Censored Hopes: Interview with Volodymyr Kuznetsov

Born on September 18, 1976 in Lutsk. Graduated from the Academy of Arts. Lives and works in Kiev.

Co-founder The Assembly for Culture in Ukraine

Co-founder of Artistic Council — self-educational community,

based on interdisciplinary co-operation. 2006

Co-founder of CCCK — Center for Communication and Context, Kiev. 2004

Co-founder of the artist group R.E.P. — Revolutionary Experimental Space (Revolutsijnyj Experymentalnyj Prostir)

Selected exhibitions: 2013 VIP car: Balkan Motif, International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), the 30th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia.2013 Ukrainian News, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland. 2012 My Grandmother's Room, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland. 2010 – Minimal Differences, with R.E.P. group, White Box gallery, New York, USA.; 2009 – Exhibition of the shortlisted PinchukArtCentre Prize 2009 nominees, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv, Ukraine; 2009 – "No More Reality [Crowd and Performance]", together with R.E.P. group, Depo Contemporary Art Centre, Istanbul, Turkey; 2008 – "Alphabetic Oder", together with R.E.P. group, Index Contemporary Art Centre, Stockholm, Sweden; 2006 – "Postorange, tendencies in contemporary Ukrainian art", together with R.E.P. group, Kunsthalle, art space Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria.

Volodymyr had participated in artist-in-residence program such as International Program "LIA" (Leipzig, Germany, 2008), "Het Blauwe Huis" (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2007), "Residency Program for young artists" (Center for Contemporary Art, Kiev, Ukraine, 2005).

Yana B.: For those who don’t know you, will you tell us a bit more about yourself and what you do?

Volodymyr K.: I'm interested in those topics which combine the private and the public, the old and the new, different contexts and unexpected meanings are interlaced; the aesthetics of everyday practices seems to be simple; the presence of archaic in contemporary. I consider memory as a sort of experience. I prefer to generate new concepts through personal and collective knowledge.

Yana B.: Have you ever been aware of belonging to a movement, a school?

Volodymyr K.: The school of life lays in its most unexpected manifestations - travel, communication, personal exchanges and not only with people from art community. In actuality, I graduated from the Academy of Art in Lviv. This is an academy of arts and crafts, where students work with metal, glass, ceramics, design, monumental sculpture and painting. I was studying at the department of textiles, but I had to deal with all of these specializations. Drawing, painting, composition were the main subjects for everyone. The process of education and personal discoveries mostly would take place not in the studios, but the halls of the Academy, during casual conversations of students, professors and friends, also in the dorms and artists' studios. I did not belong to any particular school. I’d rather say that there was an objective to not stop creating something new. My surrounding has expanded to international contacts since I moved to Kiev. New experiences led me to understand that art is not only handmade practices, but also a combination of thoughts and different states of being, sometimes even invisible.

Yana B.: What do your artworks express? Could you articulate your general artist's statement?

Volodymyr K.: One of the main directions for me is the exploration of different contexts that are not limited with any specific technique or shape. Therefore I try to deliver an unique experience, fixing it in various ways and making it available to perceptions of other people.

Yana B.: I’ve read different opinions about why “Judgment Day” was vandalized. What is your understanding?

Volodymyr K.: According to the Head of Arsenal, Natalia Zabolotnaya, "You cannot criticize your homeland just as you cannot criticize your mother.” On the other hand, there’s another expression "You cannot bite the hand which gives you money." "Insulting the feelings of believers"? But those who are illustrated on the painting are far from ideals of a believer. Most likely it is the fear of being punished by the chief, who is above you in order to not have unnecessary problems in achieving their specific goals. And this is one of the sources of censorship. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Kiev-museum-director-accused-of-censoring-work-by-covering-it-with-black-paint/30156

Yana B.: What has censorship done for your creativity?

Volodymyr K.: There are a lot of those who are waiting for further actions, new responses, and if that’s not going to happen, they will calm down and forget about the problem. The problem is not solved, and it will continue to float. The experience of direct collision with the brazen demonstration of brutal censorship of functionary will not be able to go away without significant trace in memory. Thus I started to reflect similar cases of bureaucratic arbitrariness in my works and performances, joining the anti-censorship movements and supporting them. At the same time, other ideas and activities which are not only related to censorship are also important for me, those which I was engaged in and I still continue to be engaged.

