Editor’s Note: This article is part of the “Journalism of Tolerance” special project by the Kyiv Post and its affiliated non-profit organization, the Media Development Foundation. The project cover problems and challenges faced by sexual, ethnic and other minorities in Ukraine. It is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Internews. The contents are the sole responsibility of the Kyiv Post and the Media Development Foundation and are independent of the views of USAID, the U.S. government and Internews.
On the evening of April 14 the small pavilion of Kyiv’s Kinopanorama cinema was crammed with people of different ages, sex and social status. The reason for the fuss was not a celebrity arrival or a long-awaited film premiere, but the first large special art exhibition called Bedlam, featuring artworks made by people suffering from psychiatric disorders.
The exhibition presents nearly 40 paintings made by seven artists living in Kyiv’s Pavlov Psychiatric Hospital. The works will be changed during the exhibition so that by April 29 visitors can see a larger number of the paintings.
For art expert Tetyana Kabanets, it was difficult to select paintings for the exhibition. She has been working with the hospital’s patients for a couple of years and is quite familiar with them. “The artists are very happy that their paintings are exhibited and that other people will come and see their works,” Kabanets says.
While in Europe art brut (from French “raw art” or “rough art”) exhibitions, the works of outsiders, mentally ill people and people with disabilities are very popular, in Ukraine such expositions are still exceptions. Kabanets says that generally brut art in Ukraine is still perceived with suspicion.
“Society still has suspicions towards mentally ill persons,” says Vyacheslav Mishiyev, chief doctor of Kyiv Pavlov psychiatric hospital. Yet Kabanets hopes that the Bedlam visitors will be able to look inside the authors’ inner world through the artistry and in the future people will become more attentive to the needs of mentally ill people.
“Many of these people find it difficult to make something meaningful and their paintings are done through much suffering,” Kabanets added.
Yevheniy Klepov, one of the Bedlam visitors, was impressed with the abstract forms and symbolism of most of the paintings but said that the exhibit generally caused a sense of regret. “It seems to me that persons who painted these artworks are displeased with their life,” he said.
The artist Anatoliy Yusichev, whose seven paintings are currently exhibited on Bedlam, says that all his paintings are autobiographical and depict his personality. “I like all of my paintings,” he says, adding that his work Sinner was the hardest one to paint. “I have been working on it for nearly ten days without cessation. It’s an autobiographical painting as I consider myself a big sinner,” Yusichev says.
He has lived in Pavlov Psychiatric hospital for more than ten years. His hard life circumstances lead to a serious nervous breakdown but the painting classes helped him restore peace of mind, Yusichev says. For the past 15 years the artist painted more than 100 artworks and now he gives painting classes to other patients living in the psychiatric hospital.
“Any creativity like painting, singing or staging helps these people to have contact with the outside world. Manifesting, acting out negative emotions helps one get out of a crisis,” doctor Mishiyev added.
Meanwhile, due to meager funding for 1,200 patients living currently in the Pavlov psychiatric hospital, only nearly up to ten people have an opportunity to attend drawing classes. “Only those who get financial support from relatives attend painting classes, as prices for canvas and colors are too expensive for these people,” Kabanets added.
Bedlam organizers decided to launch a charitable auction during the exhibition to raise money for purchasing paints, brushes and paper. Anyone can buy paintings on the auction’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/art.brut.inside/?fref=photo//. The prices for the artworks range between Hr 400 – Hr 20,000.
Kyiv medical university student Liza Yatsenko liked Yulia Vyacheslavivna’s painting Heal the Winter. However the price of Hr 7,700 for the artwork was too high for the student and Yatsenko hesitated on whether to buy the painting. “These artists are very talented but we, society, don’t recognize them. Meanwhile, looking at their paintings and finding out what they wanted to express in their artworks I can say that they are the same people as us,” Yatsenko said.
Bedlam art exhibition. April 14 – 29. Kinopanorama cinema (19 Shota Rustaveli St.) Entrance is free
