Show me at least one person who doesn’t want to be happy. For the only happiness different people need different things. Together with the director of the art organisation « The Last Barricade», a man from Zhytomyr Viacheslav Ponomariov, Zhytomyr.Travel tried to find the formula of happiness and looked on Zhytomyr from the view of «the 10 year» life in the capital
«I have graduated from the psychological faculty of the university named after Ivan Franko… My youth has passed in different activities: we had 200 people in your governmental organisation, who were brought up together not with the help of questionnaires and applications. So I mean, 200 people who were really involved in all the activities. Just for comparison, some had six,ten people,and also called themselve a governmental organization»
«I do really feel the differences that happened to people for these ten years that I live in Kyiv. I meet with those with whom I used to spend a lot of time in my youth. And I like that they become successful here, in Zhytomyr, they open their own coffee-shops, moles,open kindergartens and do some master-classes. I’m very pleased that people who were drown into the atmosphere we were, can find themselves. And they do it in Zhytomyr,not everywhere else. I love the story of the « Around the cultural space»- that is really great and fantastic thing, when people who doesn’t have lots of money, who worked on some common jobs and got not even common,but minimal salary, just could with the help of their own creativity,mind and hands to get a building,which was meant to be destroyed. And now there is going on what is going on. They are really trying to create there an around cultural space. And I was impressed even when I was there for the first time»
«The people from my surroundings show that in Zhytomyr you can be successful and do that things that you like. And due to these, you can even survive and live…I do not really like what the modern youngsters play, but I love the process itself- that is something going on,creating. That’s cool! It is pleasing that there are such people like Andriy Sobuch, who doesn’t live the idea to develop the rock-life in Ukraine, and more in Zhytomyr»
«My youth is deeply connected with Zhytomyr. Due to that my father was a military man,so the majority of time we had to roam all around the world. Dad’s career has ended near Zhytomyr- in the village Berezivka, and we had to live in the common military bases, where there was no cultural life. And when we came here,my elder cousin used to take me to the House of the Children Creativity, which impressed me a lot. I remember from my childhood, when he went with his class to the play «Three musketeers» in the Drama Theatre, I was so eager to come with them, but they didn’t take me. It was a total disappointment! My childhood wasn’t filled with cultural activities. Every such thing has its emotional colouring in your mind»
«It was very bright when local deputies made lots of concerts, and I attended all of them, I used to stand in the middle of the crowd and think: «If only I could come up to the stage and see how does this all work!» Then I worked a bit with some musicians as a sound director and had access to different concert halls. Maybe the fate of a singer or an artist wasn’t made for me, but at least I was an organisator and technical supplement on such stages»
«I wanted to become a musician. In my childhood I was presented a some guitar and so I just wanted to hold it in my hands. I gave lots of concerts to my relatives at the age of four-five years. (Laughs). In different ages I wanted to become different people. I always like to try something new and to experiment. It is interesting for me to work with Photoshop, audio redactors,then I filmed video and to edit it. Long tiresome and thorough work is not for me. I’m interested in quick results and move to new things»
«I always show to the friends from another cities the building of the old magistrate, as an object which demonstrates how not reconstruct buildings- made and preserved it. It can’t be administered this way. Also I show tgem the remainings from an old castle( a building of an ancient publishing house in Leha Kachunskogo stree-editor). It can’t be done with an architectural monument! Now there is everything overgrown with trees and it must reconstructed and renewed. Also among the significant places I can distinguish Cathedral Church of the Saint Sophia- a genius place, as it is beautiful both from the outside and the inside, very positively energetic place. I also like a lot an observation deck behind the magistrate. Long ago in youth we used to hang out there and communicate. I love how Mukhailivska is made- it became a nice place where the citizens of Zhytomyr relax, a festive, attractive and touristic place»
