The Day’s 2012 Photo Exhibition in Donetsk gleaned the last smiles, worries, and happiness of the city dwellers. It turned out that there were a lot of people willing to share their sincere emotions. More than 300 Donetsk residents received a new intellectual and emotional boost every day. Their impressions and gratitude will remain in our hearts (and in our guestbook) forever.
According to the votes of the visitors of our exhibition at ArtDonbas, the first audience award was given to the photo My Neighbor by Kostiantyn Bobryshchev. The second prize was given to Tenderness by our photojournalist Mykola Tymchenko and The Mother is Waiting, a dramatic work by Bobryshchev. The third prize went to Heavy Summer Rain by Oleh Krysa, who participated in the nomination World as Seen by Children. Arisen by Donetsk-based author Serhii Vahanov won the nomination of the local-themed photos. It features two miners, covered with soot and coal dust, the eyes of one of them glimmer with endless exhaustion. Miners are the open wound of the Donbas. Guests expressed their respect for this profession by making such choice. Visitors also paid tribute to Hospice by Mykola Tymchenko, Wings by Olena Zen, Thank You, God by Olena Shovkoplias, Home Alone by Maria Levyshcheva, In Our Yard by Maria Surzhenko, Red-Haired Beauty by Stepan Lupuliak. By the way, Volyn residents gave the most votes for The Hutsul Haiku by Yurii Kalyniak (as a reminder, The Day’s 2012 Photo Exhibition was held in Lutsk in January and February). The Lutsk public also liked Lupuliak’s Red-Haired Beauty, He Will Be a Football Player by Ruslan Kaniuka, as well as Tenderness and Wings.
But The Day and Donetsk will not stop discovering each other. Today, the 16th Forum “Days of Advertising and Publishing Business in Ukraine” starts in Donetsk. During the forum we are going to not only present the books from The Day’s Library, but also show the best works from our exhibition and videos featuring The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna.
Svitlana YAROSHENKO, head of the Forum, says: “This year, our advertising exhibition turns 16. This is a very young age, but the world of business and marketing has changed during this period. We have become wiser, more professional and experienced! We started discussing sharp and hot topics. We are going to talk about important matters at the 16th exhibition: mutual understanding, respect, the culture of communication, partnership, and fair competition. We are going to discuss a lot of new and interesting issues. The exhibition was initially created in the hard times of changes, when the very system of business management needed to be changed; it developed in the tough conditions of turbulent economy, and it has survived the crisis. This year, about 100 companies from the largest Ukrainian oblasts, Kyiv, and Russia are going to participate in the exhibition. They will present the latest novelties in the fields of advertising and publishing, original technologies and technical solutions, new materials, designer ideas, and much more. For example, BOOK-2013 is a new exhibition project by EXPODONBAS, launched to promote the creation of a civilized book market in Ukraine, popularize modern Ukrainian literature, strengthen domestic book-publishing industry, share the know-how among publishers, strengthen the position of the national producers at the domestic book market, and raise the prestige of Ukrainian books in the society. The exhibition aspires to cater for all tastes and present as many literature genres as possible: from fiction to science, from books for children to textbooks. We would like to give special recognition to forum participants, the real professionals in advertising and publishing business, people who are in love with their work.”
IMPRESSIONS
Kateryna KALINICHENKO, art director, ArtDonbasExhibition Art Center:
“I never doubted the fact that The Day had many fans and readers, but I could not even think that such numbers of people in Donetsk were looking forward to this very exhibit. All works are very different, it is nice to see that photos by very young photographers are presented along with those by professionals. This means that our children are properly educated, they are in good environment, and the young are open to pleasant moments of life. I was impressed a lot by the series The Last Ovation dedicated to Bohdan Stupka. This is a very special topic. The strongest first impression, when we had just unpacked the works, was left by the photo Wings: a little boy is playing with water, and the drops take the shape of wings. On that very moment, Lina Kostenko’s poem “Wings” sounded in my head, and that Stupka was known to love reciting it. The selection Euro-2012 took me six months back into the past, when happy people with painted faces were sprawling right on the lawn near the “ArtDonbas,” taking pictures, celebrating life. I was touched by the psychological, social photos. For example, Tenderness, which portrays a happy young man and a girl. He holds his beloved one in his arms, standing next to her wheelchair. One cannot remain indifferent to such stories.”
Denys KAPLUNOV, deputy head, Donetsk oblast branch of the UDAR party:
“The Day’s photo exhibition is very versatile and interesting. The presented photographs were taken in different years, and we can trace the historical timing from past to present. This allows us to compare what was back then to what we have come to now. It lets us see the direction of our movement and what has changed over these years. It seems that it is very important for our society to see the real picture of what is happening to us. I like the sincerity of each photo. All of them are alive and genuine. This is captivating. And that is why it is hard for me to favor just one photograph. In my opinion, each one of them is a masterpiece.
“It is our pleasure that The Day visited Donetsk and we were able to participate in the educational project ‘A Gift for Your Own School,’ started by the newspaper, by subscribing to The Day for a number of schools in our oblast.
