The musician told The Day about Kraina mrii-2010, his participation in the Slavianski Bazaar Festival, announced the Ukrainian program, and finally convinced us that the cultural center of Europe will soon appear in Ukraine.
“It is fashionable to be a positive person, a well-cultured one, which means knowing the history, culture, and language of one’s own country. It is fashionable to be environmentally-friendly and ethically-minded. It is fashionable to read The Day, and not to smoke.” It was a year ago that Skrypka declared this “fashion manifesto” for the readers of our newspaper and the entire Ukrainian society. Apparently, the program is still valid. Skrypka continues to insist on his own way, which is based on being Ukrainian, environmentally-friendly, enjoying music, and remaining true to oneself. This is precisely the reason why the festival Kraina mrii has chosen the “green” path and the slogans “A dreamland is a clean land,” and “Listen to Ukrainian music! Consume Ukrainian products! Support Ukrainian things!” Skrypka is convinced that these principles are the fundaments of a nation.
That is why the festival Kraina mrii (Dreamland) is actually a dream about Ukraine. It creates a national myth, about Ukraine “as an area with a clean environment, bright thoughts and intentions, an undistorted sense of authentic things, the spring of folk traditions.” It is this list of things, rather than hypocritical political programs, that are an optimum development program for our country.
Actually, here lies the unity of worldviews which has become the base for cooperation between The Day and Kraina mrii since the first year of the festival’s existence. And now this friendship has even given way to a special nomination within the framework of The Day’s Photo Contest, “Kraina mrii’s Best Photo.”
However, not only was the festival the reason for our meeting with Skrypka, but also VV’s participation (along with other Ukrainian musicians, actors, and artists) in a festival in the Russian city Perm. Actually, our conversation with Skrypka started specifically from the idea (apparently less utopian than previously thought) of covering the boundless Russian space with Ukrainian culture.
Larysa IVSHYNA: After performing at the festival in Perm, does not it seem to you that Russia has a need for understanding Ukraine?
“In Russia the attitude to Ukraine is much more complicated than it seems to us. First of all, many Ukrainians living there have a significant cultural and political influence in the country. Secondly, for Russians Ukraine and Ukrainians are a symbol of liberty. Taking in consideration the recent change of power in Ukraine, it seems to them that we have a total ‘Freundschaft.’”
L.I.: Under these circumstances, who will have a greater influence, Russia with its authoritarianism, or we, with our huliaipole? After all, cultural “infection” is stronger than political resources.
“It is stronger, but in spite of the fact that Russia is playing Soviet games its culture is a serious weapon, besides, it has already gotten rid of that Soviet sharovarshchyna.
“It would be more appropriate to speak about Belarus in the context of influence and improvements in the sphere of freedom. Lately we have frequently gone on tour there. The processes taking place there are very much similar to those in Ukraine. But for Belarusians, Ukraine still remains a symbol of freedom.”
L.I.: Have they noticed the elections in Ukraine, that Yanukovych has come to power?
“They have, but I am speaking about the emotional perception of Ukraine and Ukrainians, which cannot change so quickly. The entire paranoid nature of the Belarusian situation notwithstanding, the intellectuals there have managed to find their own niche and gather civic society around it. Now they have art galleries and festivals independently of the authorities.”
L.I.: Even the Belsat Television, although it is broadcasting from Poland.
“Belorussians have found a way to be independent, without confronting the authorities. Russia is in a different situation. My acquaintances, serious businessmen told me a funny story. Once they had talked with Moscow bandits in Kyiv. The aesthetics were typical: two-finger thick chains, red necks, jackets. Suddenly our guy says, ‘Putin is an idiot.’ The Muscovites grew numb and speechless, all this while sitting in Kyiv and wearing two-finger chains. The fear of the state is so deep in Russians, that in their case it is too early to speak about freedom.”
HYPOCRISY ON TELEVISION AND RADIO
L.I.: On the whole, what is happening in the cultural landscapes of Moscow and Minsk?
“I’m mainly interested in ethnic and rock music. Belarus is a phenomenal country in terms of high-quality performers. But most are banned – if you speak Belarusian, this a priori means that you’re in the opposition. Thus, if you sing in Belarusian, you’re banned from playing. The best Belarusian performers are forbidden. The absurdity also consists in the fact they have a quota on the radio, according to which 70 percent of songs should be in Belorussian, but Belarusian songs are balancing on the verge of illegality. As for Russia, serious money is invested in its culture, but for some reason the quality is low. Maybe the reason is the fashion for postmodernism, which is a reaction to violence. And the filthy language also typical of modern Russian music seems to me a reaction to lack of freedom.”
