Kharkiv School of Photography: Soviet Censorship to New Aesthetics:
Part 3 - Contemporary Photographers Exhibition 2
© Zhuzhalka Group
Zhuzhalka Group
The ZHUZHALKA Group was formed by three “like-minded photographers”, as they call themselves, Roman Uhimchuk (b. 1984), Vyacheslav Sokolov (b. 1985) and Victor Corwic (b. 1985) in 2012 in the city of Donetsk. They created the Zhuzhalka zine and its web version zhuzhalka.org to publish their work. In 2014, when armed pro-Russian insurgents took the region over, the artists left Donetsk.
Proletarka (The Proletarian region) project was made in 2012 and is dedicated to a Donetsk district inhabited by working-class people, a direct and critical view on the life of the so called proletariat, who, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, “got stuck in time” and “either reached the retirement age, or lost itself into drinking to become unskilled labor force” (artists’ statement). It was this lumpen mindset and culture that in 2014 became the fertile soil for the separatist rebellion in Ukraine. In its direct documentary approach the project is reminiscent of Boris Mikhailov’s Tea, Coffee, Cappuccino.
Rythmics (2014), at first glance, is a research project on photographic form, but what makes it special is the dilapidated environment of the Donets and Donbass region in general where the rythmical patterns are found. Realistic elements found in this work provides another layer of meaning, making the images ambiguous and semantically complex.
The group’s critical view on the Donbass region is evident in the Postcards from Rzhavchino project (2014). The pictures of the imaginary town of Rzhavchino were taken in Yenakiyevo, a town in the Donetsk region known to all Ukrainians as the birthplace of Ukraine’s notorious runaway president Viktor Yanukovich. The Rzhavchino project included the following statement which mocks an elevated and proud-spirited Soviet tourist brochure style and deliberately contradicts the visuals:
“Depriving themselves of sleep and food, fathers and grandfathers had built up a stable foundation for the current economic and scientific well-being of the town. Comradely cooperation and mutual help were key to successful development of a just and free community of Rzhavchino. Workers can be proud of their highly developed industry, extensive mechanized agriculture, achievements in science and culture. … Full satisfaction of physical and spiritual needs of society is perceived as top priority… Supremacy of law and respect for human rights are of strategic priority and a moral necessity of such society.”
The artists used overdue Agfa color film which was poorly developed and printed with all the dust, scratches and other artifacts intact, “showing our attitude to what we photographed,” (Victor Corwic’s comment on their process). This conceptual approach can be seen in Boris Mikhailov’s Bad Photography (Exhibition One), At Dusk and By the Ground (Exhibition Two), Eugeny Pavlov’s Total Photography (Exhibition Two). The Postcards from Rzhavchino project was exhibited in Donetsk in January, 2014, and published as a set of postcards (issue of 50, 2014).
View Portfolio: Postcards From Rzhavchino
We welcome your comments. VASA Exhibitions are the result of various curators, artist, and photographers.