Organizers called off a groundbreaking art exhibition in Kyiv metro on Feb. 16 after a far-right extremist damaged most of the artworks on display at the city’s Taras Shevchenko station.
The exhibition, entitled “Shevchenko’s Quantum Leap. Subway,” planned to last for a month, closed after only six days. It had consisted of 30 posters of Taras Shevchenko, the legendary Ukrainian poet, and freedom fighter, as iconic musicians, poets, actors, and fictional characters, including David Bowie and Spider-Man.
However, two of the posters had been stolen by members of the public after only two days, and the vandalism on Feb. 16 by the far-right extremist was the last straw for the organizers – the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko and artist Oleksandr Grekhov.
The attacker later identified himself as Yurii Pavlenko, a nationalist and a member of the far right-wing organization, in comments on his Facebook page, in which he claimed that by damaging the posters he was also creating art, which “cannot be appreciated by closed minds.”
Pavlenko, an active participant in far-right rallies, was detained on charges of hooliganism a few years ago after he publicly ripped up a portrait of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Writing on his Facebook page, Pavlenko said people with “closed minds” had started criminal proceedings against him.
Grekhov, the creator of the posters, said their destruction was inexcusable.
‘‘It’s okay not to like or understand something,” Grekhov told the Kyiv Post. “Personally, I don’t like some artistic styles, I don’t always understand modern art, but I have never thought about destroying or spoiling something,” he said. “We were not ready for such serious aggression.’’
Anastasia Aboliesheva, the coordinator of the exhibition, also said she had not expected the exhibition to provoke such a reaction.
‘‘We were ready for a lack of understanding, criticism, and indignation,” Aboliesheva told the Kyiv Post. “But we certainly did not expect physical aggression – damage to the posters and threats to the safety of passengers or visitors to the exhibition. For that reason, we decided to close the exhibition early.”
The exhibition was to have run from Feb. 10 to March 10.
Two of the posters, one depicting Shevchenko as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and another as Master Yoda, a character from the Star Wars movie franchise, had been stolen by Feb. 12.
