VENUES WHERE ARTISTS GATHERED FREELY IN THE 1990S AND 2000S: COFFEE SHOPS, PRIVATE HOMES, AND STREET EXHIBITIONS

Abstract

The exhibition policy and activities of the main state institutions – the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and the Directorate of Art Exhibitions of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, as of the end of the 1980s, clearly did not satisfy the social artistic demand. The exhibition policy has remained unchanged since the first post-war exhibitions. That is, the mandatory artistic council looked at the proposals and passed its verdict. Only the works of members of the Union or youth association were included in the official exhibitions. The exceptions were decorative and applied works. Their authors could not have a special education and not be a member of the NSHU, but under the conditions of cooperation with the Art Fund, or enterprises of the Ukrkhudozhprom system of the Ministry of Building Materials of the Ukrainian SSR. Art councils were a vivid example of a totalitarian system and an element of official pressure on artists. The art exhibition remained a source of income for the artist, because the exhibition ended with the work of the purchasing commission. For the vast majority of artists, it was the only form of income. The pressure of the artistic council on the artist primarily occurred in the sense of the theme chosen by the artist. Works with non-socially active themes (with the exception of the landscape) practically had no chance of getting into the exhibition. In this way, a large number of artists whose works did not enter the official art exhibition did not have the opportunity to publicize their art. At that time, there were no official private galleries in Ukraine. Dissatisfaction in art circles with the country's exhibition activities grew slowly, but exploded at the same time. The reason that provoked a new wave of discontent was the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which ultimately led to the fall of the Soviet government. Movements of opposition to the official artistic doctrine of the state began as early as the late 1970s. By the end of the 1980s, they were already clearly defined as the desire of many artists not to depend on the whims of the artistic council and to show their art. The boundaries of Ukrainian artistic spaces were expanding. There were more of them. Informal creative groups began to emerge all over the country. This process covered not only visual arts, but also literary, theatrical, and cinematographic circles of artists. In 1988, an extremely important document was published in the official press – the Law "On Cooperation", which certainly helped the organization and legalization of new creative associations. The issue of communication of creative people, which took place outside the official unions of artists, writers, folk craftsmen, remained important. Cafes, clubs, private residences, and street exhibitions became such places of communication. This phenomenon of artistic life has been little studied. The author offers his own version of the development of informal communication locations, which is based on numerous interviews with the participants of the process who lived and worked in the specified period in various cities of Ukraine