KURBAS IN KHARKIV (2018)
January 18 – February 25, 2018
Yermilov Centre (Kharkiv), the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine (Kyiv) and Yara Arts Group (New York) presented “Kurbas in Kharkiv,” a museum exhibit that featured costumes, set-recreations, photographs and recordings about Les Kurbas’s work.
Curators: Virlana Tkacz, artistic director of Yara Arts Group,
Tetiana Rudenko, head archivist at the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine and Waldemart Klyuzko, designer from Kyiv.
The exhibit was at the Yermilov Centre in Kharkiv
and was financially made possible by the friends of Yara Arts Group.
Curators Virlana Tkacz, Tetiana Rudenko and Waldemart Klyuzko received the 2018 Viacheslav Panchenko Theatre Prize for creating the best theatrical event in Kharkiv
Certificate of Thanks from Vil S. Bakirov, the President of Kharkiv's Karazin University for creating "Kurbas in Kharkiv" at the Yermilov Centre.
“Kurbas in Kharkiv,” was a museum exhibit that featured costumes, set-recreations, photographs and recordings about les Kurbas’s theatre productions The exhibition revealed why Kurbas can be called one of the most innovative theatre directors of his time and a forerunner in the use of new media in theatre. While working in Kharkiv 1926-1933, Kurbas dreamt of creating a new urban culture in Kharkiv, then the capitol of Ukraine. One of the featured shows in the exhibition was Berezil’s “Hello, This Is Radio 477!” staged in Kharkiv in 1929. Long assumed to be lost, the orchestral score for this show was recently discovered in a Kharkiv archive. These photos are from the exhibit and related special events.
Curators Virlana Tkacz, Tetiana Rudenko and Waldemart Klyuzko,
REACTIONS
“Kurbas in Kharkiv” was an exhibition about a genius who changed the world around him and art which became the symbol for an era. Kharkiv in the 1920s was an alternative cosmos, with its own bright stars and black holes. Kurbas was an important planet in this cosmos, it is impossible to imagine a chart of these heavens without him. Yara Arts Group’s exhibition is more than interesting or informative – it is totally relevant today. It restores ourselves to us, our past, our history -- it restores our cosmos to us.”
Serhiy Zhadan, poet and participant in the event “Zhadan Reads Poetry from the 1920s and His Own”
“Museum workers from Kharkiv and the Kharkiv Region, museum studies students, private collectors and scholars had their own special seminar “Museum Exhibit: From Idea to Realization” during the exhibit “Kurbas in Kharkiv,” at the Yermilov Centre. Virlana Tkacz and Volodymyr Klyuzko spoke about the importance of museum exhibits, revealing how the concept for their show arose and how they searched for exhibition objects. They also revealed how the exposition was put together with numerous local volunteers and institutional partners.
Victoria Skliarova, Kharkiv cultural organizer and participant in the event “Museum Exhibition: From Concept to Realization”
“The exhibition “Kurbas in Kharkiv” at the Yermilov Centre this winter was an important event in the artistic and cultural life of our city. For the first time in years the work of this important theatre director was clearly presented in an exhibition and a series of special events. All those who attended learned of the upheaval created by early 20th century art and realized that Les Kurbas’s ideas are relevant today. The exhibition featured reconstructions of sets from Berezil Theatre productions, as well as objects from museums in Kyiv, Kharkiv and private collections. The expansive program of special events revealed the artistic and scholarly potential of Kharkiv to respond to Kurbas’s work, his theatre and artistic context. The younger generation who took part in the special events revealed their interest in Kurbas and the Ukrainian avant-garde – and this is significant. Today we can clearly feel the resonance even among casual visitors.“
Yana Partola, Dean of the Kotliarevsky National Art University in Kharkiv and participant in the lecture “Kurbas vs the Kharkiv Audience.”
