Name: "Stus": Opening of the first international exhibition about Vasyl Stus!
Start: 2024-10-17T18:30:00+02:00
Location: Pariser Platz 4a, 10117 Berlin, Germany

"Stus": Opening of the first international exhibition about Vasyl Stus!

“𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐬”
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫: 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓
Opening: 17.10, 18.30 | Pariser Platz 4A, 10117 Berlin | Registration: https://forms.gle/2GqA7gdAUGp6Dnot9
𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐫: Pilecki-Institut Berlin
𝐂𝐨-𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐫: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Stus Center
𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞: https://berlin.instytutpileckiego.pl/public/upload/articles_files/Stus%20Press%20Release-1.pdf?v=1723543063
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Stus might have first fallen in love with the rhythms and flows of the Ukrainian language when his mother sang him Ukrainian folk songs. In conjunction with his dissident freedom-loving instinct this love would define his life. Already in the 60s he decided to teach the Ukrainian language defying widespread soviet top-down russification policies. No wonder then this love also had him pay a huge price: Throughout the history of the UdSSR he was repeatedly arrested, his works and Ukrainian translations of German poetry forbidden, his activism in defense of the Ukrainian intelligentsia suppressed.
Vasyl Stus was born amidst the horrors of World War II surviving not only the Nazi occupation but also the harsh post-war times that brought about widespread hunger. The experience of hunger would haunt him till his very last day: Stus died embarking on a dry hunger strike. A few years before, he had already gone on a hunger strike to be allowed to see his dying father. This is an exhibition simultaneously telling the story of an undeservedly unknown European freedom fighter and that of a nation fighting for its right to breathe and exist.
Indeed, Stus´s struggle for freedom was embedded in a centuries-long Russian insistence to not accept Ukrainianness as an independent identity. Hence not only Stus´s story is being told here, but also that of the underappreciated Ukrainian anti-Soviet dissident movement which to this day has remained at the outskirts of Europe´s collective memory.
These days Ukrainian poets once again have to fight for their nation´s independence and survival – this time they dropped their pen and picked up a gun joining the Ukrainian army. Some of them are shown in the exhibition reading out loud Stus´s poetry. The exhibition also includes a philosophical meditation on the nature of Stus´s activism:
Was he a fairytale-like hero or a real human being who proved able to develop a moral compass robust enough to protect freedom in the face of evil?
The list of contemporary contexts does, however, not stop here: Status was an admirer of both German and Polish culture, including both languages, the countries´ writers and, in particular, the Polish anticommunist resistance movements. In his afterlife Stus´s affection for both countries has inspired a cooperation between a Polish, German and Ukrainian organization. An alliance which is so desperately needed in today´s Europe!
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𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬
𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐫: Pilecki-Institut Berlin
𝐂𝐨-𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐫: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Stus Center
𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: Eva Yakubovska
𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚: Hanna Radziejowska
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫: Margarita Yegorchenko
𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: Oleksandr Burlaka
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫: Valeria Guievska
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Dmytro Stus, Kateryna Gryshchenko, The Museum of Sixties, Heinrich-Böll-Archiv Köln, the team of the documentary film "The Black Candle of the Light Road", Radomyr Mokryk
𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐭: Yurii Prokhasko, Margarita Yegorchenko, Eva Yakubovska