Curator: Bohdan Polishchuk
Bohdan Polishchuk
Graduate of The National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture (Kyiv).
Co-founder of the Scenography Gallery and the international festival Lviv Quadriennale of Scenography.
Curator and participant of the Ukrainian pavilion at the Tbilisi Biennial of Scenography 2020.
For more than ten years he has been working with different Ukrainian state theatres and independent art initiatives and projects.
As a production designer:
2011 – «Forest Song» by Lesya Ukrainka, director A. Prykhodko (Lviv Academic Theatre named after Les Kurbas);
2014 – «Rhinos» by E. Ionesco, director A. Prykhodko (Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre, Kyiv);
2015 – «Grateful Erodi» by H. Skovoroda, director V. Kuchynskyi (Lviv Academic Theatre named after Les Kurbas);
2020 – «Buna» by V. Makoviy, director I. Bilyts (National Theatre named after M. Zankovetska, Lviv);
2021 – «Bronislava Nizhynska performance: dance-reconstruction», choreography by Svitlana Oleksiuk, composer Yana Shlyabanska, «Ruban Productions», premiere at Les Kurbas’ Centre (Kyiv).
As director and production designer:
2019 – «Little Fox Who Succeeded» by H. Lystvak (The First Theatre, Lviv);
2019 – «Android. The Number on Your Back» by H. Lystvak (Maly Drama Theatre, Kyiv); 2021 – «Stray Lights in Her Eyes» by Alex Wood (Maly Drama Theatre, Kyiv);
2022 – performance «Hiroshima Girl is Afraid of Thunder» based on the play «Living with Father» by Inoue Hisashi, composer Yana Shlyabanska (NGO Scenography Gallery, The Les’ Kurbas State Centre for Theatre Arts, Kyiv).
As director of the performances:
2019 – «Wake up in Chubai’s dreams», poetry by H. Chubai, composer V. Sirenko, artistic formation «The Captured Passion» (presented within the «Book Arsenal» international festival);
2020 – «The Great Jazz Journey» (National Operetta of Ukraine, Kyiv);
2021 – «Vertep. Neo-Baroque Mystery», the musical and theatrical performance by Ignea Corda Art Formation. The performance was presented in the Great Lavra Bell Tower and The International Convention Centre «Ukrainian House»;
2022 – Gra[n]d Opera «The Art of War», libretto by M. Layuk, composer S. Vilka, Nova Opera and Sed Contra Ensemble (presented in the Lviv Organ Hall).
Concept
Chugaister
Chugaister is a remarkable creature from Ukrainian mythology, a forest man, a cheerful, hairy figure who loves to play the fife and dance, but he can also dance a stranger to death. The term Chugaister now also refers to a type of camouflage military uniform that is actively used by Ukrainian defenders in the fight against occupiers.
The weaving of camouflage chugaisters, like camouflage nets, is a process familiar to many Ukrainians today. People often donate their own belongings, clothing that was part of their wardrobe just the day before.
“My chugaister is woven from materials brought by people in a village in Kyiv Oblast, where I was during the first months of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. People brought everything: old sheets, clothes, whatever they could—each item as if it were a sacrifice for the protection of our common future. I didn’t have fabric dyes on hand, so I used old curtains from the 1940s and 1950s, dyeing them with onion peels. Thus, my skills in using eco-friendly dyes came in handy,” said installation artist Lyudmyla Nahorna.
The sensation of one’s world, everyday life, history, and culture being re-evaluated, shattered into pieces, purified, and transformed into something new—offering confidence, help, and protection to loved ones and those fighting for freedom and identity with weapons in hand—pervades daily life.
“Scarves, like magical amulets, from which invisible armor is woven—armor of protection, endowing the warrior with the power of a mythical being!” said Lyudmyla Nahorna.
Today, Ukrainian theater, scenography, and costume design are undergoing similar processes of renewal. Art is no longer detached from life, and theater in Ukraine is increasingly freeing itself from years of Russian cultural and ideological occupation. Ukrainian artists are now standing up for national identity, just as soldiers stand up to defend their people and land. This installation represents the boundary between material worlds and emotional states that Ukrainian scenographers must navigate in their work and lives today.
Project authors Lyudmyla Nahorna and Kateryna Tyshchenko created the installation based on their personal experiences and the shared experiences of the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine. “The Chugaister, crucified in space, is a symbol not only of sacrifice but also of resilience and unyieldingness,” said Lyudmyla Nahorna.
Project curator: Bohdan Polischuk
Team: Installation authors Lyudmyla Nahorna, Kateryna Tyshchenko.
Organizer: GO Gallery of Scenography