The great Kherson artist Stas Volyazlovsky ended up in Poland together with the “Spilnot Project” and a group of young Kyiv artists “REP” (Revolutionary Experimental Space). In the “Spilnot Project,” Volyazlovsky represented, of course, the Kherson Spilnota. The rehearsal before Poland was an exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy: the REP members tried to gather young growth from all over Ukraine and show that it is no less interesting than established authors. The rehearsal turned out quite well, especially the Kherson hall.
The “Spilnot Project” was decided to be repeated in the Polish city of Bialystok. Stas took to Poland videos from the Totem studio – films from the “Incident at the Dacha” series, specially equipped with Polish subtitles for this exhibition. Also to Bialystok went paintings by outsider artists from Belozerka Aleksandr Pechersky and Zhukovsky (about whom BIVNI has already written several times) and graphics by Volyazlovsky and his wife Yulia.
Upon returning, Stas had not changed and generously shared his impressions. Here are the things that “caught” Stas in Poland, so to speak:
Road color
At the border, Polish customs officers completely dismantled the carriage in which Stas was traveling. There was everything: drug-sniffing dogs and Geiger counters. The order priests tore up floors, walls, ceilings, and sleeping shelves. But they did not check the suitcases. Stas is still in despair that he did not fill the entire suitcase with “white Ukrainian gold” – salo. Everyone traveling had the exclusive opportunity to feel like V. Ulyanov from the film “Lenin in Exile.” And those who have not seen the film should take the Kyiv-Warsaw train. Customs officers unscrewed everything that could be unscrewed with screwdrivers and actually found a huge amount of someone’s cigarettes! But they could not find their owner…
On this occasion, a tour to Berlin from Kyiv was also organized. On the way back from the Berlin-Kyiv tour, Stas traveled on the Berlin-Kyiv train. In a compartment for three (half the usual size), there are three sleeping shelves one above the other. He got the top one. If you unfold all three, you can only lie down, and only motionless: the ceiling is ten centimeters from the body. If the wagon designer wanted to take revenge on the German fascists in this way, he miscalculated: the fascists’ grandchildren fly by plane.
Gallery
The city of Bialystok is similar to Kherson – both in size and population. But, unlike our city, it has a huge municipal gallery that is well equipped. Stas says that you won’t see such scale even in Kyiv. At the same time, art (even contemporary) is valued there. For example, when the artists needed two smoke machines and bubble machines, they were delivered within half an hour, and brand new ones at that. It was also surprising that media from the capital and other large Polish cities came to the opening in this peripheral city. And all because if a city has a good gallery, people come from all over the country, unlike us: usually only locals come to exhibitions in Kherson. The people in the Kherson Spilnota hall had a lot of fun because the films were dubbed into Polish. Many youth organizations asked for copies to show in their cities.
Love
Stas was struck by the Poles’ love for President Yushchenko. He clearly has a chance to become the president of Poland, if anything.
Cleanliness
In Poland, Stas felt that the USSR once had a hand here too, but nevertheless, unlike us, the streets are clean for some reason. People probably just don’t litter. Or maybe someone just cleans up after them. Even on the highways, no cigarette butts or bottles are thrown out of windows. Can you imagine? The artist’s eye missed cellophane on trees and garbage dumps in yards. Near stores, there are not two mandatory trash bins. In general, there are few. But the streets are clean. Simply magic.
Television
Of course, it exists there, but in what form? Imagine a very kind “Scythia,” on which kind TV series and shows are constantly aired. The program heroes sing in chorus and, holding hands, spin in round dances. No endless political debates in the studio, no political forecast broadcasters, and no gore – no matter how much Stas searched for documentary horrors with “crude body work” staging, he did not find any. And there is no forty-minute advertising. Nor airing of family dirty laundry. That is, “Okna” with Nagiev cannot be found even with a torch, nor other obscenities.
Food
In any Polish canteen, you can eat your fill for about 6-10 zlotys (12-20 UAH). In a restaurant, you will eat the same amount for 20 zlotys. And in the same quantity. At the same time, you do not suffer from heartburn afterward (and do not watch ads for heartburn medicine on TV). Relaxed by Polish food, in Kyiv Stas went to eat at “Puzata Hata.” There for 18 hryvnias he was able to eat (quote) “a handful of undercooked potatoes, a cup of borscht with heartburn, and a cutlet smelling of extended shelf life.” In general, the artist got a gastronomic shock and almost ran to the Polish embassy to ask for aesthetic-culinary asylum. But he remembered his wife and love for his homeland and changed his mind.
