26_1-8

APRIL 24, 2018 ISSUE No. 26 (1158)
Tel.: +38(044) 303-96-19,
fax: +38(044) 303-94-20
е-mail: time@day.kiev.ua;
http://www.day.kiev.ua
Photo by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day
FAITH IN UNITYContinued
on page 3
The Verkhovna Rada votes for requesting the Ecumenical Patriarch to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Award for
“explosive,
impactful
journalism”
The US announces
Pulitzer Prize
winners
Continued on page 2
REUTERS photo
DECEMBER 4, 2017. COX’S BAZAAR. AN 11-YEAR ROHINGYA BOY DIED, FOR HE
COULD NOT GET OVER A LINGERING ILLNESS. THE PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF OF
REUTERS WAS AWARDED A PULITZER PRIZE FOR COVERING THE ORDEAL OF THIS
MUSLIM MINORITY WHICH IS FORCED TO FLEE FROM MYANMAR TO BANGLADESH
Lubomyr Romankiw:
facts and quotations
The Ukrainian
who stands behind
the computer
revolution turns 87
Continued on page 2
Photo from The Day’s archives

2
No.26 APRIL 24, 2018
DAY AFTER DAY
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
The Ukrainian who stands behind
the computer revolution turns 87
By Alla DUBROVYK-ROKHOVA,
The Day
Lubomyr T. Romankiw celebrated
his 87th birthday on April 18.
The Ukrainian, who invented
recording information on a hard
disk’s magnetic head almost
half a century (49 years) ago, thus
ushering in the era of personal
computers, still works at IBM.
The longtime scientific career
and work at IBM brought him to the
National Inventor’s Hall of Fame,
where the portrait of the Ukrainian
is next to those of other inventors, including
Steve Jobs. However, Romankiw’s
colleagues are somewhat
dissatisfied with comparing him to
the latter. They claim that, hadn’t it
been for Romankiw, Jobs would have
stood no chances to achieve international
fame.
He still does not have a computer
of his own at home: he says the machine
would be taking all his free time.
“Some may regard this as a whim of an
IBM whiz who invented magnetic
heads, but who doesn’t have a PC. In
fact, I’m looking forward to the time
when PC can be linked to the brain, so
fresh data can be downloaded while you
are asleep. Then I’ll take that button
and put it in my ear,” Romankiw told
The Day half-jokingly.
Then he said he had already
patented this idea in the US.
Whenever Romankiw is told that
it is impossible to do something, he
always replies: “If you can’t do this,
someone else must do it for you.”
Romankiw has been living
abroad for 70 years and has Canadian
citizenship, but he calls Ukraine
the most important country for him.
The researcher confesses that he
reads the Ukrainian press every
night, and if the news is bad he cannot
fall asleep for a long time.
Lubomyr last visited Ukraine almost
five years ago. At the time, in October
2013, he was granted the status
of an honorary citizen of Zhovkva,
where he was born and lived until
1944, when his parents and he ran
away from war to Munich. Quotations
from the exclusive interview he
gave then to The Day still go viral in
the Web. Although the world seems to
be changing at breathtaking speed, the
material written five years ago is still
fresh and topical.
● ON STEVE JOBS
“It is Steve Wozniak who bought
our first disks. He made the first PC,
Photo from The Day’s archives
Lubomyr Romankiw:
facts and quotations
and only then Steve Jobs developed
technology.”
● ON THE WORK OF HIS
LIFETIME
“When you boot up your PC, seven
of my patents are at play. When you
first push the key and an image flashes
on the screen, it is also my invention –
magnetic heads that make a recording
on the disk. The heads I designed are
thinner than a human hair. When you
press letters, it is also my work.”
● ON THE POSSIBLE-
IMPOSSIBLE
“Back in 1965, I applied for a
patent for a computer-brain-link design.
The whole thing is simple: you
carry a device in your pocket that receives
a signal from your brain when
you want something put on record,
and then it records it. My boss, who
was entitled to sign my application,
told me that my idea was so crazy he
would be an idiot to sign it, and I never
made that patent. In 1995, they
started experimenting with computers
linked to monkey brains.”
● ON THE ELECTIONS
OF A NEW PRESIDENT
“I believe that raising a candidate,
making him dedicated to his
people, and training him as a good administrator,
will take years. The
main thing is to have more than one
such candidate. It takes a self-sufficient
team. Electing president minus
team makes no sense.”
● ON ROADS IN UKRAINE
“Kyiv is modernizing and going
to be a big-world city. The same is
true of Lviv which is becoming, in a
way, a small Vienna. These are positive
changes. One thing I dislike is the
condition of Ukrainian roads. My
impression is that the authorities no
longer want to invest in road construction
projects, so the hot-rodding
Ukrainians will have to make do
with the potholes.”
● ON FACEBOOK
“I spend so much time working in
the Internet that I wouldn’t have
enough time to step away from my
workstation if I had a Facebook account.”
● ON HIMSELF
“I’m a man who is interested in
all kinds of things. Sometimes I
can’t resist the tempttaion of reading
something new.”
Donald Trump’s “roller coaster”
By Natalia PUSHKARUK,
Mykola SIRUK, The Day
Recent US media reports say that
President Donald Trump has
not yet decided to impose new
sanctions on Russia, despite the
fact that on April 15, Permanent
Representative of the United States of
America to the United Nations Nikki
Haley announced them when speaking on
CBS News’s “Face the Nation” program.
She then stressed that the sanctions
would be directed against any sort of
companies that were dealing with
equipment related to Assad and chemical
weapons use, Haley was quoted as saying
by Reuters.
The only message from the White
House regarding this situation came
from its press secretary Sarah
Sanders. On board the presidential
plane during the president’s trip to
Florida, she told reporters that “there
is nothing to announce right now.”
“The president has been clear that he
is going to be tough on Russia, but at
the same time he would still like to
have a good relationship with them.
But that is going to depend on the actions
of Russia,” she said, adding that
the White House was still evaluating
a number of sanctions.
Meanwhile, Haley responded to
White House chief economic adviser
Larry Kudlow’s claim that “there might
have been some momentary confusion”
by saying: “With all due respect, I do not
get confused.”
“Preparations to punish Russia
anew for its support of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad’s government over an
alleged chemical weapons attack in
Syria caused consternation at the White
House,” The Washington Post writes.
Citing several people familiar with the
situation, the publication says that
“Trump conferred with his national
security advisers and told them he was
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day
On April 16, 2018, winners of
the Pulitzer Prize, a
prestigious US award for
achievements in journalism,
literature, and music, were
announced at Columbia University’s
School of Journalism. Pulitzer
Administrator Dana Canedy said at
the award ceremony: “The journalism
The Day’s experts discuss why the US
government has not imposed sanctions
on the Russian Federation over Syria
categories yet again uphold the highest
purpose of a free and independent
press, even in the most trying of times…
These courageous, inspiring, and
committed journalists and their news
organizations are undaunted in their
mission in support of the Fourth
Estate.” The awards were announced in
upset the sanctions were being officially
rolled out because he was not yet comfortable
executing them.” In addition,
administration officials said it was unlikely
Trump would approve any additional
sanctions without another triggering
event by Russia. “The Trump
team decided to publicly characterize
Haley’s announcement as a misstatement,”
the article says. At the same
time, it notes that one of White House
officials said that Haley “got ahead of
herself and made an error that needs to
be mopped up.” Meanwhile, other officials
expressed skepticism that Haley
had merely misspoken, because “she is
one of the most disciplined and cautious
members of the cabinet, especially when
it comes to her public appearances. She
regularly checks in with Trump personally
to go over her planned statements
before she sits for television interviews.”