Yana B.: Do you think your art has the potential to change policy? How about social mores?

Volodymyr K.: Art by itself does not solve anything. Decisions are made by those who get together and determine what to do and how to proceed. It is important that people decide for themselves what to do and what not to do without anyone's guidance, through mutual and fruitful discussions to come to real solutions. The Assembly for culture in Ukraine has been acting for two months already. We organize the Assembly sessions in the building of the Ministry of Culture several times a week. We invite everyone to express their attitude to culture, cultural policy, which used to be imposed from the above in the old Soviet tradition, without much public participation. We offer solutions to change this situation by bringing Ukrainian society to the fore. It turns out that such kind of a decision-making mechanism is not provided in the Ministry of Culture. I fully agree with such initiatives and I am always ready to participate and support them. This is an important process of collective creation, case studies and actions towards the change of the engrained system templates. There is knowledge of people who are embedded in a social context. The Assembly method is based on the exchange of experience and knowledge and it helps us come to a mutual agreement regarding many issues. For me it is a creativity of the highest level.

Yana B.: Do you make art for the global audience? Or is your art focused locally? Does your audience change with each piece or series?

Volodymyr K.: While I am working I ask for a lot of advice, try to cooperate with people who are familiar with the local context, traditions and with the current situation. I can say that together we are forming a definite statement. These works are the product of collective labor and everyone can join and share their skills and knowledge. In the mural for the city of Terni, in Italy, we have tried to address the problems of corruption, mafia, official Berlusconi monopoly, Vatican policy. In Ljubljana we did the same to refer to the issue of illegal sale of weapons to Slovenian politicians for Bosnia and Croatia during the war. Problems, figures and their strategies are similar everywhere, just with a small difference of the local color. However, I have a work that is based on my personal experience, those are my works with embroidery.

Yana B.: For some unknown reason, it seems like those who are working within creative careers constantly have to justify what they do, unlike other types of professions. Is this something that you felt yourself previously?

Volodymyr K.: "Creative careers"? It’s doesn’t concern me. You have to contact managers on this matter. It is not necessarily to adapt to the requirements of schools or institutions. In real life, you can teach and learn without any stereotypical career ideals. However generally I think it is important always to be ready to explain your work, your life position, pick up questions in which you are certain or not. At list to pick up and make clear questions and problematics for people.

Yana B.: Do you feel that people understand your works better abroad or in Ukraine?

Volodymyr K.: Everywhere, even in liberal countries there may be problems with access to the culture, to a deeper understanding of it. It is obvious that now the Ukrainian borders are closed, and there is a problem of physical access to the information. I have to mention that this situation hasn't really changed since the days of the Iron Curtain. Schools have been operating under the old system. Contemporary art programmes and departments are absent at the university also. However, everyone chooses his or her own path in life and they have enough courage to overcome such problems. We have Internet though it's incomparable to live communication. It depends on the willingness to learn new things and expand your horizons, wherever you live.

Yana B.: What spurred your interest and engagement in social and political issues?

Volodymyr K.: I am interested in the phenomenon of co-impulse, which encourages people to work together. Politics is also creative processes that occur in joint actions and push to create something new, both individually and collectively. When people get together and try to interact by means of collective thinking, general important issues can be solved. After all, politics is a relationship between people but not privileged authorities of those who choose to call themselves elected and assume that they have the right to rule others.

Yana B.: Have you made money from your work?

Volodymyr K.: Yes, from time to time people buy my work. The inviting party pays fees for the participation in exhibitions and events, but not always. Sometimes I receive specific orders and in this case I decide whether to perform them or not. I do not create copies, but I allow versions of already finished works.

Yana B.: You have active social position. What percentage of your time is devoted to your artwork?

