SREDA

Last weekend I visited an exhibition "Sreda" which represent a documentary review about art events in quite young Kharkiv's art group "SOSka"  and their personal works.

The main emphasis has been done on their project "New history" that took place in Kharkiv's art Museum. As the members of "SOSka" group claim, the project aimed to create an open dialoge between different cultural formations. 

Works placed in the museum exposition according to the intervention principle demonstrate a general tendency to create a new Post-Soviet social reality documentation. For example, Alexander Vaindorf's video "Detour. One particular Sunday" is placed next to "Zaporosian cossacs writing a letter to the Turkish sultan" by Ilya Repin. Narrating about one general theme - illegal immigration with all resulting effects

.But not the works or even their conceptual message were the main subjects of "Sreda", but the fact that the exposition was closed on the next day after opening without any official explanation by an individual decision of Kharkov Art Museum Director - V. Myzgina.

Except claims about the technical conditions of artwork presentation and rude language in Alexander Vaindorf's video, the main reason of exposition's shutdown is Ms Myzgina personal attitude towards the "so-called contemporary art" 

Unfortunately, in the limits of "Sreda" I couldn't make a good representation about the quality of  the works represented in "New history" project and that I consider as the main drawback of the exhibition itself because it prevented me from making a fair judgement, but according to some articles which I found later on "SOSka" ofiicial site all the works were chosen on a competition basis by international expert comission.

From the video above you can make your own conclusions about the real reason of exposition's shutdown.

This particular incident looks like fortuity. In fact, even if it is an accident - it is absolutely obvious accident. First of all, the very idea of  cooperating between contemporary art and governmental cultural institutions is fated on conflict. Since the cultural policy in soviet countries is not only outdated in tactics and strategy it is anarсhistic by definition. The policy has the soviet roots. It is not only the question of principle, it is natural for this institutions to direct towards censorship, to be subordinate to specific ideological order. The worst thing about these people who are formally ingaged in cultural policy is that they are not just people who don't have a good understanding of modern culture, but their position is completely sensible. That's why in most cases these institutions represent a reliable brake which prevent these countries' culture from developing.

Lolita