Welcome Sign out
Shopping Cart My Account Order History Sign in Not yet a member? Help
Blank_page Between the summers of 2006 and 2007, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took part in a political theatre in the streets of Kyiv, a grand spectacle involving little, or no individual conviction. A huge show which - unlike the Orange Revolution - did not in the end have any serious political implications. It might have all been a waste of time and money, but it provided me with an opportunity to study the rituals, the displays, the props and the sets of this by now uniquely Ukrainian art form. It all began back in 2004, when the extraordinary images from Kyiv?s Independence Square (the Maydan) were beamed around the world leaving at the same time a deep impression in the Ukrainian psyche. And it was not just not just among the supporters of Victor Yushchenko?s Orange Revolution, his political enemies were also impressed. They might have detested the Orange message, but they had eventually all fallen for the format. A political demonstration dressed up as an open-air Ukrainian rock and folk concert, executed so successfully on those cold December and January nights, had entered the Ukrainian political toolbox for good. And so - when the outcome of the next election had changed the balance of power and when the triumphs of the Orange Revolution began to look like a distant dream - the vast squares of Kyiv suddenly saw dozens of brand-new Maydan fakes, sponsored mainly by the opponents of the Orange camp. What these lookalikes lacked in spontaneity, they made up in orderliness. Organised with military precision, they began and ended with the punctuality of factory shifts. They were in fact often gatherings of the employees of the large, oligarch, or state owned enterprises. People were bussed to the capital, settled in tent cities, armed with flags and banners and marched to the squares. There, often thrilled just to be visiting the capital, they demonstrated in orderly fashion. Every afternoon they held a roll-call, either to be eligible for payment, or just in order to avoid trouble in their places of work and then they were free until the next day. But not all political camps could afford these multi-million dollar productions. The less wealthy parties had to cut corners. They often used the cheaper, or the completely unpaid, youth. Time after time the lucky, if not highly ideologically motivated, Kyiv students got paid to wave banners of each and every political party in turn. Some had worked for two, or three clients in one day. The younger, secondary schools students were not always so lucky. In April 2007 for instance, I saw a large group of them ordered by teachers to march in support of the Socialist party. Although - given that it was in the middle of the school term - some seemed to have enjoyed a day out. And finally, there were also with all of them in the squares of Kyiv some ordinary people, the true believers, the busybody activists, the emotionally weak and the politically naive. And for me there was never any way of knowing exactly to which category of protesters did any of the individuals pictured in this book belong, or even less, what they believed in at the time. But if you look very very closely, you might just get an idea. mb-r 3
Between the summers of 2006 and 2007, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took part in a political theatre in the streets of Kyiv, a grand spectacle involving little, or no individual conviction. A huge show which - unlike the Orange Revolution - did not in the end have any serious political implications. It might have all been a waste of time and money, but it provided me with an opportunity to study the rituals, the displays, the props and the sets of this by now uniquely Ukrainian art form. It all began back in 2004, when the extraordinary images from Kyiv?s Independence Square (the Maydan) were beamed around the world leaving at the same time a deep impression in the Ukrainian psyche. And it was not just not just among the supporters of Victor Yushchenko?s Orange Revolution, his political enemies were also impressed. They might have detested the Orange message, but they had eventually all fallen for the format. A political demonstration dressed up as an open-air Ukrainian rock and folk concert, executed so successfully on those cold December and January nights, had entered the Ukrainian political toolbox for good. And so - when the outcome of the next election had changed the balance of power and when the triumphs of the Orange Revolution began to look like a distant dream - the vast squares of Kyiv suddenly saw dozens of brand-new Maydan fakes, sponsored mainly by the opponents of the Orange camp. What these lookalikes lacked in spontaneity, they made up in orderliness. Organised with military precision, they began and ended with the punctuality of factory shifts. They were in fact often gatherings of the employees of the large, oligarch, or state owned enterprises. People were bussed to the capital, settled in tent cities, armed with flags and banners and marched to the squares. There, often thrilled just to be visiting the capital, they demonstrated in orderly fashion. Every afternoon they held a roll-call, either to be eligible for payment, or just in order to avoid trouble in their places of work and then they were free until the next day. But not all political camps could afford these multi-million dollar productions. The less wealthy parties had to cut corners. They often used the cheaper, or the completely unpaid, youth. Time after time the lucky, if not highly ideologically motivated, Kyiv students got paid to wave banners of each and every political party in turn. Some had worked for two, or three clients in one day. The younger, secondary schools students were not always so lucky. In April 2007 for instance, I saw a large group of them ordered by teachers to march in support of the Socialist party. Although - given that it was in the middle of the school term - some seemed to have enjoyed a day out. And finally, there were also with all of them in the squares of Kyiv some ordinary people, the true believers, the busybody activists, the emotionally weak and the politically naive. And for me there was never any way of knowing exactly to which category of protesters did any of the individuals pictured in this book belong, or even less, what they believed in at the time. But if you look very very closely, you might just get an idea.

mb-r
3
Cover_5
Have a slow connection? Have a broadband connection?