Volodymyr K.: I can not exactly separate the involvement in various initiatives and the process of creating a work. All of these are creative process - researches, debates, discussions, writings. You never know when and where you will get a new insights or new elements, fresh impulses for the idea that was under development and reflection. Contemplation and sleeping are certain actions that can be attributed to the work process also. If we take literally the process of execution of a work it is often a technical process in which the presence of the artist 's may not be always necessary. Someone can perform accordingly to your sketches, someone can use your idea and transform it. People often use someone else's ideas and sometimes these ideas can give birth their own new vision. There is a creative process that depends on us and others. It also works well in the frame of the Assembly.

Yana B.: The Europeans have always seemed to value murals more than we have. Why do you suppose they are so much more receptive to this kind of art than we are here in Ukraine?

Volodymyr K.: This is relevant not only to the mural. This is an attitude towards art as a vision of the world. There is in Ukraine a disrespectful attitude to knowledge, to human thought, to drawings, unless it is not decorated in a beautiful frame on the wall. An intellectual activity requires effort and concentration. After drawing, for example, you are often hungry. It is hard labour as well as many years of experience. This is intellectual property rights. But still, somehow, drawing, sketching is not valued, it can be stuck in your pocket, and you can sit on it or even throw away. Since the Soviet times copyright has been devalued. Foreign writers were not notified about the publication of their works. If an author from the Soviet Union was published abroad, a legal person for the relationship with the publisher was the state, not the author.

Yana B.: Could you tell us something about the work that was created for “AND NOW? THE POWER OF ART” exhibition curated by Rainald Schumacher? Who does it depict? What does it represent?

Volodymyr K.: This is painted wall in the gallery space. Work is called "Building a new country together." This quote belongs to Oleksandr Suprunyuk that from the first days was on the Maidan. He has been an organizer and participant of many initiatives for the long time. "Cooperation. Mutual Help. Self-defense" based on the methods of association and self-organization. I met and interviewed him several times. Soon will be produced the movie based on this interview. Viewer may find phrase on the wall from our dialogues, as well as quotes from the book "The coming insurrection". In the center of the painting there is a large carcass of functionary. It burned, surrounded by members of the Maidan. But we see that it already grows a new group of officials. There also depicted one who work and read under the motto "Teach and learn!". They say: "Building a new country together." Now for me one of the most important missions in contemporary art is by perceiving and recognizing the reality, to try to design the situation of present then.

Yana B.: How has the “art world” responded to you? Has it been receptive to your vision?

Volodymyr K.: I've cooperated and continue to collaborate with various international artists and curators, and I’m taking part in exhibitions. Always glad to have an opportunity when the curator of the exhibition is not limited to just some selected works, but can offer improvisational, exploratory approach. I consider it to be important to dive into local contexts.

Yana B.: What are you working on at the moment? Are there any projects that you can shed some light on?

Volodymyr K.: This is not a projects, it is rather a participation in the development of several important initiatives. It’s more of the extension and the development of Maidan's ideas. This is the Assembly, which I take an active part in. We are trying to influence the Ministry of Culture. We would like to know that the government listens and hears what people are saying to them. Now the Ministry allegedly makes it visible to the public power, but the results are not clear. We would like to achieve the transparency of all activities of the Ministry, simplify the relationships with people. The ministry has to play the role of a mediator, but not a dictator. And where are, by the way, promised audit, inventory and lustration? So far, nothing has been heard. Moreover, I am going to sue upon the destruction of my work which took place on July 25, 2013. Violation of copyright and censorship. I think if the situation hasn't been decided yet then in different variations it will be repeated in the future. Everyone should first think before he or she is destroying anything. There is an important question to labor relations. Art is a tool to see the world. Depreciating words ​​"draw me, since it costs you nothing" clearly shows the level of such attitudes and culture, when you work can be destroyed without warning. In some countries, there even exist laws when the owner is responsible for the destruction of the work.

Yana B.: How does your family feel about what you are doing?

Volodymyr K.: Yesterday my mother called me, asking if I was applying to the court. I said that I had definitely submitted my petition. The lawyer had already written the claim. Mom did not say anything. Probably, on the one hand she agrees with me that I demand justice, but on the other hand, she's worried knowing the situation with the courts in Ukraine. But let's see how it will occur in the pulses of Maidan.

#revolutionaryexperimentalspace #depocontemporaryartcentre #kunsthalle #mygrandmothersroom #centerforcommunicationandcontext