[spectre] Sabotage of independent artistic initiatives in Ukraine

[Katya Stukalova]

SABOTAGE OF INDEPENDENT ARTISTIC INITIATIVES

Press-release

January 9th, 2002, Kiev, Ukraine

On December 21st, 2001 organizers of independent
initiatives - International Video Art Festival
“Dreamcatcher”, Kiev International Media Art Festival
(KIMAF), and Alternative Visual Studies (AVS) - who
according to agreement about strategic partnership
were realizing diverse projects at technical base
(small office and equipment) of Center for
Contemporary Art (founded by G. Soros in Kiev), have
received by e-mail a groundless demand that they
should take away all their belongings and leave the
office before January 14th, 2002. Yet later on
December 28th, without any preliminary notice, their
e-mail accounts were disabled, access to the CCA
server, where all the files were stored, was blocked,
and the office was sealed up. These decisions were
made by CCA director Yuri Onuch without any
notification of CCA Board and its approval. Obviously,
these actions of Mr.Onuch contradict the mission of
CCA and principles of the open society, at the basis
of which it was founded, in particular, free
information access and exchange.

Above mentioned initiatives are among the very few
large-scale international events in the sphere of
contemporary visual art in Ukraine. In conditions of
the absence of arts infrastructure they exist as
essential nodes that carry out active network
functions on the regular base. In 1998 – 2001
organizers of these projects realized in partnership
with CCA and independently 20 lectures and
presentations, 5 round tables, 9 master-classes, 16
exhibitions, 3 symposia, 5 festivals, 1 conference,
and 1 forum, mostly in the international format. In
fact, fundraising and image-making activity conducted
by “Dreamcatcher”, KIMAF and AVS was widely used by
CCA for the last two years for attraction of financial
support and strengthening their own image. Thus in CCA
reports for the 2001, 33% of the total fundraising
consisted of the costs, raised by independent
initiatives.

First attempts to block the development of the
independent initiatives at CCA were made by Mr.Onuch
already in 1999, when he issued similar “memorandum”,
announcing the closure of the Media Laboratory, that
was developing in the CCA under support of the Open
Society Institute grants, and due to the personal
initiative of Natalia Manzhali, co-director of the
Kiev International Media Art Festival. Due to the
numerous protests of artistic circles, Mr. Onuch had
to modify the formulation and to announce “the change
of the format” of the Media Laboratory activity. In
fact, this “change” has resulted in destruction of the
program, non- purposeful usage of the computer
equipment that was purchased for realization of the
art projects by Ukrainian artists. Now the equipment
is actually used by CCA staff for administrative
needs. Also, previously essential activity of new
media art program - development of CCA web site, arts
database and archive - was frozen for a long time. In
fact, the only web sites that were continuing to
develop on CCA server were those of independent
initiatives.    

Such bureaucratic formulas as “work in new format”,
“revision of CCA policy” used by Mr. Onuch mask his
evident indifference to contemporary art context in
Ukraine and his disrespect to the efforts of the
independent art institutions that with minimal
financial resources are realizing activities that are
the priorities of the CCA, according to its statute.
It seems that Mr. Onuch should understand that
unexpected deprivation of the operation conditions
might seriously complicate regular work of any
non-profit institution. It is well known that in
Ukraine cultural institutions and events in the field
of contemporary art are not supported by the state, do
not have sufficient corporate sponsorship because of
non-effective taxation policy, and usually they do not
have the possibilities to get the grant support from
the charitable foundations for operation expenses. 

Hereby comes a question: why Mr.Onuch, being aware of
this context, has decided to run the independent
initiatives into artificial difficulties that threaten
the realization of the scheduled international
programs? From our point of view, the only answer to
this question may be that CCA director aims to keep
the total monopolistic control of the local art scene
through attempts to sabotage the development of
important independent art initiatives and events that
tend to grow into network or institutional level.     
 

Katya Stukalova
Natalia Manzhali
Directors of the Kiev International Media Art Festival

Nadya Prigodich
Olga Zhuk
Directors of the International Video Art Festival
“Dreamcatcher”

Liudmila Motsiuk
Director of the Alternative Visual Studies

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