Kyiv citizens can now enjoy art right on the subway.
The domed ceiling of one of the metro stations in Kyiv, Osokorky, with the total area of almost 3,000 square meters, has been painted with murals. Eight foreign and local artists spent over three months creating them, finishing the work on Dec. 20.
The project cost Hr 3.65 million ($134,000), paid by Ukraine’s Ministry of Information Policy.
The project was named “More Than Us” and focused on the current issues in the country. Among the painted murals, there are images related to the war in eastern Ukraine and the country’s self-identification.
“We can be proud of it,” state secretary of the ministry Artem Bidenko told the Kyiv Post.
Bidenko said he hoped that the metro station would become a popular tourist destination, because “tourists today are interested in street art.”
He says they have chosen Osokorky mostly because of the technical factors – it didn’t have much advertisement to remove, and the ceiling surface was easy to work with.
People walk around the platform of the Osokorky metro station in Kyiv on Dec. 22. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
They invited Geo Leros, an adviser to the Minister of Information Policy Yuriy Stets, to curate the project.
Leros is a Ukrainian film director and curator of street art projects in Kyiv including those that brought multiple murals on the city buildings, artsy benches in Taras Shevchenko Park and painted metro trains.
One Ukrainian and seven foreign artists joined the project. They started the work in September and finished in December.
The artists worked at night from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. when the subway was closed. All eight artists were given an equal part of the ceiling for their murals.
Leros says that all the artworks reflect on the current affairs. Some of them focused on Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the war in Ukraine’s east unleashed by Russia in 2014.
A woman looks at the “Autonomy” mural created by Costa Rican artist Mata Ruda on the ceiling of the Osokorky metro station in Kyiv on Dec. 22. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
For instance, the mural “Knowledge is Treasure” by Belgian street artist Spear depicts a Ukrainian teacher and war veteran Volodymyr Donos, who got his leg injured at the front line and unable to get up was lying in a forest for five days before he was rescued. In the mural, Donos is depicted offering an apple, which symbolizes knowledge.
Other mural called “Mother Land” by Spanish artist Kraser features images of endangered plants and animals in Ukraine. It depicts a bear as a symbol of Western Ukraine where the animal dwells in, and a corsac fox as a symbol of Eastern Ukraine.
Mixed reviews
Because the murals are made in different techniques and styles, the project was criticized for the lack of harmony.
Leros says that if they had more time, they would have been able to combine the murals a little better. However, he adds that diversity was a part of the concept.
“The diversity of these works gives people an opportunity to find what they like,” Leros told the Kyiv Post.
Some art critics in Kyiv didn’t approve of the project.
Katya Taylor, the founder of Port creative hub, a multifunctional space for contemporary cultural initiatives, says that the project is “out of context” and “in discord with the architecture.”
She says that the architecture at Osokorky is self-sufficient the way it is and it doesn’t need to be decorated.
Taylor believes that the concept of “More Than Us” is farfetched, while its murals don’t develop aesthetic taste.
“The murals are too straightforward, made by people who do not know the Ukrainian context and do not understand the trends of contemporary art,” Taylor told the Kyiv Post.
People walk out of the train after they arrived at the Osokorky metro station in Kyiv on Dec. 22. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Some of those who pass the Osokorky station often, say that their subway experience changed after the murals had been painted.
Yuliia Makarova, a project manager who has been living near Osokorky for over three years, uses the station almost every day. Makarova says that Osokorky used to be one of the darkest metro stations in Kyiv, and with murals, it became “merrier.”
“Subway is not a place where you’re enjoying life, however, after the murals appeared you start looking around when waiting for the train, instead of just drowsing,” Makarova told the Kyiv Post.
Another local, Dmytro Didkovskyi, says that it’s amusing not only to look at the murals but also to watch how people react to them.
“When we arrive at the station (Osokorky) there are always some people in the train who see them (murals) for the first time – they start looking at them, smiling, discussing. Some look unsatisfied,” Didkovskyi told the Kyiv Post. “It doesn’t matter what emotions they evoke in people. They at least evoke some.”
He says he doesn’t like all of the murals but thinks the station looks better than it used to.
