{"id":5243,"date":"2023-03-31T18:31:08","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T15:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastfutureart.org\/?p=5243"},"modified":"2023-05-01T13:03:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T10:03:16","slug":"leninfall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastfutureart.org\/en\/leninfall\/","title":{"rendered":"LENINOPAD AND THE JOURNEY OF ENGELS\u00a0 FROM POLTAVA TO MANCHESTER"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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LENINOPAD AND THE JOURNEY OF ENGELS \r\nFROM POLTAVA TO MANCHESTER<\/h1>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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29.07.2020<\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n

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On July 22, an online conversation “Soviet, empty, yellow-blue”<\/a> took place as part of the Past\u00a0\/ Future\u00a0\/\u00a0Art<\/em>project. Yevgen Nikiforov showed unique images from his photo series “On Republic’s Monuments” and, using them as an example, told us what is happening to the public space of Ukrainian cities. In the first of the two publications, we share the photographer’s most interesting thoughts. Read the second part of the conversation by following this link.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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Yevgen Nikiforov<\/h4>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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documentary photographer<\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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Since 2014 I have been working on the project “On Republic’s Monuments”: studying and documenting monumental art and the changes to the public spaces that result from the decommunisation law. In the last seven years, I have visited about 600 geographical localities, so I will tell you what I have seen during these expeditions in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

This project began with the demolition of the first Lenin in Kyiv at the start of the so-called Leninopad (Leninopad or Leninfall refers to the process of demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine \u2014 note by Past\u00a0\/\u00a0Future\u00a0\/\u00a0Art<\/em> ) on December 8, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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This and other photos by Yevgen Nikiforov, from the series “On Republic’s Monuments”, 2014\u20132020<\/em><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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I started documenting what was going on. The demolition was chaotic, it occurred during the Maidan period, and the police tried to stop the process, but it did not succeed in Kyiv or in hundreds of other cities. So I began to document what I believe will disappear in the years to come. The decommunisation law had not yet been signed and announced.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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I WATCHED THE POPULATION’S CHAOTIC ATTEMPTS TO CHANGE SPACE WITH THEIR HANDS, TO GET RID OF THE PAST OR TO SHOW THE VECTOR OF THE FUTURE<\/p>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/section>\r\n\n\n\r\n

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At first, I photographed how everyone started to paint things in yellow and blue. Public utility companies set the trend \u2014 they started repainting massive objects like carousels, street crossings, fences around building sites and in the downtown, landfills, etc.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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Following the trend, volunteers began to appear, collecting money for paint and repainting everything that the public services had not reached \u2014 for example, the old fence on Shevchenko Boulevard. Such people with boxes “For Paint” stood at crossroads, at traffic lights and collected money. We don’t know whether they collected funds for the paint or it was just a way of earning money.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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It was a way to legitimise the building insulation. You couldn’t argue with the man who did it because his gesture was patriotic. It was also a way to legitimise the insulation on the site of the mosaics that used to decorate buildings \u2014 you sort of doing good, make the house more comfortable, and destroy the monumental work. But in this period, just after Maidan, no one would probably have asked you why a particular work of art was hidden or destroyed.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\r\n

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