The New York Times writes that
Tramp’s decision means “a course
change that underscored the schism
between the president and his national
security team.” The newspaper cited
a White House official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity and said
that Trump had decided not to go forward
with the sanctions since he concluded
that they were unnecessary
“because Russia’s response to the
airstrike was mainly bluster.”
“Ms. Haley has been one of the
strongest critics of Russia’s behavior
around the world, often speaking far
more harshly than Mr. Trump would,
but she has rarely been reined in publicly
this way,” the NYT writes. It also
notes that the strike against Syria
“was limited to a single night and to
three targets linked to chemical
weapons facilities.” “It sought to punish
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria
for the suspected gas attack but
avoid provoking Russia into a response,”
the report said.
“A consensus emerged Tuesday at
the White House and Mar-a-Lago [the location
of Trump’s Florida residence. –
Ed.] about how to clean up the administration’s
suddenly muddled plans to
crack down on Russia: Blame Nikki Haley,”
writes the CNN.
The Financial Times published
an article entitled “US Administration’s
Rift on Russia Sanctions Becomes
Apparent,” which mentions “a
growing schism within the US administration
on its Russia policy.” After
all, the US president has always argued
for a softer approach towards
Russia than many of his advisers, including
Haley. In addition, FT writes
that this event has laid bare tensions
that have been beneath the surface for
months.
● “TRUMP IS NOT PREPARED
TO LEAD THE WORLD
AS IT MARCHES
TO CONTAIN RUSSIA”
Aliona HETMANCHUK, director,
New Europe Center:
“Trump’s behavior on sanctions
shows one thing: in his capacity as the
US president, he is not prepared to
Award for “explosive, impactful journalism”
The US announces Pulitzer Prize winners
14 journalism and 7 letters, drama, and
music categories. The prize “for public
service” was awarded to the journalists
of US newspapers The New York Times
and The New Yorker for “explosive,
impactful journalism” – the articles
that expose sexual harassment in
Hollywood. The staff of The New York
REUTERS photo
APRIL 16, 2018. SANTA ROSA. THE PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF CELEBRATE BEING AWARDED A PULITZER PRIZE FOR
THE COVERAGE OF WILDFIRES IN SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
DAY AFTER DAY No.26 APRIL 24, 2018 3
lead the world as it marches to contain
Russia. He is ready to do it together
with European allies, but
never to lead that column.
“I would hazard a guess that we
will experience such a roller coaster
till the end of the Trump presidency,
where Trump’s tough
stance will alternate with a conciliatory
one. The latter will leave the
American president with some sort
of an opening a window of opportunity
for a future dialog with
Vladimir Putin.
“There are good reasons to believe
that the Russian president remains
an authority for Trump, perhaps
mostly a negative one as of
late, but still an authority. Russian
leaders, too, see this unclear US
policy well. The lack of a consolidated
approach is used as a signal
that the US can at any moment
change its mind on Russia, and
therefore, the latter does not need
to rush to change its aggressive behavior.”
● “THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION MAY
YET IMPOSE MORE
SANCTIONS”
John HERBST, Director, Dinu
Patriciu Eurasia Center, Atlantic
Council; former US Ambassador to
Ukraine; Washington, D.C.:
“All we know is that there was
talk of additional sanctions by the
Administration, Ambassador Haley
mentioned it publicly and the
White House contradicted her. I
would not draw early conclusions
about this. The Administration
may yet impose more sanctions. It
is simply not clear how this will
play out.
“It is also worth noting that
President Trump initially wanted a
stronger US strike on Syria; he was
reportedly persuaded by Secretary
of Defense Mattis and others to
conduct a more modest missile attack.”
Times shared one more prize with
their counterparts in The Washington
Post “for deeply sourced,
relentlessly reported coverage in
the public interest that dramatically
furthered the nation’s understanding
of Russian interference in the
2016 presidential election and its
connections to the Trump campaign,
the President-elect’s transition
team, and his eventual administration,”
the Pulitzer website
reports.
In the Feature Photography category,
the prize was awarded to the
photography staff of Reuters “for
shocking photographs that exposed
the world to the violence Rohingya
refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar.”
In the Breaking News Photography
category, the award went to Ryan
Kelly of the Daily Progress “for a
chilling image that reflected the photographer’s
reflexes and concentration
in capturing the moment of impact
of a car attack during a racially
charged protest in Charlottesville,
Va.” Time notes that Kelly took this
picture on the last day of working for
this publication.
The Pulitzer Board awarded a
prize in the music category to US
rapper Kendrick Lamar for the album
“Damn,” “a virtuosic song collection
unified by its vernacular
authenticity and rhythmic dynamism
that offers affecting vignettes
capturing the complexity of
modern African-American life.”
The media say this is the first time
the hip-hopper received this prize.
“That marks the first time in the
prize’s 75-year history that it was
awarded to a musical work that is
not jazz or classical.”
Last week President Petro
Poroshenko announced that
Ukrainian churches might soon
unite into a single Ukrainian
Orthodox Church. Last Thursday
parliament supported the president’s
proposal to formally request
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to
issue a Tome (decree) that grants
autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church (UOC) and pronounces the
annexation of the Kyiv Metropolitan
See by the Moscow Patriarchate in
1688 as null and void. A total of 268 out
of the 334 registered MPs voted for this
resolution. Most of those who voted
against were Opposition Bloc members.
Their faction leader Yurii Boiko
accused the president of interfering
into church affairs, and other members
tried to block the rostrum. In principle,
this behavior of former “Regionnaires”
is quite predictable, for it is no secret
that the pro-Russian rhetoric of these
MPs serves the interests of the Moscow
Patriarchate in Ukraine. Priests of
the latter were even seen campaigning
for Yanukovych in the temples of
eastern Ukraine in the previous years.
Before speaking in parliament,
Poroshenko met with primates of the
Orthodox churches. Patriarch Filaret
and Metropolitan Makarii gave the
president on behalf of the Kyiv Patriarchate
and the Ukrainian Autocephalous
Church, respectively, an address
to Patriarch Bartholomew with
a request to recognize independence of
the Ukrainian church. On the very eve
of the vote, Poroshenko told MPs that
there had been a years-long dialog between
representatives of the state and
the Constantinople Patriarchy and
now the time had come for the UOC to
receive autocephaly. He said in particular
that “all local churches were recognized
by way of the state’s involvement
in this process. This is the demand
of Constantinople.” The head of
state also recalled that “it is
Tsarhorod that Orthodoxy came to
Ukraine from, and it is from us that it
spread to Zalissia, where Ukrainian
princes thoughtlessly founded
Moscow.” These works drew a particular
response.
On the one hand, the president’s
statement and steps in this direction
inspired a hope among the faithful
that Ukrainian churches will become
an integrated body, but, on the other,
they raised doubts about advisability
and realism of this unification. Undoubtedly,
in spite of being formally
separated from the state, religious issues
have had a political subtext since
very old times. No wonder, in the Soviet
era the church became part of the
state system. Priests themselves admit
that, from then on, special services
had a tremendous impact on religious
affairs and appointments.
Moscow’s imperial policy was in unison
with the Moscow Patriarchate’s
expansionism which did not stop even
after Ukraine had gained independence.
Moreover, priests of the Moscow
Patriarchate took an active part in undermining
the situation and spreading
pro-Russian propaganda in eastern
Ukraine and the Ukrainian Crimea.
Thus Ukraine clearly showed a rift on
the basis of not so much faith as attitude
of believers and the clergy to
Ukraine as a state. When Russia
launched an active propagandistic and
military aggression against Ukraine,
the question of the role of church became
still more topical, while the unification
of Ukrainian churches became
a matter of national security.
