Two Ukrainian cartoonists decided it was time for them to make fun of corrupt and evil politicians, so they designed their own creative deck of cards. Most of the characters featured on the cards are allies of President Vladimir Putin and ex-President Viktor Yanukovych.
“They are the corrupt officials and traitors of Ukraine,” says Andriy Kapustin, one of the cards’ authors.
Portrayed as a black joker, Putin stands above all of the politicians. “They all are Putin’s servants,” Kapustin explains.
Ihor Yurchenko, who first got the idea to make political cards, says that “it’s very irritating to see that some former politicians still remain unpunished for what they have done during the EuroMaidan Revolution and afterwards.”
Each caricature is supplied with a short verse explaining the character’s flaws, and their misdeeds during the time of Yanukovych’s presidency. For example, Olena Bondarenko, a lawmaker from the Party of Regions and first deputy head of the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech, is characterized as “the dirty mouth of the Party of Regions.”
Yanukovych’s former chief of staff Andriy Kliuyev was described as “the family’s consigliore,” a reference to the characters close to mafia bosses who were ordered to take care of unwanted problems and even people.
Mykhaylo Shlafer, the famous Ukrainian cartoonist who painted the cards says that politicians typically see themselves differently than what he painted. “All of them consider themselves as aces or kings, but in fact they are good-for-nothing, silly people,” he says. “They all have to sink into oblivion and nothing should remind us of them.”
There was a big debate among the cards’ authors as to who should get the honor of being part of the deck. “We counted so many Putin’s myrmidons that to draw them all we would need a 52-card deck,” Kapustin says.
Only the red joker, which symbolizes Ukraine and is depicted as a generic Ukrainian Cossack, can beat Putin. And this is probably the main reason why the cards became a hit with Ukrainians who visit Minus 4 Gallery in central Kyiv, where they are on display.
The gallery now hosts card playing tournaments from dawn till dusk. They are called Beat the Dickhead (Pobyi Khuilo), a popular reference to President Putin. An inveterate chess player, Volodymyr Oliynyk could not resist the temptation of beating Putin and his political followers.
“It’s funny to play with these cards because the game has a political agenda,” he says. “I am happy that even during these difficult times Ukrainians find reasons for humor and mockery,” he says.
Organizers say they did not expect their cartoon cards to become so popular. Many visitors buy these cards in the gallery as a gift for relatives and friends. “During the first two days of the exhibition people bought one hundred decks,” Yurchenko brags.
Additional five hundred desks will be delivered this week to the Donbas region for the Ukrainian army that fights pro-Russian terrorists there. “We want to cheer up our soldiers,” Kapustin explains. They promise a new deck of cards with the current lot of politicians should they fail to do their jobs.
Ilustration of Monsters/Political Anatomic Caricature
Minus 4 Gallery
Kyiv, 34/41 Artema St.
Open Mon.-Sun. Through Oct. 12
11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Free admission
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]
