Andrii Zoin (Zakharko) was born in 1973 in Kamianets-Podilsky, obtained music education, had lived in 2000-10 in Madrid, after which returned to Ukraine. He is the founder and leader of the festival “Republic,” which is held in Kamianets-Podilsky on an annual basis. This event unites modern street art in its most important genres: music, painting (graffiti, street art, and murals), poetry, dancing, and video.
The festival is taking place in several locations in Kamianets-Podilsky: the main stage is on the territory of the New Fortress in the old part of the city, the daytime stage and fair – in the City Hall Square, paintings are created in residential areas. On average, 7,000-10,000 people from entire Ukraine attend the festival over three days.
“CHERVONA RUTA FESTIVAL WAS MY SCHOOL”
Andrii, why did you start this troublesome business?
“I had the first experience of working at a festival in 1998-2000 in Kyiv. I worked as a stylistics manager of Chervona Ruta’99. That was a difficult, but interesting time. I had to do everything: from raising funds to creating of a style of the performers. Incidentally, I think that Chervona Ruta of 1997 and 1999 has been and remains the best festival of Ukraine, in terms of the idea, the concept, the team, and the feedback. For me personally it was also a school, besides namely then the decision to establish a festival with a powerful social context in a small city started to ripen. When I came back to Ukraine, I had inspiration, I found a team, and founded the festival ‘Republic’ in Kamianets-Podilsky.”
“WE USE THE MONEY EARNED AT THE FESTIVAL FOR THE PROJECTS THAT THE CITY NEEDS”
What is the specific feature of the “Republic”? Why is the festival different from other similar events in Ukraine?
“We consider that it is unique not only in Ukraine, but in entire world. For example, I haven’t found any analogues yet, although I don’t exclude that a similar thing exists in Latin America. The ‘Republic’ is an absolutely autonomous mechanism, which does not depend on external funding (I mean political parties, large business, city budget, or a wealthy owner).”
What money does the festival exist for?
“For the money from selling the tickets plus private money of the activists. We use everything the festival earns for the project that the city needs. In other words, we decided to develop the city where we would like to live, and the festival finances our micro projects. Therefore, four years ago we were involved in the street art in the residential and depressive areas, created 40 big pictures, for the first time in Ukraine got into the Google Art Project; we launched a new tourist route for pedestrians and cyclists, brought many tourists to the areas where they hadn’t been seen before. Today we also have many initiatives beyond Kamianets-Podilsky.”
“LACK OF LIMITS IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR”
Another festival took place recently. Are you satisfied with its results?
“This year’s ‘Republic’ was a jubilee one, so we arranged five stages dedicated to different directions. Over 60 performers took part in the event. This year we decided to return to small and quick (five to sixty minutes for execution) paintings in urban space, to save street art from turning into a ‘pre-ordered painting,’ and give an opportunity to paint to different painters, both famous and young ones, with permissions and without them, because we don’t like the situation connected with mural painting, which has been established over the past 3-4 years. Our recent projects are also connected with painting in the places where the meeting with art is unexpected and therefore magical. We go to paint in villages, small towns, and abandoned buildings.”
How do you cooperate with artists? On what grounds? How do you attract them? Money, social mission, freedom of expression, or something else?
“Different things. We were the first to provide fantastic conditions: huge walls (5-9 floors), Montana aerosol paint cans, hydraulic hoists. The second factor is lack of limits, which means lack of Soviet-style approach, when the artist is supposed to dedicate his works to the topic ‘My wonderful city X.’ We also encourage social, protest graffiti, which is another means of attraction for one more category of street artists.”
So, the authors are always free to choose the topic?
“At the beginning we tried to dedicate the paintings to the city. Later we left this practice. If we like the style of the artist, we invite him to take part in the festival. Of course, we take into account their future working space: a residential building or a wall of a non-working plant. It depends on many factors.”
What murals are you proud of the most?
“This is a complicated question. There are murals 100 percent of people like, and there are works that I like 100 percent. So, personally I can distinguish two works: Sower of Dreams by Donetsk artists ‘Good people’ and Colors for People, not for Flags, created this year by Argentinean artist Jorge Pomar (pseudonym AMOR). But I also like small-scale works, created by different artists in different corners of the city. Sometimes I come across them for the first time 5-6 months after the festival.”