“My experience forces me to take
a skeptical attitude to the presidential
initiative of church unification,”
Archbishop of the Kharkiv-Poltava
Eparchy Ihor ISICHENKO (Ukrainian
Autocephalous Orthodox Church) told
The Day. “I have seen several campaigns
of this kind in my lifetime: in
1992, 1995, 2008, and 2015. None of
them produced positive results. Obviously,
independence of the Orthodox
Church in Ukraine from foreign centers
is of dire necessity. It is a right
step to turn to the maternal church in
Constantinople. I was one of the first
to write and speak about the necessity
of coming under the Constantinople
Patriarchate’s jurisdiction as a stage
in the consolidation of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
Naturally, every patriotically-minded
person wishes the endeavor
to succeed. But it is a consolation for
me personally that I, as a Christian,
can feel to be rather free of political
moments. The Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy
has been conducting a unification
dialog with the Ukrainian Greek
Catholic Church since 2015. This dialog
is based on purely religious principles
without interference of the political
factor. It would be very uneasy for
me, a Christian, to feel that I am a
Photo by Mykhailo PALINCHAK
ON THE EVE OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA VOTE, PRESIDENT PETRO POROSHENKO MET WITH ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
BARTHOLOMEW AND SAID THAT “UKRAINE IS CLOSE, LIKE NEVER BEFORE, TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN
AUTOCEPHALOUS LOCAL CHURCH”
Faith in unity
By Valentyn TORBA, The Day
The Verkhovna Rada votes for requesting
the Ecumenical Patriarch to grant autocephaly
to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
puppet in political games, all the more
so that this political factor is obviously
linked to the election campaign.”
So, we can see that what hinders
the unification of churches is not only
the Moscow factor, but also the problem
of relationship between Ukrainian
churches. Of course, the unification of
churches will eventually raise the
question of the redistribution of governing
functions. Who will concede to
whom in this case? Some representatives
of the Ukrainian Autocephalous
Orthodox Church (UAOC) reprove the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kyiv Patriarchate
(UOC KP), that its priests
used to belong to the Moscow Patriarchate,
while the UAOC dates back to
1921. The UOC KP in turn emphasizes
that it has more parishioners than the
UAOC does.
“We must draw a clear line. I cannot
classify the problem of statehood
as a political question,” Yevstratii ZO-
RIA, Bishop of Vasylkiv, head of the
information department of the Kyiv
Patriarchy, UOC KP, said. “It is a
self-evident truth for me that
Ukraine’s statehood and independence
is not a matter of political debates.
Statehood is an axiom for all
citizens of Ukraine. Unlike other religious
traditions which have their own
guidelines and organizational principles,
the Orthodox tradition shows us
that, as is written in the 34th Apostolic
Canon, ‘the bishops of every nation
must acknowledge him who is
first among them.’ In other words,
this tradition consists in the link between
administration of the church
and the nation and its statehood. Examples
of this can be both the states
where Orthodox believers are in the
majority and the states were they are
in the minority. For instance, there
are local autocephalous Orthodox
churches in Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia,
and, after all, Russia. This is why
Ukraine, as an independent state, and
the Ukrainian nation also have this
right. The problem of the rift in the
Ukrainian Orthodox church, which
was aggravated in 1992, is connected
with the attitude to Ukrainian statehood
and subjectivity of the Ukrainian
nation. Putin says the Russians
and Ukrainians are the same nation
for him. In other words, they rule out
the existence of the Ukrainian nation
as a subject. Likewise, Russian politicians
have reached a certain consensus
in this matter – for them Ukraine does
not exist as a state. They think it an
‘aberration’ of history. Accordingly,
they believe there must be no Ukrainian
church either. Therefore, the rift
between the supporters and the opponents
of autocephaly is based on the
attitude to whether Ukraine is a sate,
or it is a historical accident and is part
of the Russian space. This aspect is
particularly evident in recognition or
non-recognition of church jurisdictions.
Owing to its strong clout in the
Orthodox world, the Moscow Patriarchate
saw to it that the Kyiv Patriarchate
found itself in an artificial external
isolation. So even those Moscow
Patriarchate followers who do not
share ‘Russian World’ ideas, but who
attach importance to canonical recognition,
are still forced to remain under
jurisdiction of the Russian church.
But if the Ukrainian church is recognized,
they will be ready to enter it. It
is not my presumptions but the results
of public opinion polls – two thirds of
Moscow Patriarchate parishioners favor
a single Ukrainian local Orthodox
Church.”
“Why is the state requesting autocephaly
in spite of Article 35 of the
Constitution of Ukraine, and is this
right from the viewpoint of secular
and ecclesiastical law?” Candidate of
Sciences (Philosophy) Yurii CHOR-
NOMORETS asks in Facebook. “The
answer is: the state is supporting the
request of the UOC KP and UAOC
episcopate. Governmental support for
this request is an old-time demand of
the Constantinople Patriarchate.
When Archbishop Vsevolod visited
Ukraine, he said the Ecumenical Patriarch
would take into account not
only the position of the clergy, but also
that of the president, the Cabinet,
and parliament. It is only natural that
independent Ukraine, a centuries-old
Orthodox country, has the right to autocephaly.
Surely, dependence on
Moscow is as nonsensical as having a
joint army with Russia – after all that
has happened, this won’t do.”
“The trust of parishioners is important
for the church. Non-canonicity
of the Kyiv Patriarchate does not
prevent parishioners from going to
UOC KP temples,” journalist Serhii
RUDENKO wrote in Facebook. “Today,
the canon is coming from parishioners.
It is especially sensitive in
wartime. For the Russian Orthodox
Church, Ukrainians have been and
will always be dissenters – not because
we have created a Church of our
own but because we have created a
state of our own and broken away
from Moscow. We must always remember
this.”
The Moscow Patriarchate always
speculates on the so-called canonicity
of the church. This religious dogma is
rather important to many parishioners,
although none of the New Testament
sermons mentions such thing
as canonicity. Undoubtedly, this term
is not so much a thing of faith as an element
of inner church hierarchy. Nevertheless,
the Moscow church quite effectively
uses it to demonstrate its
own domination. Of course, many consider
the president’s actions as a preelection
step. Some politicians have
even begun to speak jokingly about
“forgiving Poroshenko’s sins” if the
Ukrainian churches really unite to
spite the Moscow Patriarchate. But we
will have a hope that after we have requested
the Ecumenical Patriarch to
grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church, Moscow will lose
another lever of influence on our territory.
At the same time, the UOC MP
will face a serious problem because
there will surely be a split among its
parishioners.

4
No.26 APRIL 24, 2018
TOPIC OF THE DAY
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
By Ivan KAPSAMUN, The Day
The coming presidential race is a
little less than a year away. However,
an active re-grouping of
forces and candidates’ preparations
have already begun.
We talked about the special features of
the coming election with head of the
department of electoral technologies at
the Situation Modeling Agency Valerii
Honcharuk.
How would you characterize the
main players, major candidates before
the election of a new president?
“The presidential election will definitely
determine the nature of the subsequent
parliamentary election that
will take place in the fall of 2019. I
think, therefore, that the main political
forces (both those represented and
unrepresented in parliament) will nominate
their candidates. However, current
candidate support figures are not
yet indicative, so they only testify to
the fact that there are no obvious favorite
or favorites so far. Yulia Tymoshenko
and Petro Poroshenko lead
in all opinion polls, but their support is
still so low that any third-party candidate
can get into the second round. It
should also be noted that both Tymoshenko
and Poroshenko have high
disapproval figures, so anyone who gets
into the second round can defeat either
of the two, theoretically speaking.