L.I.: I think it is anti-culture.
“But what we hear today on the radio and see on television is also anti-culture. There is no fundamental difference between those who sing brutal lyrics and Kirkorov, because Kirkorov’s performances are a non-verbal filthy language, which along with corruption stays behind the scenes, whereas a celluloid picture remains in the facade. This is a great hypocrisy.”
L.I.: Yurii Shevchuk’s dialog with Vladimir Putin sent a strong signal throughout the entire post-Soviet space. Such a thing has never happened before. People are inclined to believe that big money, oil and gas can influence people, but subtle psychological plots also have their influence. There have been commentaries of the “a tsar and a pot” variety, but they all somehow reveal the fact that Russian people whose life has improved have a need for freedom. We’ve had a similar thing in Ukraine. When the horror of wearing toilet paper rolls around one’s neck was over, people started to fight for freedom. Do you remember it?
“Of course. When nostalgic idiots listen to remixes of Antonov’s songs, I immediately recall myself, as a student, walking behind the Ukraina department store, and seeing a huge line of happy people with rolls of toilet paper on their necks. For me this picture is associated with the Soviet Union, as was people standing in line for mayonnaise and green peas.”
L.I.: And chicken legs are jutting out from avoskas.
“You know, I cannot accept the picture of those days’ – rolls of paper, avoskas with chickens – especially in terms of aesthetics.”
SUPPORT UKRAINIAN
Maria TOMAK: The new edition of Kraina mrii had an admission fee. Are Ukrainians ready to pay for their art?
“In a sense, the readiness to support one’s own is a part of nation-building. Instead, the peculiarity of a provincial nation is when people view everything foreign as being superior. It is regarded as normal when Ukrainians pay up to 1,000 dollars for a ticket to a foreign performer’s concert. But they wish to listen to their own musicians free of charge. Ukrainians should learn to pay for domestic art too. I think that after all people will understand that by buying a ticket, they contribute to their own culture. This goes not only for ‘live’ concerts, but others versions of music. People should understand that it is much simpler to pay and get quality, than ‘hunt’ some gratuitous things. It seems to me that some people look for lost wallets.”
L.I.: Getting something at someone else’s expense is an instinct of plebeians. It is time to become a different kind of people.
“I have an acquaintance, a wealthy man, who goes only to the concerts of Ukrainian performers. Even if the band is not very interesting to him, he still pays for the ticket, because he thinks that in this way he is supporting the Ukrainian culture.
“If Ukrainians will embrace this kind of approach, they will create their own nation more efficiently. Listen to your own performers! Consume Ukrainian goods! Support Ukrainian things! These are the foundation of a nation. If you don’t stick to these principles, you cannot speak about a nation, just about people without identity scattered on a specific area.
“Implementation of an admission fee is a serious step for Kraina mrii. Hopefully, the time will come when the festival will exist enough funds just from ticket sales.”
M.T.: People who come to Kraina mrii, join the ecological initiative Zelena toloka (Helping Each Other for the Environment), to support the residents of Kharkiv who are fighting against the destruction of a park. These people are true civil society activists. Is this “third sector” strong enough to resist encroachment upon its freedom?
“We will able to assist this in two or three years. And now we are yielding the fruit of the preceding years of freedom. Everything in our life comes late. The cultural boom we can see now is the result of previous work.”
L.I.: And Perm, in particular, has applauded the result.
M.T.: But the question is not only about the government, it is about the ability of this community to defend its beliefs.
“The interaction of the authorities and civic society is a very complicated process, and it is yet unknown how it will be taking place under the new circumstances.
“One may draw the following parallel: if to plant a strong high-quality plant which is potentially able to force its way through asphalt, it doesn’t stand a chance to survive if somebody would drive a steamroller over it on a regular basis. But it is a fact that civic society has emerged in Ukraine.
“My position is as follows: one should cooperate with the government. For example, we cooperated with the authorities of the Perm Region when we were performing there, and in a similar way, with Belorussian authorities. Why can’t we cooperate with our government?
“I have asked the previous government to help Kraina mrii, but we have not received any response. I have recently written a letter to the new minister of culture. But there is no reaction yet.”
INTELLECTUALS DO NOT WATCH TELEVISION
M.T.: Speaking about politics, although you haven’t taken part in the election campaign tours supporting one or another candidate, you mentioned in an interview to Kommersant that you had a certain agreement with Yulia Tymoshenko concerning the support of holding the Rok-Sich Festival all over Ukraine. Is this agreement still standing good?