«I live in Kyiv more than ten years. In 2008 I was invited to the « Last Barricade» and we started our work on the festival «The Independence Day with Makhno». And so it appeared in such way that I was made for it, became a part of this family… We were making a culturological program « Last Barricade», invited significant people for the Ukrainian culture, and so, I was a director in this program. Happened so that a reformation of the governmental television appeared and into social and our project is «frozen». Though I think that there are not so many culturological programs on our television nowadays. Maybe that is because of the small amount of the viewers, as for instance in political shows, but I think that there must be some culturological programs as they also have their target audience. I can not leave the idea to involve people who do not touch culture by any means, but they got interested by watching such programs, to encourage their interest not only in music and literature, but in culture all in all»
«Speaking about the petition to move Verhovna Rada to Zhytomyr. The question about Verhovna Rada is always a painful one. It doesn’t matter what person was doing in life, Verhovna Rada is thought to be a career promotion. I worked there as a deputy assistant but not a deputy itself. (Laughs). Everyone goes there yo show off. Actually, that is a place where all the laws are taken. I like the idea that the period of being a deputy must be cut to two years or one year, for all who have a burning desire to become a deputy have done it, and in 10-20 years there would go people who are interested in law making. People want to become deputies in order to move to Kyiv and hang on in different expensive restaurants and night clubs. As for me, moving Verhovna Rada to a smaller town will deprive the opportunities to be in the centre of the entertainment life,and instead will encourage to get deeper into the law making activity. Undoubtedly, if it would be Zhytomyr, we would have excursions to see Rada and deputies, and that would increase the touristic level and the economic level of the region. So why not? If this idea could be embodied I wouldn’t be against» (Laughs)
«The village culture is widely developed in Ukraine, I mean the culture with village traditions. That’s may be because of that the city life was mostly appropriate for the «Great Russia», and the Ukrainian life was associated with the traditional red trousers, village and a bottle,tightly closed with a corn. It is a kind of a trend that is hard to be eradicated. And we have to work hard with that… There was a huge cultural splash all around the country because of that the Russian artists couldn’t come-were prohibited; because of that the top of the rise of the national awareness started just after the Revolution of Dignity. It is clear, that the trend should be supported, because it will disappear one day. And all in all « Svaty» will be returned into our television. It is a pity, of course,but it is needed for a culture to have an « engine», because the culture alone can not survive. There must be someone who would promote the culture, the people-cultregers are needed, so that they will pleases by what they are doing, but not earning money»
«Now I have a kind of a hobby. When you start meeting people and mention that they are active and successful, you ask: «Where are you from?» And they answer : «From Zhytomyr». And there are lots and lots of such people. Sometimes it even goes as a joke: if you are successful so you are from Zhytomyr».
«Here, in Zhytomyr, it is an incubator for Kyiv. We «grow up» good people who escape to Kyiv, because there are more opportunities, more some structures and more people you can get acquainted with. And what is more sad, when people escape to Kyiv, they forget about their routs and nothing connects them with Zhytomyr anymore»
«It is pity, but the portrait if an average citizen of Zhytomyr – is more passive person, who is overwhelmed with his own problems,more introverted than opened to the communication with a world person. I don’t know why is it so»
«The majority of things produced in Zhytomyr are meant to be elite and measured. The mass product from Zhytomyr can be counted on the fingers of one hand. It seems to me, that the creative person in Zhytomyr just in the common surroundings,being afraid to come out the frames,widen his horizons and to come up to another level. That is the problem. The one shouldn’t be afraid to show off, to make the exhibitions and to knock on all the doors. Actually, to come out the space, you are used to»