“Of course, a very serious game
has already begun regarding selecting
a partner for the second round of voting,
which suggests the possibility of
a third-party candidate emerging.
Therefore, it is not surprising that we
can see in recent opinion polls names
which are rather problematic in terms
of politics, like those of Sviatoslav
Vakarchuk or even Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
It shows that the niche is there,
the more so that a lot of the electorate
are still undecided.
“I think the main players who are
represented in parliament will act cautiously.
The People’s Front behavior
is indicative here, as they say through
Arsen Avakov that they have not decided
who they will support in the
election: maybe they will nominate
their own candidate, maybe they will
support the current president, or
maybe they will nominate a third, alternative
candidate. Therefore, bargaining
is just beginning.
“In addition, we see that in the
government itself, too, not everything
is running smoothly. For example,
there are conflicts at the level of law
enforcement, anti-corruption agencies,
including one between Yurii Lutsenko,
Artem Sytnyk, and Nazar
Kholodnytskyi. On the other hand,
some people say that Volodymyr Hroisman’s
term in his position is not infinite
either, hence, some kind of a
squabble takes place around it too. Also,
the election will necessarily be affected
by the situation in eastern
Ukraine, the possibility of an escalation,
broader hostilities, etc. Of
course, the economic situation in the
country will be of great importance as
well. Thus, it is unlikely that someone
will come up with an accurate longterm
forecast a year before the election.”
The Hroisman cabinet turned two
years a few days ago, and people say
increasingly frequently that its head
has started charting an independent
course a long time ago. Should one
expect his participation in the election
as a member of some alliance?
“For Hroisman, it is important to
get key decisions passed at the level of
parliament, so he enters situational
alliances with various political players.
Often we see that he is even more
supported by the People’s Front than
the Petro Poroshenko Bloc itself,
which has a very complex composition.
A third of its MPs are already
openly declaring their opposition to
the president. But I would not yet
make any predictions as to whether
On the chances of a third candidature
Valerii HONCHARUK: “Tymoshenko and
Poroshenko have high disapproval figures,
so anyone who gets into the second round
can defeat either of the two”
Hroisman will be able to enter the
presidential election as an independent
player. After all, one must take into
account the fact that he does not
have strong support from any parliamentary
force. Accordingly, in order
to bid for something, he needs to go
through another election race. At the
same time, it seems to me that there
are not enough votes at the moment to
dismiss Hroisman. There will also not
be enough votes for any new prime
minister to be confirmed.”
You mentioned two “non-political”
names: Vakarchuk and Zelenskyi.
What are their chances of winning,
and who might be their puppet
master?
“Vakarchuk, unlike Zelenskyi, has
some political experience. We know
that he was once an Our Ukraine MP.
But this was a negative experience, so
he was unable to become a true legislator.
I do not rule out that the part of
the democratic camp that is opposed to
the president will bet on Vakarchuk.
But then the question arises: who are
his team members? There may be
problems here. For example, Viktor
Pinchuk’s shadow may appear behind
Vakarchuk, and that of Ihor Kolomoiskyi
– behind Zelenskyi. In such
circumstances, it will be difficult for
Vakarchuk to conduct an election
campaign.”
What are Oleh Liashko’s chances
of winning?
“Liashko will try to play a game of
his own and, of course, will run for
president. And he can be assured of
winning the fifth, fourth, or third
place. If he will unexpectedly go
through to the second round, then the
vast majority of voters will vote not so
much in support of his opponent, but
rather against him. It is because
Liashko is a rather extravagant and
notorious figure who has his own voters,
but this is not enough to win the
election.”
Nationalist forces (Svoboda, the
National Corps, the Right Sector...)
held a joint march against the oligarchs
recently. It is well-known
that they have a niche, but is it
enough to qualify for a major role in
the election?
“I think that all these marches
are rather more aimed at the parliamentary
election. And here, one
should also understand that nationalist
forces have their own limited
niche and support base. We know
that in the last pre-revolutionary
parliamentary election that was held
under Viktor Yanukovych’s administration,
Svoboda got 10.5 percent of
the vote, while the next election,
held soon after the Euromaidan, saw
them failing to clear the electoral
threshold, as they got just 4.7 percent.
To be fair, they had competitors
in 2014, like the Right Sector
and others. If they unite before the
next parliamentary election, then of
course they will have a real chance to
clear the threshold. As for the presidential
election, the support for, say,
Sketch by Viktor BOGORAD
Oleh Tiahnybok is lower than for the
party itself, that is, it is far from being
sufficient for victory. As for other
leaders, such as Andrii Biletskyi,
their support figures are even lower.
In general, it is quite possible that
key players will use nationalist
forces in their games, because these
groups are inherently active, mobile,
can be aggressive, etc.”
Let us analyze the opposite camp
now, namely former voters of the Party
of Regions. Here, Yurii Boiko and
Vadym Rabynovych are still contesting
the leadership. How realistic are
their chances?
“The phenomenon of the For Life
Party, created by Rabynovych and
Yevhen Muraiev, is similar to the Progressive
Socialist Party of Ukraine,
led by Natalia Vitrenko. Such a project
can claim a certain portion of voters,
not exceeding 10 percent: this is
quite radical pro-Russian electorate.
But they have absolutely no growth
potential, given that their most ardent
supporters are cut off in the occupied
territory. For his part, Boiko
relies on a more moderate section of
the electorate, but this moderation
may not actually benefit him, because
such voters are more passive. Another
problem of the Opposition Bloc is its
disunity. I think that in the presidential
election, Boiko will strive not for
victory, but for a respectable result on
the eve of the parliamentary election.
In that latter race, he will be able to
obtain a more solid result, which will
open up the possibility of getting into
a coalition and receiving certain ministerial
posts.”
Last week, the media run a story
about the oligarchs Ihor Kolomoiskyi
and Hennadii Boholiubov secretly
meeting in Geneva with ex-chief of
the Presidential Administration Borys
Lozhkin. “Of course, we discussed
Ukrainian realities, politics, and
prospects for the future, including
the fact that Poroshenko will never
win presidency again,” Kolomoiskyi
stated later, as quoted by radiosvoboda.org.
In your opinion, who and how
do Ukrainian oligarchs manipulate
before the coming election?
“There is no united oligarchic
class in Ukraine, they are skeptical of
each other, and therefore compete
with each other. Accordingly, the oligarchs
will not play in the same
camp. It is clear that Kolomoiskyi
will under no circumstances support
Poroshenko, and will use his resources
to help other players win.
Meanwhile, Rinat Akhmetov or
Pinchuk will be more likely to put
eggs in multiple baskets. This is the
long-established pattern of their behavior.
Also, we must take into account
that other oligarchs, like Yurii
Kosiuk, Oleh Bakhmatiuk, or Kostiantyn
Zhevaho have grown stronger
as well, and they will play their own
games too, because they have enough
resources. The incumbent president
is able to run a full-fledged election
campaign too.”
Why, in your opinion, despite all
the tragic events in Ukraine that
ought to have changed the system,
voters have to choose among the old
guard again? Why is vertical mobility
not working?
“Unfortunately, we have not had
evolutionary change and renewal of
the political elite. It seems that after
the Euromaidan, many young people
(public figures, war veterans, journalists...)
entered parliament without
too much political baggage, experience
and responsibility, but they have
not been able to show themselves as
forces for good, and have failed to
turn into full-fledged leaders or to introduce
constructive projects. The
system has absorbed them. Thus, yesterday’s
‘idols’ have discredited not
only themselves, but also their ideas.