“We will see whether Yulia Tymoshenko is able to help Rok-Sich. I will send her an inquiry, and to the Ministry of Culture as well.”
M.T.: In what regions are you intending to hold the festival? Rok-Sich could be organized in Donetsk, for example.
“I don’t think so. We haven’t performed in Donetsk for five years, and to arrange a huge festival there…”
M.T.: By the way, when going across the country, can you see the difference in the cultural level of people in different regions?
“For the most part, I communicate with a specific kind of people, intellectuals. As for me, they correspond to this notion more in the provinces than in the capital. And this phenomenon is not typical of Ukraine only. Life is in full swing in the capital, everyone is seeking their place under the sun at a furious pace, they are trying to survive. Snobbism appears, as does cynicism and glamor, and other attributes of a capital’s post-cultural mingling. Being an intellectual is a kind of moral and intellectual stand.
“By the way, one of the attributes of today’s intellectuals is that they do not watch television.
“The first thing that should be done by Ukrainians is to create a really Ukrainian media holding. One can feel the efforts of individuals in the sphere of information, but they are not systemic. Such a holding could become the basis of a cultured society. To influence society in any way, one must use information policy. Only when Ukrainians will have genuinely Ukrainian mass media, will people be able to seriously discuss cultural phenomena in Ukraine.”
THE GASTRONOMIC FACTOR UNITES
L.I.: It seems to me that Ukrainian producers are beginning to feel more confident on the Ukrainian market. This means that people who want to support Ukrainian products are increasing in number. Do you have the same feeling?
“People are potentially ready to support a positive movement. But they should be given a signal. For example, to tell them ‘Let’s buy Ukrainian oatmeal cookies.’ It’s cool, let’s do this!”
L.I: Please tell us, what should progressive Ukrainians do? We want to hear your action plan.
“I can tell you how I see this from the point of view of Ukrainian performers. We need people to come to our concerts. This is the first thing. Secondly, every Ukrainian should know their own history and culture, only then can they be called citizens. Third, one should sing Ukrainian folk songs. I won’t promote Ukrainians dishes, it seems we have no problems about this. On the whole, the gastronomic factor remains probably the only fairly uniting one. I have even heard a slogan, ‘Who does not like salo (lard) is a nerd!’ Of course, one ought to travel across Ukraine. When you find amazing places in your own country, it makes you even happier than when you see a beautiful castle somewhere in Switzerland. Besides, tourism is investing in your own country.”
M.T.: Let’s speak in more detail about the music one ought to listen to and the concerts one ought to attend. Young bands perform in Kraina mrii annually. What is your general impression of the youngest Ukrainian performers?
“Young bands are always the most interesting, most talented and most avant-guarde. A lot of them emerge every year. Just take one of them, put them on the air, and you will have a star that girls are running after.”
M.T.: In your opinion, who deserves to be praised? As a “patriarch,” you have the right to pick.
“This year a young band Astarta will perform at Kraina mrii. Rock musicians have united with folklorists, making very high-quality material, both in terms of arrangement, in terms of performing and in terms of the authentic material they are working with. This year the band Vasia Klab will also perform. There used to be a splendid author, Vasia Hontarsky. I would say, he was the Ukrainian Vladimir Vysotsky, Unfortunately he died. But the rest of the band have not scattered. They found a new performer called Vasyl, who sings in a voice similar to Hontarsky’s. Vasia Klab restored the program, and they will present it at Kraina mrii.
“We featured a splendid band from Chernivtsi, Hutsul Kalipso, who play original Hutsul funk. Seeing these guys on stage, everyone becomes surprised, why we have not seen them yet on TV. Another interesting team also performed at Kraina mrii – Nazad Shliakhu Nema. These are Ukrainian-speaking guys from Luhansk playing alternative music. They created a ‘heavy’ folk program together with a people’s collective. An interesting band has come from Bretagne (France), Red Cartel. They played with the Ukrainian folk band Hurtopravtsi. We are planning to unite them again for a joint performace both at Kraina mrii, and in Lviv.
“All young musicians, like little children, should be assisted, plunged into a high-quality context. Such festivals as Kraina mrii give them an impetus, but only once a year. The rest of the time they need a club stage, publishers, bases for rehearsals, and radio rotation. This is what I meant when speaking about the Ukrainian media holding. After all, the state should carry out a certain policy concerning the mass media.”
TYPICAL CULTURAL GMO
L.I.: The Day frequently emphasizes Ukraine’s loss of its information space. Russian soap operas portray the life of Russians. Be it philistine and vulgar, for Russians it is native. The same soap operas are shown on nearly every Ukrainian channel, whereas Ukrainians want to see, speaking in conditional terms, their own Ukrainian office plankton. Is this real, or is it possible only in the context of political changes? Can the TV channel owners show a good will?