“Donetsk oblast is in need of high-quality Ukrainian press, which would deliver interesting and truthful information about the present, deep articles on history and culture by leading historians and art experts, and could help develop love for everything Ukrainian in our children.
“We are grateful to The Day for the opportunity to join such a project and for the consistent patriotic stand of your journalists. We are looking forward to more opportunities for cooperation in the future.”
Hanna SOKOLOVA, public relations manager, Donbas Palace Hotel:
“I was impressed by a large number of decent, deep works. Some radiate joy and some are full of sadness. The photos make people think, immerse into stories behind them. Photographs that depict luxury against the background of poverty, and vice versa, discover the new Ukraine. They show our nation’s contrasting reality. The photos dedicated to Euro-2012 were a source of special delight, because this topic is so close to us, it is still fresh in our memories. Of course, works by the youngest photographers were the highlight of the exhibition. They were done on a very high professional level. I want to thank Larysa Ivshyna for bringing such an interesting project to Donetsk. It is not very often that events of this kind are held in our city. But now there is an exhibition platform in Donetsk, and there are people who are ready to take the art to the public and develop our people.”
Mykola ANTONOVYCH, director, Gallery of Italian Art Paduano Arte:
“The exhibition had a deep impression on me. I have attended many events at ArtDonbas, and I can say that this event was different because of its extraordinary atmosphere and desire to see the works. It was clear that Donetsk dwellers were excited to see the photos and the newspaper. The great interest towards the exhibited works is evidenced by the fact that during the opening of the exhibition ‘Amazing Croatia,’ which was held in the neighboring hall, visitors also came to the halls with The Day’s photos. They looked at each photograph for a long time, pondering over issues and messages depicted in them. Unfortunately, I was not able to choose only one favorite photo for myself, I have constantly returned to a few of them, and I think they all deserve attention.”
Tetiana PFEIPFER, director general, “Lucky Company,” founder of the portal pomagazinam.com.ua:
“I was glad to be present at The Day’s photo exhibition. These are the beautiful shots and wonderful stories. In this sense, photographers are amazing people. They capture moments to tell about and show them to us. Because in order not to miss the moment, one needs to only turn around, look up, or take a closer look. My favorite photo is called An Inspired Master. It is about how often we do not see people who are right next to us. We need such events as The Day’s Photo Exhibition! They are real eye-openers. We want to give our thanks to The Day for holding such exhibition and developing the sense of beauty in people!”
Kateryna MILKA, journalist at Shakhter Ukrainy:
“The exhibition caught me by surprise with its diversity. It was especially nice to see the works by young authors. Usually, such photos are very light and positive. They make you want to look at them for as long as possible. I also have to mention social-themed shots. I was very impressed by some of them. For example, Hospice. In it, a hospice worker is binding an old lady’s head with a scarf. There is so much kindness, care, and gratitude in this photo… it would be really hard to express it all with words. It makes me think about how important it is for every person to feel there is someone who cares for them, especially if they are lonely. I think that such photographs will not leave a single person indifferent. Of course, it was very hard to choose a favorite photo, because all of them are very different and cannot be compared. But there is one common thing that unites them all: The Day’s exhibition is the mirror of our life, it is a reality we live in.”
Asia RYNKOVA, editor, Authority’s Matter show host, TV channel Donbas:
“I am grateful to The Day for this exhibition. What do artists do? They want to paint a picture of the world through the prism of their own feelings. Then, what can reflect reality better than canvas, on which each brush-stroke belongs to a separate person? These hundreds of photos are the hundreds of ‘important moments,’ which look like they were created by an unknown director on purpose. These are the fragile life stories, captured by hundreds of eyes through camera lenses. I am looking at the panorama of my own life. There is everything here: joy, pride, great anticipation, love of beauty, shame, oblivion, fear of death, and loneliness. Heroes and their antipodes: here they are. Right over here, under the gallery glass. On the one hand, there are hardened features on the face of an old lady, and on the other, almost illusory new tendencies are frozen. What did the numerous authors of this exhibition mean? Perhaps, they call me to join the creation of a new work, offer to change the sad reality. To change it immediately, before it becomes history.”
Viktoria IVASHCHENKO, student, Philology Department at the Donetsk National University:
“The exhibition surprised me with a diversity of themes. I took very long time looking at the photos. I wanted to unravel every story, scrutinize every detail, think them over, and compare it all with real life. The first thing I paid attention to was the name. All works have vivid, laconic captions which accurately reflect the essence of photos, and this creates some kind of a special mood. However, it cannot be said that all captions literally reflect the stories. Some leave an opportunity for making up one’s own version using your imagination, and open up internal resources. Message is my favorite photo. It portrays two young people who write ‘Save…’ on a wall. When looking at this photo, each person has to decide for themselves what this message is about. And the main thing is that The Day’s exhibition opened my eyes to real Ukraine, and the patriotic spirit in it.”