So far, Tymoshenko and Poroshenko
remain the main players out of this
crop of candidates.”

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
TOPIC OF THE DAY No.26 APRIL 24, 2018 5
By Ihor SIUNDIUKOV, The Day
ideological differences for the sake of working for the benefit
of Ukraine. This in fact becomes the life-or-death
The destiny of a thinker, like that of an artist, often problem of Ukraine itself. In reality, Lypynsky, as a political
theoretician of the Hetmanate, a profound historian,
turns out to be unexpected or even chimerical.
Forgotten, distorted, rejected, and cursed by a researcher of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky era, a diplomat,
contemporaries still in his lifetime, this person a sociologist, and a political writer, had to watch with pain
“suddenly” (in reality, not so suddenly) stages a and indignation “the process of self-immolation, in which
comeback dozens of years later. His key works are read our house is burning down” (his own words).
anew, “at a fresh glance,” attentively, respectfully, and Lypynsky is and, frankly speaking, will remain opportune
and topical for a long time, for he warned: “No-
critically – and we, the now remote descendants of this
prominent personality, surprisingly discover how many body will build a state for us unless we ourselves build
prophetic thoughts he left for the future, how much he one” (we can also supplement his view as follows: “No enemy
will ruin our state unless we ourselves ruin it”). Is a
managed to foresee, and how many mistakes (including
serious) he cautioned us against.
deep political, socioeconomic, and, above all, moral crisis
All this ideally fits in with the image and legacy of Viacheslav
Lypynsky, a true “general designer” of Ukrainian ment assures us that “the worst is already behind us” –
of Ukrainian society in 2018 (even though the govern-
state formation, who lived a dramatically short life (49 years what else can a government like this say?), is all that is
only). Now that our state has had to counter the most acute going on now not a most convincing confirmation of
dangers and threats at least in the past 27 years, with Russian
aggression being in no way the only threat of this kind, word, “ripens,” until the people rally around it (for the
Lypynsky’s thought: until a true elite, worthy of this
the following call of Lypynsky is exceptionally timely: at a people will know that the elite pursues no other goal than
difficult hour, it is absolutely necessary to throw away all serving the state), Ukraine will remain endangered.
LYPYNSKY INCOGNITA
Towards the 136th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Ukrainian
political thinker, the “general designer” of Ukrainian statehood
● “HE DISTINGUISHED
BETWEEN PATRIOTISM
AND CHAUVINISM”
Bohdan ZEK, Senior Research Fellow,
Volyn Local History Museum;
Candidate of Sciences (History):
“The figure of the Ukrainian historian,
politician, and diplomat Viacheslav
Lypynsky (1882-1931) is particularly
topical today. While we were just
reading his works in the early 1990s stage
of state formation, now we are thinking
over their content. There are a lot of
things to reconsider, for our state is a
quarter of a century old. Like in 1918,
Ukraine is fighting against an aggressor
and, at the same time, has to seek the necessary
ways of domestic development.
“Unfortunately, Lypynsky is still a
‘terra incognita’ for Ukrainian society,
and our politicians are flouting with particular
zeal his warnings and repeating
100-year-old mistakes. The scholar
shared monarchic views and favored
strong power in the person of a hetman,
albeit in a democratic state. In his opinion,
the ruling strata and the opposition
should adhere to one principle only – to
work for the people’s benefit, not just
struggle for power. He distinguished between
patriotism and chauvinism, and,
what is more, Lypynsky, who came from
a well-known Polish family, became a
true Ukrainian, which not all of us manage
to do. So let us pay attention to his
works. Isn’t it time to understand what
we should first do tomorrow?”
● “THE NO. 1 TASK WAS
TO UNITE THE STATE
AND SOCIETY”
Tetiana OSTASHKO, historian,
Den/The Day’s contributor,
researcher of Viacheslav Lypynsky’s
scholarship and life:
“In my view, the most topical idea
Lypynsky put forward and defended is
territorial patriotism of Ukrainians:
all those who were born in Ukraine,
recognize its statehood, and consider
themselves citizens of the independent
Ukrainian state, regardless of
their ethnicity, religion, and political
views, have the right to call themselves
Ukrainian patriots. They are
such if they confirm this with real
deeds. It is this patriotism that the
Ukrainian state should be based on.
“Lypynsky’s ‘theory of elites’ is
also of paramount importance. The
elite (if it is really an elite) is obliged
to assume all responsibility for the
state of affairs in society. Lypynsky
was never tired of emphasizing that
Photo from the website WIKIPEDIA.ORG
VIACHESLAV LYPYNSKY (THIRD ON LEFT) AT RUSALIVSKI CHAHARY FARMSTEAD. ON HIS LEFT IS PEASANT LEVKO
ZANUDA WHO DIED, SAVING LYPYNSKY’S MANUSCRIPTS (1915 PHOTO)
‘people can never be wiser than their
elite.’ We must take into account and
analyze these words. Responsibility of
both the elite and the people is an exceptionally
important category today.
“Tellingly, although Lypynsky was
a conservative (as a political thinker),
he conceded (and even insisted on) the
opposition and pluralism, for the No. 1
task was to unite the state and society.
Lypynsky was convinced that Bohdan
Khmelnytsky, the great Hetman of
Ukraine, managed to resolve this problem
in the 17th century. He thought
that Hetman Skoropadsky was also to
take this course of actions.
“In the 1920s, Lypynsky repeatedly
requested both the Ukrainian intelligentsia,
which he believed had failed
to stand the test of statehood, and the
‘producing strata’ of the population to
find out soberly and honestly why
statehood was lost and how to restore
it. His famous ‘Letters to Brothers-
Agrarians’ are about this. Incidentally,
the Ukrainian Union of Agrarians-
Statists, a political organization
Lypynsky led at the time, was not a
party, which he always stressed. For
this would run counter to his persuasion:
the future Ukrainian state must
not serve the narrow party interests
but ensure a free harmonious development
of all strata and classes.”
Europe and new challenges
Participants of a security conference discussed
the success of nationalists and populists, what
danger it poses, and how to fight this phenomenon
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day
Within the framework of
the 11th Kyiv Security
Forum, a discussion was
held lately on the topic
“Threats to European
Democracy and Security: An East
European Crisis.” It is known that
populist, nationalist, left-wing forces
are gaining in popularity in many
countries, and voters are casting
more and more votes for them. This
can be seen from the results of the
latest election in Germany (where the
right-wing Alternative for Germany
party gained more than 13 percent of
the votes), Italy (where the left-wing
Five Stars Movement gained over
30 percent of the vote), and Hungary
(where the right-wing conservative
Fides party of the incumbent Viktor
Orban won outright with 49 percent
of the vote). The Day collected the
most interesting expert opinions
about this trend, as well as other
threats to Europe’s security.
● A SHORTAGE OF IDEAS
Karel Schwarzenberg, Foreign
Minister of the Czech Republic
(2007-09, 2010-13), stressed the
trend of the collapse of traditional
parties and pointed out that such
processes were taking place in Germany,
Italy, France, as well as in the
Czech Republic. Populist and extremist
political forces emerge because
of the fact that the traditional
parties that appeared at the end of
the 19th century, like Liberals, Social
Democrats, or Christian Democrats,
“have not demonstrated new ideas”
over the past 50 years. “When you
get for breakfast a cup of tea which
has already been brewed two or three
times, you will not drink it, and, of
course, you will not buy ideas which
have been shown to be unworkable on
several occasions either,” he stressed.
