Workshops for Culture in Lublin and Sputnik Photos present the exhibition of photographs Sputnik Photos “U”.
Sputnik Photos “U” is a photo essay about contemporary Ukraine, a record of discovery of one of the largest countries that share border with Poland, and which has been independent only since 1991 when it became free from the domination of the Soviet Union. “U” is a moving story of a country and a nation in search of their identity.
From the outset of their activity in 2006, the Sputnik Photos collective carried out projects describing Central and Eastern Europe. Photographers who are members of the collective took a special liking to describe the topic of transformation, myth and links between culture and social reality.
Photographers: Andrej Balco (Slovakia), Jan Brykczyński, Rafał Milach, Agnieszka Rayss (Poland), Andrei Liankevich (Belarus), Justyna Mielnikiewicz (Georgia), Filip Singer (Czech Republic).
“U” (2008-2009)
In 2009 the artists of the Sputnik Photos Collective, supported by the Altemus organization and the International Visegrad Fund, made an attempt to record the Ukrainian road to find their identity. During their travels aroud Ukraine, international (Polish, Czech, Slovak and Belarusian) photographers and Ukrainian writers tried to capture its ethos, specific atmosphere of places and character of its people. The series of photographs created there have shown great diversity of the country. The artists, in their idiosyncratic way, were observing inhabitants of towns and villages. It turned out that nothing was communist anymore and nothing was capitalist yet. Ukraine still exists between tradition and modernity, on the one hand it aspires to be a European country and on the other hand it is strongly attached to the Eastern way of thinking about the world.
In an outstanding collective portrait of the Boyko people from the Eastern Carpathians, Jan Brykczyński depicts life according to the cycle of nature, filled with traditional daily rituals, animal husbandry, farming, craftwork, funeral celebrations and joy derived from interpersonal relations such as neighbourly relations.
Andrei Liankevich (Belarus) records pagan customs of mysterious women inhabiting isolated mountain villages. Justyna Mielnikiewicz (Poland/Georgia) in almost metaphysical portraits of the people of the Crimea shows symbolic space and light of this Russian – Ukrainian borderline.
In their photography cycle, diverse in mood and use of colour, Filip Singer (Czech Republic), Rafał Milach and Andrej Balco (Slovakia) focus on the economic situation and difficult working conditions. The first photographer records mines of the eastern Ukraine. Despite having very rich deposits, the level of safety during exploration is very low and the workers are severely underpaid. As many as 75% of the occupations in the mining industry are classified as extremely dangerous which can be best illustrated by statistics: since 1991 almost 4,000 miners have lost their lives at work. Singer presented nature destroyed by industry and young steel workers of the Makiivka steel works and Donetsk mines.
A blue photo feature entitled The Black Sea of Concrete byRafał Milach takes the viewers to coast of the Black Sea. Despite its holiday resort potential, the coast is full of deteriorating remnants of former greatness, rusting ships, disintegrating piers and groynes. In contrast, there are soldiers and demonstrations of power which – in a surreal way – seem to be guarding the past.
Andrej Balco in his cycle entitled Antratsyt 3 Days to Europe tells the story of life on the verge of poverty. Antratsyt is a medium-sized town in Donbas, a coal-mining area in eastern Ukraine, filled with nostalgic thinking of Russia and numerous coal mines but deficient in drinking water. The best part of the population lives on the verge of poverty, with no prospects for change and although all of them dream of a better life, very few have found a viable way of achieving it.
What all works presented at the “U” exhibition certainly have in common is the skilful capturing of the character, strength, and resilience of the Ukrainians.
In the scattered mountain settlements of the Carpathians or in former shipyard region on the Black Sea, the artists registered the Ukrainian uniqueness, beauty and the truth of it.
By portraying its inhabitants, they built a story about its own road to freedom, individuality and history in modern Europe, also the most recent battle against the objectification of women.
This aspect, particularly important in the context of Euro 2012 championships, which was co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland, was the topicof Agnieszka Rayss’ works. Melancholic portraits of half-naked courageous activists of the Femen group became a sort of a counterbalance for the stereotypical image of unattractive feminists fighting for equal rights for women and men.
For the citizens of Lublin the exhibition can become a suggestion of a non-obvious reflection on the community of Eastern Europe according to Sputnik Photos. A meeting with the artists, hosted by Joanna Kinowska after the preview of the exhibition, will give the audience additional possibility for it.
The project is held within a cities cooperation programme East of Culture organized by the National Centre for Culture.
The exhibition is open between 19th July and 6th August 2013, 9:00 a.m. - 5:p.m. on weekdays and at weekends at 2: p.m. - 5:00 p.m. or by appointment. To book a weekend appointment call 81 533 08 18 or +48 889 344 148