder that the Minsk Agreements exist only on paper! The war continues! Although the number of victims in the front reports has dropped, each soldier is still a universe which no one has the right to attack. This flaming pain alarmed me and forced to think how I could help. It is all the more important since volunteers note that they face growing difficulties collecting money to help lately, and here is the reminder – the war is close, and it continues, killing defenders almost daily. These pictures remind that they are serving there protecting us, and we should do everything possible here to make next year’s pictures more positive and optimistic, showing a peaceful, prosperous, and modern country.”
“I visited Den’s photo exhibitions in Kyiv and Odesa on numerous occasions. Each of them is unique, because the photos reflect the major events, their pathos and the sense of what Ukraine experienced over a certain historical period. Obviously, today’s is a special exhibition, because we had special, tragic, heroic, hardening circumstances in war years 2014-15,” associate professor, Candidate of Historical Sciences Oleksandr MUZYCHKO told us. “Thanks to the heroic efforts of Ukrainians, the enemy failed to repeat the Crimean or Donbas scenario in Odesa on May 2, 2014. But the war continues, and it is on in Odesa as well, primarily in informational, moral, and psychological fields. But it is not only the war with Russia which concerns our citizens, in particular, the authors of many wonderful photos presented at this exhibition. They are also concerned about the problem of unrealized aspirations and lofty ideas, disillusion with the ‘new’ political forces, social and economic poverty, lack of prospects. This motif, sometimes expressed in sarcastic form, is also reflected in the photos. All this pain and concern certainly could be accumulated at this exhibition as well by Borys Korpusenko’s brilliant 2013 photo Old Dolls. Only now, these dolls are even more abundantly covered with Ukrainian blood in Independence Square pictured in the photo. Today, the vast majority of Ukraine’s population feels just puppets in the hands of politicians. And the inhabitants of Odesa, who were always Ukrainian, are finding it especially painful to watch the numerous cases of mimicry, evil going unpunished, and opportunism. The pictures call for another reflection on such historiosophical issues as state-building ability (or inability?) of Ukrainians, the appropriateness of revolutions (or lack of it?), individual and war, war and rear areas. However, do not fall in despair either. Some pictures of this photo exhibition feature wonderful people, beautiful scenery of Ukraine, urge us to continue to live, to fight, but above all – to think and analyze critically, expand what is still, unfortunately, a relatively small ‘club’ of truly patriotic, thoughtful Ukrainians that largely coincides with the circle of Den’s readers. I am filled with optimism on seeing at this photo exhibition not just a large number of people, but wonderful young people, the true citizens of Ukraine. Among them, I saw young journalists, who have a great responsibility now to change negative discourses and phenomena which are currently dominant in our journalism, and not to break on the complex and seductive life path. Den is a good antidote for that.”
“I express my gratitude to the organizers of the photo exhibition for involving us in the project along with other exhibition venues,” said Ihor PORONIK, director of the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art. “We recently held an exhibition of Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts, and this concept means that every moment is important in this world. I think the photo art fits this philosophical principle. This photo exhibition has every photo reflecting a moment of our history. It shows that we are all different, but we are still one people. I was most touched by Anna Chapala’s photo Daddy Goes to War. I wish to see Den’s next exhibitions offering more peaceful pictures which would reflect more smiling, happy people.”
“For me, this exhibition represents the first line of our national anthem: ‘Ukraine is not yet dead, nor its glory and freedom.’ In my 38 years in the museum, I saw perhaps a thousand exhibitions. This is among the most impressive,” stressed Liudmyla SAULENKO, art critic and deputy director of the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art for research “I remember best the picture which shows a very serious person, a boy with tie in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. I liked his natural patriotism. That photo combined a sense of humor with sentimentality and understanding of symbolism.”
You are welcome to visit the photo exhibition and vote for the Audience Award till April 3 from 10:30 am to 5 p.m., except on Wednesdays. Admittance is free. Odesaites, you should not miss the opportunity to see unique photos which took part in this newspaper’s international contest!