Populists, meanwhile, have taken advantage
of the fact that modern leaders
do not understand the problems of
the new generation, so they win voters
by being “not boring.” “Active
citizens were interested in politics before,
in the age of Margaret Thatcher
or Francois Mitterrand, because they
were interesting individuals. Today
we see rather gray politicians and do
not have prominent personalities,”
he explained, citing his country’s
president Milos Zeman and Prime
Minister Andrej Babis as examples.
● WHAT IS THE SECRET
OF ORBAN’S SUCCESS
Director of the Center for European
Neighborhood Studies Peter
Balazs spoke about the secret of Orban’s
Fides party’s victory in the
legislative election held in Hungary
on April 8. According to Balazs, a
majority of voters, or 52 percent,
did vote against the current prime
minister, but due to Hungarian electoral
legislation, his party got two
thirds of seats in parliament while
winning just 48 percent of the vote.
He explained that this political
force, unlike all the others, had not
published an election platform. At
the same time, the only target of
Fides’s rhetoric was the issue of
refugees and migrants. The expert
confirmed that there was an unprecedented
influx of migrants
three years ago, but they mostly
sought to go to Germany, while “nobody
even wanted to stay in Hungary,
because the language is very
difficult and the wages are low.”
The speaker also said that the
victory of Orban had been enabled by
fragmentation of the opposition.
“But we also underestimated the
power of propaganda that was aimed
at rural areas. It is very similar to
Brexit... when certain segments of
the population are very receptive to
populist rhetoric,” Balazs emphasized
and added: “They worked very
hard to influence rural areas where
people do not speak a foreign language,
do not have Internet access,
read a single local newspaper, and
90 percent of these newspapers belong
to the government.”
Joachim Schuster, a member of
the European Parliament representing
Germany, addressed the topic of
relations between Ukraine and the
EU in his speech and offered two
conclusions on the issue of stability.
“Now the economy of Ukraine is at a
low level while poverty is high. But
on the other hand, it is also necessary,
in the next few years, to talk
about accelerating economic growth
and improving income distribution,
so that various segments of the population
benefit from it. There will be
a lot of efforts to that end on the
part of the IMF and the EU,” said
Schuster. He also said that the fight
against corruption in Ukraine “was
suspended somehow,” which has led
to certain consequences, namely 600
million in macroeconomic assistance
that has not been disbursed.
● WHAT POPULISTS PLAY ON
“Since the end of the Second
World War, European countries
have built up certain constitutional
systems that protect people’s civil
rights and freedoms, and today
these achievements are threatened
by two dangerous trends in Europe:
nationalism and populism,” opined
Minister of National Defense of the
Republic of Poland (2007-11) Bogdan
Klich. “Populist movements
play on the fears of people, on certain
sentiments, using them in
their own interests, as tools for
their own gain, undermining the
constitutional order, and from time
to time disrupting the mechanism
of checks and balances,” the expert
explained, adding that this has created
a background on which the social
design ideas are infringed, and
this is a major threat. Klich cited a
study by Freedom House, which
evaluates transformation processes
in 29 democracies since 1999 and
says that 2018 will be the second
consecutive year when there will be
more new consolidated authoritarian
systems than new consolidated
democracies, both in Europe and in
Eurasia. “Among 28 countries, 18
are experiencing a departure from
democratic principles and norms,”
he said. In Eurasia, the trend may
be characterized by the spread of
violent authoritarianism, while in
central and eastern Europe, it is
rather a new version of a departure
from liberalism. At the same time,
the illiberal approach, characterized
by civic protests, publication
of critical articles in the media outside
government control, critical
comments in social networks, and
people’s vulnerability to excessive
inspections and checks by government
agencies as well as discrimination
in employment – all this is
also observed in platforms of populist
parties, the number of which
has almost doubled in Europe since
2000, growing from 33 to 63.
Schwarzenberg added that “any
populists have to justify their funding,
so they look neither to the left
nor to the right” and “make their
policies attractive to all.”

6
No.26 APRIL 24, 2018
CULT URE
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
From hermits’ huts
to a monastery of saints
By Maria PROKOPENKO,
photos by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day
The tallest secular building in
ancient China could only be two
stories high. There was an
unwritten rule: you should not
build your own mansion taller
than the neighboring one, all for the sake
of maintaining good relations in the
community. However, already in the
days of the Song dynasty, reigning in the
10th to 13th centuries, there were
government-approved norms of urban
design as well. We learned about this at
the “Palace in the Mountains”
exhibition, which continues at the
National Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko
Museum of Art. The exhibits include
24 scrolls dating to the 18th through
20th centuries, as well as Chinese works
of decorative and applied arts, all coming
from the collection of the museum.
● A PICTURE AS A DRAWING
Chinese understood the importance
of the type of space created by a person.
Thus, there was even a separate genre of
painting which depicted buildings, called
jiehua, that is, “picturing the world.”
Thanks to Chinese artists’ liking for
copying classic models, the Khanenko
Museum lets one to get an idea of the different
periods of the genre’s history, because
many of the works presented are
remakes of more ancient works.
“Chinese architectural painting is a
variety of the genre of ‘mountains and
water,’ that is, landscape. Buildings
should fit into the landscape where
mountains, water bodies, clouds, trees,
lumps of stone have already been harmonized.
Into this inconceivable, arbitrary,
to some extent chaotic, natural environment,
the artist should insert something
that has precise measurements and
is painted with the help of a ruler,”
said Marta Lohvyn, the curator of the exhibition
and a leading research fellow at
the Oriental art department of the Khanenko
Museum.
A ruler is not a metaphor. There
was the gongbi style, literally meaning
“meticulous brush.” It demanded very
careful detailed painting, even down to a
bird’s feathers, and clear lines, so the
buildings were painted with the help of a
special ruler without a scale. Moreover,
The Khanenko Museum presents Chinese architectural
landscapes. Most works are shown for the first time
such paintings could serve as drawings,
allowing one to constructareal mill or distillery.
However, Lohvyn added that this
skill had been lost after the Song’s demise.
● DREAMING OF A HUT
In contrast to the gongbi, there was
also the xieyi style, that is, “conveying
meanings.” Its main feature was to convey
the general impression of a subject.
An artist, often a titled and enlightened
individual, conveyed the shape of, say,
a mountain temple with several impetuous
lines. This style was popular under
the Ming dynasty, which lasted
from the 14th to the 17th century.
“Court intrigues meant a lot at the
time, and courtiers dreamed of becoming
hermits, they liked to paint it at
least,” Lohvyn said. “Courtiers believed
that only artisans were interested in
making a precise engraving of something
in stone, lacquer or ivory. Meanwhile,
these free artists and scholars sought to
get rid of social conventions and paint
figuratively. For example, they painted
hermits, with whom they identified
themselves. Also, they left on scrolls
many inscriptions, telling about themselves,
their sources of inspiration and
other things.”
However, the emperor probably never
tired of the magnificence and detail.
Lohvyn mentioned the story of Qiu
Ying, a 16th-century master who first
created lacquered items, and then mastered
painting and very accurately depicted
architecture in his works. The
works of this artist impressed the
supreme ruler so much that he made the
painter a courtier.
The skill of Chinese artisans is really
impressive. The exhibition “Palace in
the Mountains” displays a 19th-century
bamboo stack for brushes, which surprises
the viewer not only with the accuracy
of landscapes, but also with their
three-dimensional nature.
● A PR PICTURE
Along with huts, Chinese artists
painted also palaces, both real and fictional.
For instance, one of the scrolls depicts
white-robed saints taking a walk on
the terraces of a grand building far
away in the mountains.
Images of real palaces could become
political advertisements as well. For example,
look at a picture of the legendary
Pavilion of Prince Teng. It was built in
the 7th century and described in folk
songs, but it suffered a lot throughout its
history from civil strife, experiencing
29 rebuildings. The picture of the rebuilt
monument, painted in the 19th century,
shows the wisdom of the then rulers.
