Photo exhibition as… inspiration
Even before the solemn opening of Den-2015 Photo Exhibit, journalists of this newspaper were in high demand, as those wishing to buy a book and get its author to sign it proved surprisingly numerous! It is no wonder, then, that a roundtable with Ivan Kapsamun and Valentyn Torba dragged on for two hours beyond schedule.
But first things first. The exhibition of the best photos submitted to Den’s International Photo Contest opened at the Yermilov Center for Contemporary Art of the Karazin Kharkiv National University (KhNU), presided over by the center’s director Natalia Ivanova, media adviser to the head of the Kharkiv Oblast State Administration Viktoria Anapolska, Den’s politics section editor Ivan Kapsamun and political correspondent Valentyn Torba, the latter two having been sent on this mission by the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna who, unfortunately, could not be present at the event, but still sent her best wishes to the Kharkivites.
“It is a major event for Kharkiv,” Ivanova observed. “This gallery is accustomed to hosting contemporary art events. One of the problems facing contemporary art is the need to reflect today’s realities, which are highly complex at the moment. We see it represented in the photos on display, which show the ongoing war. Den is peculiar in being more than just a publication that gets the job done as a media outlet. The newspaper initiates photo contests and exhibitions, which travel all over Ukraine. I can only welcome it.”
Significantly, the opening day of our exhibition coincided with the foundation day which was celebrated by the KhNU. Remarkably as well, most listeners at the opening ceremony were genuinely interested youths. And this was despite the fact that the students were still on holidays! Also noteworthy, Den’s event attracted many visitors without any commercial advertising, which is not characteristic of Kharkiv.
Representatives of the artistic community stood out among the visitors, as we noticed, in particular, prominent Kharkiv artist Vadym Petrov there. Another artist, Oleksandr Maslov, came to Den’s Photo Exhibit looking for... inspiration. He moved along and made records, looking for ideas in the photos on display.
The hall rung with positive reactions to “this powerful exhibition.” Here is one we overheard: “The main feature of these photos is that they are not aloof to their subjects, but rather sympathize with them. Their creators are not outside, but inside them. This engages the spectator.”
Naturally, it was young people inclined to study for a degree in journalism who attended the discussion “Recent History: A Rethink. Practical Tips from Den’s Journalists.” One should have seen them listening, gape-mouthed, to authors of Den’s journalistic triptych.
Kapsamun and Torba presented books “The Trap,” or A Case without a Statute of Limitations; I, an Eyewitness. Notes from the Occupied Luhansk; and Catastrophe and Triumph. The Stories of Ukrainian Heroes, being authors of two of them. The meeting was moderated by the head of the KhNU’s Department of Journalism Professor Liubov Khavkina. But naturally, the conversation went beyond the books to a general reflection of national circumstances and causes of the catastrophe we are dealing with. The Kharkivites were most interested to hear the journalistic triptych’s authors’ perspective on the future fate of the Donbas. They asked Kapsamun and Torba how one should influence this process. The general feeling was that the meeting’s participants liked the opportunity to communicate with the authors of the two books which are highly relevant for understanding Ukraine’s situation.
“THE WAR HAS FORCED US TO LOOK AT FAMILIAR THINGS DIFFERENTLY”
Anastasia PASHCHENKO, student, KhNU:
“The themes of war and civic volunteer movement are very close to my heart, because my father is a very active volunteer and I help him. I know many stories and many tragic fates, so I was deeply moved when browsing through the photos on display. The war has forced us to look at familiar things differently. A lot has been reevaluated. The photo makes you rethink it in the light of reflections. One cannot pass by it and stay indifferent. I am a photographer myself, even though it is just a hobby for me. I hope that this exhibition will inspire me to engage in professional photography.”
“THE PHOTOS COME TO LIFE...”
Liudmyla NEKRASOVA, student, Department of Philology, KhNU:
“The photos displayed at this exhibition concentrate one’s vision and come to life. One can feel the state of a soldier on the battlefield, and his fatigue, and even hear his thoughts. One can feel the feeling of security experienced by a child who stands next to the soldier. These works combine pain and hope. When wandering along the exhibition, one’s mood changes as well. Sometimes it seems that all is well and we have great prospects. But then you encounter the photos that even force you to cry. For 20 years, we have, on the one hand, expected improvements, but on the other, been constantly disappointed and experienced tragic events.”
“THESE PHOTOS CAN SAY MORE, AND EVEN MORE TRUTHFULLY, THAN ANY WORDS”
Liubov KHAVKINA, head, Department of Journalism, KhNU:
“It is a very important exhibition for me. First, because all Den’s projects are promising and interesting. And secondly, because the information war has made people no longer trust what they read, while photography lets one see ‘with one’s own eyes,’ offers an opportunity to bring the phenomenon closer to the spectator. These pictures have been made skillfully and accurately! And they can say more, and even more truthfully, than any words, they acquire new meaning now, I mean the ability to record this tragic and important violent moment in our history for ourselves and future generations.