“No, they can’t. If a shop is selling products with GMOs, this can be legally stopped. What we see and hear is for the most part typical cultural GMO. It is wearing a ‘mask’ of music and ruins the cultural mechanism. I think that a qualitative cultural policy always envisages a certain influence to be implemented by the state. The state should have a specific strategy. Actually, it was created specifically for this purpose. The objects selling poisonous fried meat pies will be closed, why don’t they have time to do the same with radio, which is ‘selling’ a poisonous music product?”
M.T.: The authorities have now initiated a discussion about social policy. In your opinion, what should it be based upon?
“Support of Ukrainians and Ukrainian products. This is the most important thing. The social policy of any state is based on this. If you have the land, but you don’t plant anything on it, you don’t weed it or water it, saying that nothing will grow out of it, the results will be corresponding. For people who are not versed in Ukrainian culture it will be simpler to say that we don’t have anything, than think about what concretely needs to be supported and developed. My apartment is covered in discs of Ukrainian performers, 99 percent of which most people have never heard and will never hear, because these bands do not exist anymore.”
DON’T BE IDIOTS!
M.T.: You recently met Ghandi’s grandson. What impressions did you have?
“For me the fact that Ghandi’s grandson appeared in my life is a symbol. On the whole, I am a mystical man. I see such situations as a code that needs decoding.
“I thought that time has come to step on the road to wisdom. Even this way: since the moment of this meeting struggle has ended in my life. I have understood that struggling will never yield positive results, because there is aggression in it. You can achieve some material values through struggle, but it won’t give you the most important things in life: comfort, harmony, communication, happiness, love, sunshine, air.”
M.T.: What should Ukrainians do in this case? What strategy should they choose? Very often struggling was all that Ukrainians had.
“The prescription for Ukrainians is simple, don’t be idiots! That’s all. When I see Ukrainians hang ribbons of Saint George on their cars instead of reading what kind of victory that was and what it meant for Ukraine… Here we start losing our own interests. Ukrainians should stop playing other people’s games, and start their own one, honest, open, comfortable for everyone and not antagonistic. Where is the contradiction between the East, embodied by the Kremlin, and the West? The Kremlin is playing archaic games, using force. The West applies more modern philosophies of non-confrontation and cooperation. Yes, it has its own interests, but they are measured. In the course of time the West will find the way to go round Russia with its oil and gas, and these levers won’t work in 10 or 15 years. The world will move on, with some part of the planet lagging behind.
“Ukraine does not need to become a world leader. We just need to live well. As for the cultural milieu, we have an unploughed field that we need to plough just a bit, sow the grain and cultivate it. We have not entered NATO. Yes, it’s sad, but we have a chance to be a cultural center of Europe.”
UKRAINIAN “LATIN BLOCK”
M.T.: What will Oleh Skrypka sow in the near future on the blissful Ukrainian soil, apart from Kraina mrii and Rok-Sich?
“For the first time I’m going to Slavianski Bazaar in Belarus. I’ll represent the Ukrainian jazz of the 1930-1940s. It would seem that it hasn’t appeared before. Now it will be heard in Slavianski Bazaar. If we show that Ukraine had jazz in the 1930-1940s, then maybe somebody will find something else and we will manage to create our separate style – Ukrainian jazz. In reality, one can do grandiose things through pointed efforts, we can fundamentally change society’s attitude to certain things. I’m also close to the realization of the idea of creating a Ukrainian club that would gather people for communication, uniting, making joint presentations, set up joint projects, or simply come to have a cup of coffee, which they will be able to choose from a Ukrainian-language menu. Using Ostap Bender’s words, this will be a Ukrainian ‘Latin block.’ Perhaps I will implement this idea next year. Personally I, on an automatic level, go to the cafes with Ukrainian-speaking waiters and where they understand me.”
M.T.: So everything starts from here. When we will pay those who provide services the way we like, the country will change.
“There is a phenomenon already, a language tourism. People come to Lviv specially because they want waiters in cafes to speak Ukrainian to them.
“Speaking of tourism, some foreign musicians who come to Kyiv only for a couple of days to perform at Kraina mrii do not see anything besides the festival, leave the country with incredible impressions. When I meet them several years later, I can hear the following phrase: ‘You have a fantastic atmosphere in your country. Everyone’s wearing embroidered shirts there.’ Ukrainian reality remains unknown to them. They imagine Ukraine as Kraina mrii, a Dreamland.”