Some palaces captivated imagination
of artists for many centuries. Jade Terraces
on a Spring Morning is the poetic
title of a painting done in the manner of
Li Sixun, who lived in the 7th and 8th
centuries. It depicts a palace of the Han
era, which lasted from the 3rd century
BC to the 3rd century AD. In his time,
Li was inspired by the grandeur and scale
of ancient palaces, and his take on this
subject became canonical, so that paintings
from different centuries which are
based on his work are held by museums
all over the world.
● A DIZZYING LANDSCAPE
The Old Toper’s Pavilion is the oldest
such building in China, having been
constructed in 1045. The “Palace in the
Mountains” exhibition displays a painting
depicting it, which was created in the
manner of the abovementioned Qiu. The
pavilion is still there after numerous alterations,
but the artist portrayed it in
a free manner, adding something from
himself.
The structure has nothing to do
with topers, or drunkards, apart from
the fact that one can get drunk from the
landscape that can be observed from it,
because this monument is located on a
dizzying mountain winding road. “It was
built by a very talented writer, historiographer,
and calligrapher Ouyang Xiu,”
Lohvyn said. “He was a courtier, occupied
a high position, but his wife’s relatives
fell into disgrace through some intrigue,
and he suffered with them.
Ouyang was sent to a noble exile where
he served as imperial governor of the remote
Anhui province. The scholar was
only 38, but he felt tired of life and invented
his pseudonym ‘Old Toper.’ On
the scroll, we see a text of his authorship,
an elegy about this pavilion.”
Ouyang was the author of the pavilion’s
idea and helped with attracting
workers. His monk friend designed the
structure, and a local moneybag funded
construction.
● A MYSTERIOUS BIRD
Among the scrolls on display, there
is a horizontal one, entitled A Goose Released.
It is three meters long, so spectators
can see only a small part of it. In
general, such scrolls were never hung on
the walls, as they were watched like
filmstrips instead.
“Spectators went from right to left.
They unwrapped the scroll one cubit a
time, watched the opened fragment,
rolled it in and moved on, unwrapped another
fragment, and so on to the end,”
explained the curator of the exhibition.
“A small company could gather for that
purpose, people ate delicious meals,
drank wine, watched the scrolls and
discussed them. Then they could write
something on colophons, which are special
strips of paper which are added in
front or behind a scroll, creating something
like a book of reviews.”
The painting tells the story of a man
who has released a bird. At first, this
work was stored in a museum under the
title A Swan Released. This identification
was based on the description made by the
secretary of the diplomat Andre Stefane
Jaspar, whose collection the work
previously belonged to. Swan’s Chinese
name is literally translated as “heavenly
goose,” so the researchers later decided
that it depicted a goose. And only recently,
having read the author’s signature
on the scroll itself, Lohvyn realized
that the bird was actually a crane.
“But whatever bird is depicted here,
it is barely outlined on the scroll, and we
show the part where it is absent,” Lohvyn
smiled. “Here we were interested in the
diversity of different buildings: houses on
piles and on the ground, boats, and a pass
with a check point housing a temple.”
● A PATRON’S GIFT
The scrolls from the exhibition came
into the Khanenko Museum in 1959, donated
and sold by Taisia Jaspar. She was
the wife of the aforementioned Chinabased
French diplomat Jaspar, who
owned a collection of Chinese art. Subsequently,
Taisia Jaspar settled in Kyiv.
After the death of her husband, she inherited
most of his collection, which she
then donated to the museum.
“We showed one scroll from this
project at an exhibition in 2014, and several
others at another exhibition a few
years ago. Others have not been shown
before at all,” Lohvyn added.
Going by ancient Chinese standards,
the exhibition at the Khanenko Museum
is a manifestation of great generosity. In
the Middle Kingdom, scrolls were hung
on display for several months, and then
wrapped up and kept carefully.
So, do not miss the opportunity to
take a walk amidst Chinese architectural
landscapes. The “Palace in the
Mountains” exhibition will run until
May 13.

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
By Maria PROKOPENKO,
photos by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day
Polar explorers, underwater
animals, funny still lifes –
some of Nastia’s drawings
are an inspiration for adventures,
and some, on the
contrary, are full of comfort. Recently
she staged a solo exhibit in
Kyiv’s Orthodox gallery, organized
by the Pictoric club of illustrators.
Nastia showed us her characters
and told about working with
foreign publishers.
CULT URE No.26 APRIL 24, 2018 7
Greta
❸ POLAR EXPLORERS AND OTHER
UNUSUAL TOPICS
and company
This work makes Nastia learn many new
things from other spheres. For example, the
artist studied in detail the history of an expedition
of the English polar explorer Shackleton,
when she illustrated a thematic issue of the
Egres magazine. Some of these drawings can be
seen at the Orthodox exhibit.
Nastia thus illustrated the story of the Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17 led
by Ernest Henry Shackleton. The explorers
wanted to cross Antarctica through the South
Pole, but the ship was icebound at the beginning
of the expedition. This happened a long way
from civilization, and they did not have an
earthly chance of being helped.
“It is an incredibly terrible story of polar explorers
sticking in a crisis and their captain
Shackleton doing a heroic deed. He went out
with a small group in search of help. It was very
hard, but he rescued everybody, and the end was
happy,” Nastia adds.
You will agree it is an unusual choice of
theme for the magazine. In Nastia’s words,
Egres puts emphasis on such themes as nature,
environmental protection, and stories. “The
magazine is done in Bratislava. Authors often
went to small towns, mingled with ordinary people
who create something authentic and have
written about it,” the artist says. The magazine,
which used to come out in a printed version, is
now published online only.
Seven facts
about illustrator
Nastia
Sleptsova
❹ FOREIGN MAGAZINES
Nastia mostly contributes to foreign publications.
In addition to the abovementioned Slovak
one, she has worked for Flair (Netherlands),
Raketa (Czech Republic), Seasons (Russia), and
Sister Mag (Germany).
“I can say that the Dutch magazine is intended
for women. I drew a lot of illustrations
for the winter issue. The theme was New Year
and domestic comfort. It was interesting to me
that a women’s magazine caries many illustrations.
In general, it is a classy project,” Nastia
admits.
The German magazine is in fact an online
blog. The artist illustrated an article about chimneysweeps,
which describes the history and particularities
of this profession, including such details
as health impact.
❺ INTERNET SHOP
Nastia has a shop on the popular online platform
“Etsy.” She sells there drawings, postcards,
and cute brooches, for example, shaped as
little houses and sweaters. This is why, whenever
the artist draws something for herself, she
takes into account whether the thing can be an
object of the interior. Among Nastia’s favorite
“free themes” are houses and nature.
❶ SLOVAK NOVELTY
The exposition centered on illustrations to
the children’s book Greta put out by Egres, an independent
Slovak publishing house. “The book is
about a girl whale Greta who is known throughout
the ocean for giving gorgeous concerts,”
Nastia says. “One day Greta lost her voice. All
the marine creatures are shocked. It turns out
that the cause is dirty water in the ocean. Moreover,
not only Greta, but also other animals suffered
from pollution. The characters decide to
get rid of garbage and do so.” Incidentally, the
book was published by way of crowdfunding or,
to be more exact, advance orders.