“Moreover, Den is very important for our teaching, students write term papers based on this publication, as it is a model of quality journalism, a major phenomenon in the domestic media industry. We own a considerable number of books from Den’s Library, the most popular of them is Ukraine Incognita, and they are of interest not only to journalists, but also philologists and historians. Unfortunately, many of the students could not attend the opening ceremony, because they were on holidays or in internships, many were out of town, and all of them are now terribly sorry about it!”
On the “fake reality” of Ukrainian politics
Expert: “As long as we keep modeling our media, economy, and politics on Russia, until we re-orient to the western world’s standards, we will not make the final break with the empire”
VALENTYN TORBA AND IVAN KAPSAMUN PRESENTED BOOKS I, AN EYEWITNESS. NOTES FROM THE OCCUPIED LUHANSK; “THE TRAP,” OR A CASE WITHOUT A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; AND CATASTROPHE AND TRIUMPH. THE STORIES OF UKRAINIAN HEROES, BEING AUTHORS OF TWO OF THEM
Recently, US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey R. Pyatt said in a speech given at the Countering Information War in Ukraine conference that the creation of a “troll factory” and a “Ministry of Truth” in our country was a mistake. “There is a phenomenon in psychology called mirroring, where you fall into the habit of simply reflecting the behaviors of your opponent,” the ambassador remarked. “And that is, for me, one of the risks for Ukraine. It was a huge mistake for the Ukrainian government, for the Ukrainian people, to create a troll factory like St. Petersburg, churning out counter-propaganda in social media. It was a huge mistake to create a ‘Ministry of Truth’ that tries to generate alternative stories. That is not the way to defeat this information warfare. “The media space is obviously key to all of this. In this regard, it is important that Ukraine continues to develop professional, credible, and independent journalism free from oligarchic control,” Pyatt added. According to him, “Ukraine does not need more state-sponsored media. What Ukraine needs is a successful Ukraine.”
This message is extremely important for our country. The Ukrainian journalism was in distress for years. Over the years of the clan-oligarchic system’s existence, it became a powerful tool in the hands of oligarchs as they sought self-affirmation and engaged in intraspecific competition. So, when the time came when quality journalism could have served as a defense against Russia’s information aggression, it was almost absent in Ukraine. There were only a few projects working on internal Ukrainian integration on their own, such as Den/The Day newspaper. And then, instead of starting to fill gaps and supporting necessary initiatives for Ukraine, the government launched its “troll factory,” which opposes now not only enemy propaganda, but also Ukrainian dissent on social networks. So, should not we listen to Pyatt and allow high-quality Ukrainian journalism to develop, which is one of the keys to the success of Ukraine?
Semen NOVOPRUDSKY, journalist, Moscow:
“The troll factory was established for propaganda work. The need for this emerged when the authorities felt threatened during the Arab Spring and mass protests in Russia in late 2011. TV broadcasts reach 95 percent of Russian citizens, and they had believed that TV thus remained the main means of state control over the masses. The events of the past two to three years have confirmed it. However, the Kremlin saw itself losing the battle on the Internet then, because other perspectives dominated the web, unlike TV where such discussions with diverse viewpoints were absent. In late 2011, the government felt that it could lose support among the educated citizens, intellectuals, and the middle class, which were previously the purpose of Russia’s development. Therefore, since it could not curb these movements, it decided to lead them.
“Throughout the 2000s, Gleb Pavlovsky and Vladislav Surkov were the main ideologues and designers of political projects. The latter invented the United Russia party, and participated in inventing the Rodina (Motherland) party and other pro-Kremlin movements. It was he who began to invent a government response to this public debate on the Internet and in the media. It was decided to give the appearance of objectivity by allowing for somewhat different points of view. However, instead of a constructive discussion, trolls responded with counter-accusations: dug dirt on prominent opposition figures, tried to portray them as stooges of the US State Department, etc. So, it was all set up to allow the government to suppress the protest discourse which it found very frightening.
“Later on, those trolls were used as a tool during the hot phase of the conflict in the Donbas and information warfare that accompanied it. They were engaged in a massive propaganda cover-up operation for the aggression, which involved social networks and comments on the media websites, including Western ones. In my opinion, the troll factory is a derivative of PR and political technologies. But history develops in such a way that at some point, no PR will be enough to alter the objective picture of success or failure of the nation’s authorities. It is senseless in strategic terms, but in terms of tactics, it can bring some dubious dividends. I think that the end fate of all attempts at pervasive distortion and interference with information can be described by one phrase: ‘You can fool many people and for a long time, but you cannot fool all of the people forever.’ If the government is ineffective, it will in any case lead to dire consequences for it, despite any attempts to cover it up with such technologies. No propaganda, as perfect as it can be, will work if it covers rotten contents, since the rot will sooner or later come into open.”
“Merab Mamardashvili said that it was impossible to establish the rule of law through lawlessness. So, this is not the way which will help the government if it proves to be ineffective. If the Ukrainian authorities prove unable to make Ukraine a full-fledged European country through combating economic problems and corruption, no trolls will help them.”
By Dmytro KRYVTSUN, The Day
