Decommunized: Ukrainian Soviet mosaics. Book launch and talk
Date and time:
Thursday 23 November, 2017
13:00 - 14:30
Location:
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London
EC2A 2JN
The annexation of Crimea and the war in the east of Ukraine have engendered an intense debate about whether the country’s public spaces should be purged of all remnants of Soviet monumental propaganda. In 2015 the Ukrainian parliament passed legislation banning these monuments. The government-supported policies of “decommunization” have come under criticism from historians and cultural activists for failing to protect Ukraine’s cultural heritage. The event will analyse Ukraine’s parting with the Soviet aesthetics and symbols from the point of view of cultural history.
“Decommunized: Ukrainian Soviet Mosaics,” will be unveiled during this event. Photographer Yevgen Nikiforov spent three years traveling all around Ukraine. Some of the pieces featured were demolished shortly after the photographs were taken.
This event will be held in English.
FREE
Speaker
Dana Pavlychko
Dana Pavlychko is the Director of Kyiv-based Osnovy Publishing. Osnovy has been Ukraine’s most important academic publishing house since 1992. Today Osnovy’s catalogue contains over three hundred titles. The publishing house is actively developing a new direction – books with unique content and design, conceived and created by Ukrainian authors, designers, and illustrators. One of the first projects was an English language guide Awesome Ukraine featuring interesting facts about Ukraine, equally fun for foreign visitors and Ukrainians themselves.