❷ TO CHILDREN ABOUT
THE ENVIRONMENT
Nastia is very familiar with the topic of the
environment. In the last while, she has been dealing
with garbage segregation, reduction of the
consumption of and pollution of the planet with
plastics. The artist notes that there are drawings
and tips at the end of Greta about how to minimize
the glut of plastics in life. “One can use
reusable bottles, textile bags for purchases and
snacks, segregate garbage, and so on,” Nastia
enumerates. “The book teaches children to use
resources sparingly and see what impact each of
our actions can have on nature.”
❻ SELF-EDUCATION
An applied-arts designer and teacher by profession,
Nastia learned the art of illustration by
herself. The artist, who currently lives in Lviv,
was born and raised in Crimea and graduated
from the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical
University in Simferopol.
“When I was only beginning to draw something
for myself and trying to choose what to do,
I read several interviews with foreign illustrators.
This helped in a way,” Nastia recalls. “But
I attended no special courses.”
❼ BOOK STORY
Nastia likes illustrations in many, mostly
foreign, books, and she finds it difficult to
name the favorite one. Among the ones the
artist likes is Jane, the Fox, and Me by the
Canadian writer Fanny Britt with illustrations
by Isabelle Arsenault. “Isabelle draws in simple
pencil, and her illustrations are very moody,”
Nastia explains her choice. Incidentally, last
year Vivat published the Ukrainian translation
of this book.
As there appear more and more books that
consist of illustrations only, we asked Nastia if
she would like to make one like this. “I have felt
before that I was not prepared to take up books,
but now I am more bold and inquisitive to think
in this direction,” the artist answers. “Therefore,
something may come up.”

8
No.26 APRIL 24, 2018
TIMEO U T
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
City of the Sun and darkness,
By Hanna PAROVATKINA
Photos by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day
The exhibit is named “Private City.” While
art critics keep locking horns over what
the “Kyiv art school” is, artists are
painting Kyiv, their most favorite city.
Viktor Khomenko’s “Private City” creates
a strong impression. His Kyiv is, to a large
extent, expressionism (and, obviously, the cycle
has no formal signs of “nude art” or “erotica”).
Those who viewed the pictures for the first time
saw Kyiv as a “corporeal,” 3D, and living city. It
is a genuine Kyiv, the one we love and know
down to the minutest detail.
IMPRESSIONS
By Pavlo PALAMARCHUK, Lviv
or Kyiv as a battlefield of “Gnostic” cosmogony
at Viktor Khomenko’s exhibit in Triptych Art Gallery
Garbage... of the future
Photo by the author
A Lviv ceramic artist has
created a conceptual
project of plastic fossils
Viktor KHOMENKO is well known in the art
milieu. It will be recalled that as far back as 1976
he was a co-organizer of the first unofficial exhibit
of nonconformist artists in our capital. He
began exhibit officially in the late 1980s. It is he
who published for many years on sheer enthusiasm
(and continues to do so today, if possible)
the influential journal Obrazotvorche Mystetstvo
(“Fine Arts”). Unfortunately, Khomenko’s
popularity among the broad masses of contemporary
art appreciators is almost inversely proportional
to his fame among his colleagues. This
master of Ukrainian avant-garde is clearly underestimated
– in contrast, by the way, to his famous
daughters, artist Lesia and designer Yasia
(although it is impossible not to notice the impact
of father’s work on the Khomenkos’
younger generation).
“Private City” is Viktor Khomenko’s new
painting cycle, unexpected from many angles to
the connoisseurs of his usually ironic oeuvre.
“I’ve been searching for the ‘new’ in art for
all my lifetime,” the artist says. “And now, unexpectedly
even for myself, I’d like to ‘cast an
anchor.’ I need graphicness. Landscape is the
most demanded genre of Ukrainian painting.
But the commercial side of the matter did not interest
me. The point is I do not often leave the
city and spend most of the time at the wheel of
my car. Whenever I drive, I watch urban landscapes.
Yet the ‘Private City’ cycle is not about
the city or landscapes. It is a story of me – a personal
one, like a diary.”
The city, a model of the Universe, a heavenly
Kyiv, livened up under Khomenko’s paintbrush
and emerges in a combination of “sunny”
hues. No wonder, the word “sunset” runs
through the names of some of the cycle’s pictures
– “Sunset Street” – “Vulytsia Symona
Petliury,” “Sunset Minibus,” “Sunset Avenue”
– “Brest-Lytovskyi Prospekt). And this
incredible picture in a mixture of hot-yelloworange,
blue and black colors, is titled “Sunlight”
and, in Ukrainian, “Svitlo Sontsia Bohdana
Khmelnytskoho.” In most of the pictures,
the hot-yellow background and sunrays contrast
with gray and black manmade objects. It is the
easily recognizable bridges and overpasses (e.g.,
“The Bridge” – “Moskovskyi Mist”). A string of
cars, gray winter snow (“Winter Time” – “Zymovyi
Chas”), the pedestrian bridge, and
Dnieper hills under the bleak winter sky (“Privale
City” – “Pryvatne Misto”).
Step by step, a grandiose picture unfolds before
your eyes: Kyiv as a battlefield of true
“Gnostic” cosmogony, where the forces of the
Sun rival with the darkness of evil. Or, maybe,
the eternal sleep of Brahma? Quite to the point,
one of the largest canvases of the cycle, “The Hill
over the River” – “Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska
St.,” seems to show some inscriptions in Sanskrit.
Incidentally, the “dual” names of each picture
can also testify to the “binarity” of Kyiv,
the city of Andrew the Apostle and of the Black
Serpent.
“In painting, everybody tends to see his
own,” Khomenko notes. “And what pleases me is
that, perhaps for the first time in my lifetime,
none of the exhibit visitors asked me: ‘What do
your pictures mean?’ There is no invisible wall
that usually rises between the spectator and the
artist with his works! It is an incredible feeling,
when pictures are self-sufficient.”
■ The exhibit “Private City” will remain
open till April 25.
The Zelena Kanapa Gallery is hosting an
exhibition of the famous ceramic artist Olha
Pylnyk, entitled “Fossils 4018.” The number
in the title of the exhibition is a notional year,
into which the artist tries to transport
visitors of the exhibition with her works, and the
gallery serves in this case as a museum of
archaeology of the future.
“Once, while going on a walk, I began to look at
the roadsides not yet covered with grass. They were
littered with pressed plastic bottles that looked like
they were lying there for centuries. Then I wondered,
‘how will we look in the next civilizations’
imaginations? And what will we leave for their future
archaeological excavations?’ Foreseeing that
correctly is probably very difficult, and this is not
my task. Let the futurologists think about it. I only
have a great hope that subsequent civilizations
will be even more sapiens,” Pylnyk said.
And so the project “Fossils 4018” came to be.
The ceramic artist and her son began to travel to the
suburbs of Lviv to collect plastic waste there.
However, before disposing of it, she impressed it on
her ceramics. In that way, strange fossils of the future
appeared on her works which are made of
chamotte, or fired clay.
“Such bottles cover our whole planet. They are
everywhere: in cities and villages, on land and in
water bodies, in woods and fields, in the mountains
and plains, on all continents. In my imagination,
I already saw how the archaeologists of subsequent
civilizations would find the whole piles of
compressed bottles that had already fossilized or
left impressions on the stone. I wanted to show this
in my works and express this incredibly striking
contrast between the natural beauty of the land
and the sad anti-aesthetics of man-made garbage
of our time,” said the artist.
In total, 11 works ranging from 30 to 70 centimeters
in length are presented at the exhibition.
All of them are also covered with angobs
and enamels.
According to the gallery’s owner Olesia Domaradzka,
this project is a good example of contemporary
art, and is full of profound meanings
as well. After all, it raises the issue of plastic bottles
and plastic waste in general, which harms
our planet.
■ “Fossils 4018” can be visited until May 6.
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