«One of my acquaintances now works in Poland and does recruiting- hires the Ukrainian to work. We’ve made a video with him about where they work, what salary do they have and what else are they doing. Believe me, they don’t earn more than they could earn here. Now there is an another atmosphere: people got apart from the small problems, for example,how to get food or how not to hit the scammer’s hook. I remember how did the Polish behaved at the beginning of the 2000’s: they were also angry, deeply thinking about their problems as if we are. Now they have straightened their shoulders, walk slowly and can come up to the cafe and drink some coffee, that is something that we need. And that is not only about Zhytomyr, that is about all Ukraine. These our problems and the atmosphere there attracts our people. Maybe, it is needed to stay there and to watch. That not about money, that is about the ability to feel yourself as a human being. I am sure that if a person has arms and head he can earn 15 000 UAH – that is how much they are paid there, thogh sometimes you need to work for 16 hours. This is not such money, for which you must leave your native country, your family and go for work. The life itself is different. To touch another life is interesting for our people, and so the majority stays there. I think,that our task is to create such conditions here- so that they could feel their dignity, had straighten shoulders,not looking on their feet and being afraid to look into the interlocutor’s eyes. Much to work on»
«We have to become much more humanistic,stop to lie and try to make somebody’s fool. We have to stop telling that our price is higher as it is. I had a talk with a man who makes a business in Spain. His real income comes only when he pays all the taxes and pays to the staff- and it is only five-seven per cents. In our country, when you make a business your income must be 200-300%. That is not a question of profitability, that is a habit from the 90’s – you have to grab the more the most, as tomorrow there can’t be such an opportunity. It is a deep question, and lots of such things I connect with Holodomor. When a person loses a piece of bread, so he will be greedy to it, not because he is angry,but because he is hungry. And the desire to put all the money into a bag goes also from there: a person understands that he was poor and miserable and now the happiness appeared and he has to use it to its extend. We have to leave this problem and then we will be happy»
«Money doesn’t make a person happy. If you earn money in a bad way, it will appear in your family problems, health problems or in something else. We have to learn to build up fair relations with the world, so then everything will be O’k»
«We have to admit that we are sick, we don’t know our history and significant personalities. And that is our problem. That is not a problem of a school teacher, or our parents that they haven’t given us something. Especially it concerns the adults. And so when we will admit such stories and will start to self-improve, so then we will come up to some level»
«To expand the Ukrainian culture, we have to show it-its best examples. To show our identity, that we are not malorosy, and not a part of the «russian world», we have to show some part of our culture. Not to sing in Russian in order to be liked by everyone, but to show our own and make it knowable, to popularize our identity. And we don’t know our native, we don’t speak about it. Our native lays under our feet and we walk and kick it. Here is a question of self-improvement, of showing the best examples»
«I never get angry with a waiter who speaks Russian and throw the coins into the salesman in the shop. When it is comfortable for a person to speak Russian it never makes any obstacles in conversation for me… I was studying in Poland and after coming back their originality and identity became an example. I swore to myself that from that moment I would speak only Ukrainian»
«I don’t think,that one leading person,no matter how charismatic it can be,how it can believe in values,and what the best qualities it can have, can change something. Country is a community of people who have common values. So uf one person will try to create an ill model of the country the whole community will be against»
«My values? Every person can be happy in every moment of life it stands at the moment. For me is important never to complain. In every situation you appear has its solution. I’m not a fatalist, and don’t have a model of life in context «it must have happened», but I know for sure, that in every situation you can give, or to search for a way out. You have to be fair, at least with yourself. If you have a family, you have to do everything so that it must be happy besude you. I haven’t done any «ten points», but just now I’m trying to explain how I manage to be happy. And I’m really a very happy person»
«I have never understood people who complain. I have an acquaintance who always complains about her mum, that she hasn’t given her something. Hey, lady, you are near your forties, what mom? That is you have to hel your mum, not she. You have always count on yourself, not on somebody else»
«Zhytomyr must be more open to the world and get more opportunities from it. Because if all the doors are closed, so nothing new will never come up. Don’t be afraid to experiment, don’t use the same mechanisms, unless we wouldn’t find out about the new ones. If we will be open to the world, it will be more friendly to us…And for that everyone should start working on themselves»
