vector 2_1.cdr - Universitatea de Arte "George Enescu"

uilding contexts_networking contexts
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Kiev, Ukraine:
Creating Context for Contemporary Art
Tamara ZLOBINA
The reflection on the
specific Ukrainian situation
showed that for the new
generation of intellectuals
the thesis “private is
political” is fully
understandable. Political
doesn't mean repressive
and totalitarian any more.
However “public” looks
political and constructed by
culture; “private” looks
constructed by public and
political. Contemporary art
became a political and
commercial project and
pretends to be an actor in
public sphere.
Tamara Zlobina is an art critic
and curator, working in Kiev
and living in different cities
(Kiev, Lviv, Kamenec-
Podilskyj), Ukraine. She has
degrees in Art History, and
Cultural Studies, and she is a
PhD candidate in Philosophy at
National Institute for Strategic
Studies. During 2006 she
worked as curator-resident in
Center for Contemporary Art
(Kiev), using different
nicknames - SCC139, CSC139,
CCS139.
On September 8, 2006, an exhibition was opened in the Center for
Contemporary Art from Kiev. The title Private with Public pretends to discover
some critical issues about new forms of civil activities in Ukraine. Political
organization of life as well as structure of artistic institutions became core topics
of the exhibition.
Contemporary art functions as critical strategy rather rarely in Ukraine.
National state building demands for legitimizing sources. History, traditions,
fine arts and literature are used as such. Ideology creates some canons and
fixes it in reproducing practices and celebrations. Contemporary art is caught in
this situation. From one side it became a space for official statements (in case of
governmental organizations like National Artists Union), from other completely
business project (in commercial galleries). There are no other actors in
Ukrainian contemporary art except of private initiatives and local artistic
networks which function as educational and critical sites for their participants.
Residence program in Kiev's Center for Contemporary Art is offering one
of the few possibilities for young artists to take some experience in cooperating
with curators and one another. In August 2006 the residency program brought
together four Ukrainian and three foreign artists. Iwona Golebiewska (PL),
Ingela Johansson (SE), Zhanna Kadyrova (UA), Olena Karasyuk (UA), Lesya
Khomenko (UA), Mykola Ridnyj (UA), Inga Zimprich (DE/NL) worked together
and with invited guests other artists and curators. The title “private with public”
appeared on the very beginning as an intellectual provocation from curator
CSC139. Such an extraordinarily wide topic was chosen by CSC139 (a person
who has cultural studies education) to trace multilevel changes in this
phenomenon in contemporary Ukraine. Under Soviet regime the notion of
"private" existed as sole free site in daily life. Famous "kitchen talks" were the
place for communicating and exchanging un-official thoughts. The new notions
of private appeared in public discourse after the fall of Soviet Union. Feminist's
statement "private is political" became more understandable with the
commercialization of culture. Consumer and advertising strategies influence all
aspects of life. They question the idea that every event in personal life is "really
private business". Public sphere in Ukraine got under attack of "wild
democracy" during election companies 2004-2006. Political marketing have
been a remarkable part of daily life and cityscape for two years. All these
private-political-public issues created the background for the project realized in
CCA. Each artist had the possibility to discover it from a personal point of view
but a month of cooperation shifted accent from the topic itself to the functioning
of contemporary art sphere in Ukraine.
The situation of a permanent communication between different
professionals artists, curators, CCA staff and visitors provoked open form of
working process. Residents began their common work with Kitchen project
series of presentations for each other and visitors developed into Open
Laboratory. It functioned as a mini-school, series of lectures and presentations
during August 2006. Elaboration of "open work process" and "collaboration"
issues resulted in idea of Center for Communication and Context experimental
modification of CCA structure for the period of the final exhibition.
Finally the exhibition Private with Public was opened. One could recognize
few trends in project's space: explanation of Center for Communication and
Context and of its spatial structure; documentation of private-public creative
process; discussion between art works of residents devoted to "private with
public" subject-matter. The suggestion of a new format for CCA focused attention
on the context of producing and demonstration of art and communication with
audience. According to the idea of the Center for Communication and Context,
Kyiv (www.ccc-k.net), exhibition space was divided into red, green and yellow
zones. Red zone was dedicated to the context of contemporary art in Ukraine.
Inga Zimprich and Ingela Johansson created media installations by interviews
with main persons in Ukrainian contemporary art. Three monitors showed
fragments of conversations with current director Yuliya Vaganova, the former
director of CCA Jerzy Onuch and the director of new PinchukArtCenter Alexander
Soloviov. In conversations one could recognize functioning and financing issues
of contemporary art in Ukraine (especially post-grant / post-Soros and political
motives). The same questions were brought up on walls in posters with
quotations like "you can coordinate program of residence for young artists even
from you personal apartment" or "one can organize a Center for Contemporary
Art even in Sahara". Simple form of installation made by foreign artists opened
all set of problems in this milieu: post-soviet educational schemes; an absence of
art criticism; indifferent audience; absence or backwardness of institution,
progressive commercialization of art etc.
Green zone consisted of three elements bulletin board, lecture room and
small exhibition space Contact. This is a project space for young artists with
dynamic time schedule, curated by participants of Private with Public. Young
artists were invited to use the space in CCCK to make quick works. Main idea was
to stress that an institution needs flexible spaces used in many different ways, to
stay interesting for the public but also keep its function as a platform for young
people to experiment.
Contact began functioning synchronously with “Private with Public” and
presented few projects and presentations: Volodymyr Kuznecov's mural
paintings Full contact, group project Psya Krew Graffiti in Focus; lecture of
Alevtina Kakhidze, presentations of internet-sources www.sekcja.org (Polish art
magazine) and on-line gallery http://www.artinua.com, Mykola Masenko's and
Anatolij Byelov's projects.
Contact activities were a logical continuation of Kitchen and Open
Laboratory projects. All working materials (intermediate conceptions,
reflections, videotape recordings of conversations etc.) were preserved and
presented as part of the exhibition in lecture room. The announcement board
was also an interesting part of the project (http://www.thinktank.nl/ccck/posters.html).
Artists use CCA announcement board facing
Kontraktova Square as interface for announcements of the current program.
Posters were made on the printer and copy-machine. It is also possible to create
text- or image-based works which can be printed on A4 and glued outside as a
direct communication with people on the street.
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