With what street artists would you like to continue cooperation? Whom do you dream to invite?
“Of course, we would like to work once again with Poles from ETAM CREW, ‘Good People,’ Australian VEXTA. And from those whom we haven’t worked with, it would be very interesting to involve out ‘Interesni kazky’ (Interesting Fairytales) and Maya Hayuk from Canada.”
“WE UNITE EVERYTHING THAT MAY DETONATE”
So, street art is a prevailing genre.
“Today we have started to make projects, which are not connected with street art, but close to street culture and urban space.”
How does it look like?
“We turn the abandoned yards into art venues, publish collections of poems written by homeless people, and work in the sphere of ecology. We want to unite everything that may detonate, the entire creativity of the youth, show that at any circumstances and under any conditions we should promote and create the culture events and projects.”
Have you thought about bringing part of your activity into a different city and broaden your geography?
“Starting with the first festival we have been regularly bringing musicians and artists from the east and Crimea (Sevastopol, Luhansk, Donetsk, Horlivka, Kramatorsk, Starobilsk). There are our paintings in Kyiv, Khmelnytsky, villages in Bakot, and some will also appear in Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk.”
“COME ON, MARUSIA, CLIMB, DON’T FEAR!”
How do you settle the questions with painting of some or other walls? Are there any conflicts with the authorities and local communities?
“This is a very interesting question. At the first festival we tried to solve everything within legal plane. We drew numerous sketches, haunted the thresholds of architects, but all we heard was, ‘Your paintings are for insane people, here you should paint a round loaf of bread, blue sky, or a horse under a guilder-rose.’ Then we decided that it was our city and we knew better what it should be like, so now we ask for permission only of the residents of buildings or owners of premises. The authorities and communal utilities centers support us too, but we don’t go to the architects, because in every city it differs. But we haven’t had any problems so far. People who live in the buildings even protect the paintings and clean them from tags [quickly written initials of spontaneous vandal graffitists, often on more interesting paintings. – Author]. There have been many proposals from the residents of the buildings located near the paintings.”
When you work with so many people, it is impossible to do without strange or funny situations. Can you recall something of this kind?
“Once the hydraulic hoist ran out of gasoline, and the artist was left in the basket on the level of the fifth floor, but since it was Sunday, and we couldn’t find an iron fuel can of the needed size (they didn’t pour into plastic one), the poor guy had to stay there for more than an hour. Once we helped an old lady who had forgotten a key from her apartment and raised her on a cable car on the fourth floor to the window. All neighbors came to see this and supported her with shouts, ‘Come on, Marusia, climb, don’t fear!’ This is the ‘involvement of the community.’ I also recall the old man, to whose apartment we switched the projector through the window, and then brought up food products to thank him, and he asked whether we could paint his wife, who died seven years earlier, on some mural. A lot of different interesting incidents happen.”
“HAPPINESS IS IN THE WORK YOU LOVE”
Great art events in Ukraine are mostly monopolized by Kyiv. How hard is it in Kamianets-Podilsky?
“One of the tasks the festival faced was the creation of a quality culture product in the regions, i.e., decentralization of culture. I cannot say that it is very difficult. Maybe we have been lucky to meet the understanding of the authorities, so we had the permissions and were helped. The rest depended on our brains and hard work.”
I’m afraid to ask about your working schedule.
“I can say absolutely honestly that I am working on the festival 365 days a year, 9 a.m. till midnight without day-offs.”
How do you manage not to get burned at work?
“Skovoroda said, ‘Happiness is in the work you love.’ I read this long ago and since that time I have been doing what I like, maybe that is why I succeed, so I can say that I am a happy man.”
Finally, why does Ukraine need street art?
“Ukraine needs a lot of things, many cultural undertakings. Without doubt, street art is on this list, and I will tell you why. Having lived for 10 years in bright and colorful Spain, I feel the lack of colors and nice architecture in our streets. But whereas you can hardly do anything with the architecture, we can add the colors. Our life consists of pictures we see every day. If a child that goes for 11 years to school along the same high-rises will one day see bright pictures instead of them, imagine how their life perception will change. With the help of street art we are painting our gray cities. Besides, we need to break the limits, which have been imposed on us for a long time. Street art is a free urban art, these are the messages left on the streets by artists, and they supplement the visual culture of modern city. So, may there be more of them.”
