Peter Doroshenko, director of the Ukrainian museum in New York: russian culture is built on Ukrainian bone

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Read in Google News!

russian culture is built on Ukrainian artists or artists with Ukrainian roots. This was stated in an interview with holosameryky.com by Peter Doroshenko, a well-known American and Ukrainian art critic and director of the Ukrainian Museum in New York. At the same time, Doroshenko is convinced that the russian full-scale invasion helped accelerate the process of decolonization of Ukrainian culture.

Iryna Solomko, Voice of America correspondent: How much did the war help Ukrainian culture accelerate the process of decolonization?

Peter Doroshenko, director of the Ukrainian Museum in New York: When I lived in Ukraine 13 years ago, I was always thinking about decolonization. Back then, I thought it would take 50-60 years.

However, the war accelerated it. Now people are talking more and more about decolonization: what is Ukrainian and what is russian. I knew this for a long time, but in the last two or three years, most of the world has learned that russian culture is built on Ukrainian bone [core – UT].

Yes, they had good writers in the 19th century, but all the artists, music, anything that russia called its own is Ukrainian or has Ukrainian roots. Now it is very important that Europe, America, Asia learn about this.

I.S.: What contributes to this? We are now observing how ordinary people are working on this. A vivid example is when activists here in New York pressured the Metropolitan Museum to, for example, change the title of Degas’s painting from “russian Dancers” to “Dancers in Ukrainian Costume.” Are there any additional efforts in this context at the state level?

P.D.: The state is not helping at all. But pressure is helping. There are people like Oksana Semenik, who writes constantly on Twitter and other social networks, and also by e-mail to the museum, to the directors. The press also helps a lot.

Again, you have to understand that most museums and those who manage museums or work there, they don’t want to change anything. They are a little lazy, and for them, this is a job they don’t want to do.

But now it’s hard not to pay attention. And it is changing. Not as fast as we all would like, but it is changing.

I.S.: Is it laziness or fear of the influence of russian literature, music, culture, which russians have been working on for centuries?

P.D: russians have been very good at lies and propaganda for 150 years, since the tsarist times.

The situation in America is such that museums receive practically no support from the government. They mainly have private money.

There are museums like the Guggenheim or MoMA, which received billions in support from russian oligarchs before the war. And it is hard to say “no” to that kind of money. And they probably also think, they say, the war will end, these people will come back, they will support again. So it is connected to money.

I.S.: When you communicate with your colleagues, directors of leading American museums and tell them that, for example, Kazimir Malevich is a Ukrainian artist. What do you hear in response?

P.D.: They already know, but they don’t want to move or change things, because they’re worried about money again.

When I meet them here in New York or anywhere in the world, they say, America has its own problems now. Ukraine is at war, it’s in a different part of the world.

But we’re going to work on that. We need pressure on museums, because there are some that are very open, there are some that work quickly. But there are also some that don’t want to change. And for me and my team here at the Ukrainian Museum, it’s important to change that.

I.S.: What do museums respond to better: pressure from journalists or from the community and activists?

P.D.: It’s all connected either with the press or with social media. They don’t want communities in New York, Germany or Ukraine to constantly complain on Twitter and Facebook. That’s the biggest pressure.

I.S.: You lived in Ukraine for many years, and were the first director of the PinchukArtCenter. You introduced many Ukrainian contemporary artists to the world. What do you see as contemporary Ukrainian culture?

P.D.: There is a solid base. Now, unfortunately, many have left because of the war. But critics, curators, museums are now paying more attention than before the war. Despite the fact that there is a war and it is difficult to get to Kyiv, curators, directors are coming to Ukraine. And this is very positive.

The war opened such a window for Ukrainian culture. And until it closes, I would like there to be as much attention as possible. So that when the war ends, people will still have respect, as well as the level of attention that others receive.

I.S.: How do modern russian artists behave in the US after the start of the full-scale invasion?

P.D.: The best, as they call it, russian artists have Ukrainian roots. I have never seen an interesting russian artist in the last 20-30 years. They [artists with Ukrainian roots – UT] are more interesting either in design, or poetry, or theater.

I.S.: You are heading the Ukrainian Museum in New York. This is a legendary institution that has long been associated with the preservation of culture. And with your arrival, it is already clear that you are trying to turn it into a center of contemporary art.

P.D.: First, our museums must in a very short time become a mirror of what is happening in Ukraine. The most important thing for us is to talk about the war until the war is over.

The second task is decolonization, to convey information that Ukrainian artists or culture have nothing to do with russia.

And the third is to explain what it means to be Ukrainian. These are our three goals.

The world has changed. The people who founded the museum are already 70, 80 years old. They brought here and preserved everything they could. And this is the beginning of the museum. Now their children want to spread information about what Ukrainian culture means. And that is why it is important for us to show everything Ukrainian.

I.S.: As far as I understand, your goal is to become a center of active Ukrainianization of New York and the United States.

P.D.: We have this gorgeous museum in New York. And now it’s time to show the whole world what it means to be Ukrainian, to show our culture.

Do the same things as the Jewish Museum in New York, for example, which shows history and culture. We plan to do the same.

I.S.: The museum is currently holding an exhibition of works by Alexandra Exter, is this part of your decolonization strategy?

P.D.: Now anyone can go online and check. Still, 90% of resources call Alexandra Exter russian. And this is russian propaganda and a lie. She lived in Ukraine for 35 years, and in Paris for 24 years, where she died. She is much more French than russian. It is very important for us to tell her true story: how she lived in Ukraine, and what influence she had on art.

And this is just the beginning. The next exhibition will be about Volodymyr [Vladimir in russian – UT] Tatlin. He was born in Kharkiv, lived in Ukraine for a long time. But, unfortunately, the russians have done a very good job of propaganda that he is russian. There has never been such an exhibition, either here in America, or in Europe, or in Ukraine. All the directors in Kyiv tell me that we know about it. And then I ask them: “And where is the book, where is the article, where is the exhibition?..”

In two years, for our 50th anniversary, we plan to hold an exhibition by Kazimir Malevich. Ukraine had the greatest influence on him, his passport says his nationality is Ukrainian.

I.S. In addition to decolonizing Ukrainian culture, you are also discovering the Ukrainian roots of American artists.

P.D.: Yes, this is also very important. There is great interest in Ukraine and the world in what the Ukrainian diaspora is doing in the US, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. And we ourselves study this history of the diaspora to tell the world what it means to be Ukrainian.

I.S.: The level of a museum is indicated by its ability to replenish its funds. Do you have such an opportunity?

P.D.: I want to bring interesting exhibitions here, for example, Scythian gold or something ancient. It is very important to show not only modern exhibits but also ancient ones. I like to offer the audience different things so that they have a choice, a moment of surprise and suspense.

As for replenishing the funds, this must be agreed with the administration and the community. But we have a list and are working on it.

I.S. You have been involved in Ukrainian culture in both the US and Ukraine for many years. How do you see your mission, what would you like to achieve?

P.D.: Ukrainian culture is so deep and broad, and I would like to leave the Ukrainian Museum in New York and know that it is in, if not the top five, then the top ten museums in the city. It will take a little time, but it will happen.

Читай у Google News!