The Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity was a space of extraordinary visual creativity, the analysis of which allows us to better understand its essence, as well as its social and political background. The article proposes the use of postcolonial theories, mainly based on the ideas of Frantz Fanon, Leela Gandhi and Homi Bhabha, as a tool for a better understanding of the visual sphere of the Maidan revolution. It is based on the dualism between the anti-colonial and nationalist character, and the post-colonial, hybrid character, as well as the potential of civil society and new subjectivity
PL
Ukraińska Rewolucja Godności była przestrzenią niezwykłej kreatywności wizualnej, której analiza pozwala lepiej zrozumieć jej istotę, jak również jej podłoże społeczne i polityczne. Artykuł proponuje użycie teorii postkolonialnych, opartych głównie na myśli Frantza Fanona, Leeli Gandhi i Homiego Bhabhy, jako narzędzia służącego lepszemu zrozumieniu sfery wizualnej rewolucji na Majdanie. Oparta jest ona na dualizmie pomiędzy charakterem antykolonialnym i nacjonalistycznym, oraz postkolonialnym, hybrydowym, bazujący na potencjale społeczeństwa obywatelskiego i nowej podmiotowości.
This paper examines the works of Ukrainian artists who comment on the current politics of memory in Ukraine, with the main focus on the artistic work of Nikita Kadan and David Chichkan, and the phenomenon of „Leninopad” – the demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine. Since the Maidan uprising in 2013/2014 and the subsequent attacks on the sovereignty and territory of Ukraine by Russia and the so called “pro-Russian separatists”, there has been intense debate on how to interpret not only Ukraine’s dramatic present, but also its complex and difficult past. The mechanism of forgetting about the Soviet past turned out to be particularly strong in Ukraine – forgetting by destroying, erasing, removing all physical remnants of the former system. The war for memory is taking place today with the destruction of Soviet monuments and other remnants of the soviet history. The practice of ideological correctness is continued through the amputation of „unwanted” elements. It is not possible to have a private memory of the history of the nation, it is always a memory imposed and constructed by people who have power. In Ukraine the future is to be built on the certain image of the past.
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