Kyiv witnessed a remarkable act of cultural diplomacy in early June when a copy of the “Boryviter” (Kestrel) mosaic was presented to the public. In 1967, this work of monumental art, measuring 15 square meters, was created by a team that included Alla Horska, Viktor Zaretsky, Halyna Zubchenko, Borys Plaksiy, Hryhoriy Pryshedko, Vasyl Parakhin and Nadiya Svitlychna. It was designed for the interior of the Ukraina restaurant in Mariupol.
The strong public response to this presentation was due firstly to the fact that the original work had been damaged by gunfire in 2022 and is today on territory occupied by Russia. And secondly, because making an authentic recreation of the work was complicated by the lack of materials used in Soviet times for creating mosaics, including certain types of silica, smalt and metal.
Several organizations, including the ROZETKA company, the civic organization Ukraine WOW, and the Alla Horska and Victor Zaretsky Fund, accepted a challenge to recreate the original work down to its smallest details using materials scoured from across Ukraine and abroad. The organizers mounted the copy of the mosaic on a mobile installation so that it could be exhibited in various cities and beyond the country’s borders.
Who were the generation of the 1960s and the Ukrainians dissidents?
Fortunately, no totalitarian regime exists permanently. Dictators eventually fall because a generation appears that has the courage to oppose an inhuman political system. Normally, these people are a minority, but they act as a catalyst for change that can topple tyrannies.
This historical mission was the fate of Ukrainian citizens who lived under Soviet rule in the second half of the 20th century. They appeared at the beginning of the 1960s – a generation of talented young people (writers, artists, poets, scholars) who loved their country and dreamed of reviving Ukrainian culture.
Khrushchev’s “Thaw” – a period of relative liberalization in the Soviet Union from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s – provided the opportunity for a powerful wave of creative energy that has gone down in history as the “phenomenon of the sixties.” Young people expressed a desire not only to create, but also to live with dignity. This put them in conflict with Soviet officialdom.
A totalitarian system does not tolerate criticism, therefore the dissidents faced persecution. A number of them became part of the movement that fought for human rights. For this, they spent years in various prisons, or were prevented from creating art, writing poetry, or conducting scholarly research.
The repression lasted from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s. Some creators of the “Boryviter” mosaic became prominent dissidents, including Horska and Svitlychna. Repression touched them in various ways. Horska’s fate was the most tragic. Charismatic and talented, she was known as the “spirit of the sixties.” The circumstances surrounding her death are still unclear.
What does the mosaic portray?
Soviet power used monumental art as an instrument for spreading its ideology. Today, Ukraine’s urban landscapes have many such works, especially in its eastern, industrialized regions where Horska’s art collective was commissioned to make the mosaic. Many monumental works have found themselves under occupation since 2014.
Artists in the 1960s tried to create art that expressed aspects of Ukrainian culture in modern forms. They discussed with government representatives “what” creations to make and “how” to make them. The art of Socialist Realism was supposed to depict realistic imagery in an easily comprehensible language. Artists of the sixties spoke a language of symbols, metaphors and colors that were rooted in Ukrainian culture.
The choice of the “Boryviter” (“Kestrel”) speaks to the attitude of its creators, who had already experienced repression. They no doubt felt like a bird that was flying against winds far stronger than itself. In the desire for free creative flight and self-realization, the artists were confronted with a system that tried to cut their wings and, in many cases, succeeded in doing so.
The original sketch for “Boryviter” is preserved in the Museum of the Sixties in Kyiv on 33-A Oles Honcharenko Street. According to the museum’s head Olena Lodzynska, the lower part of the mosaic’s panneau appeared while the work was being created. Borys Plaksiy insisted on this change. He argued that Mariupol was on the coast and many people travelled there for relaxation. It was imperative to add the figures that create the effect of the sea bottom.
The mosaic conveys an atmosphere of flight and movement and the image can be interpreted in various ways. It is about striving for beauty, the spirit of freedom, and perhaps also escape from limitations.
For Ukrainians, the act of creating a copy of the mosaic is important because it serves as a visualization of Ukraine’s reconstruction after its victory in the war. The project is also unique because, along with the copy that is being exhibited, a second one has also been created. Viewers have been able to purchase pieces of the work and become “guardians of the mosaic.”
The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.