The full-scale war was as a powerful, violent catalyst for mass attention to the history of our culture, pushing us to a meticulous revision of our cultural heritage. In that context, Ukrainian cinema is of particular interest as an art that is key to the creation and reflection of national identity, as a kind of expression of public memory. It was the search for new optics for studying and popularizing Ukrainian film heritage that led to the creation of the Re/Vision project. The exposition shows not just individual illustrations, but posters for notable Ukrainian films, created by modern Ukrainian artists, designers, typographers. All posters are connected by a common idea and stretch the thread from the 20s of the 20th century to the 2020s. The selection of films is based on the Dovzhenko Centre’s rating of “100 best films in the history of Ukrainian cinema”, and also covers almost the entire century.
The historical inspiration of the inscriptions is connected with the history of Ukrainian theater and cinema, in particular with the early posters of the beginning of the last century. This fashion for narrow geometric grotesques remained with the visual materials of Ukrainian theaters and cinema throughout the years. From the original constructivist movie posters of Dziga Vertov to theater posters of Lviv and Poltava in the 60s and 80s of the 20th century.
The central form factor of the composition is the film reel. Celluloid film is a very fragile material that can be easily destroyed, but at the same time it carries a power that can cut into the memory. In particular, this resonates with the Constructivists and Futurists, who sought to find a new style in the harmony and movement of geometric shapes that could reflect a changing society.
Our reel is pixelated. This also has a certain reference to the Ukrainian genesis. On the one hand, Ukrainian carpet weaving comes to mind, which also works with a geometric rhythm, realizing it as a form for the image. On the other hand, the pixel is an integral part of the visual image of the struggle for Ukrainian freedom that is taking place today.
Almost every decade of the existence of Ukrainian cinema is represented in the “Re/Vision” project, an exhibition of modern posters and accompanying film screenings, which means the last hundred years of the history of Ukraine. Here are landmark events that changed the world, and small human tragedies and joys. Legendary poetic cinema and modern comedy. The reflection on a historical topic and a futuristic dystopia about the end of the war. Almost all elements of the puzzle, which now consists of us and our life.
Organizers
Festival of contemporary culture PORUCH and the online museum of the font legacy of Odesa “OdesaCityLetters” in cooperation with the Odesa National Fine Arts Museum. The partner of the film program is the Dovzhenko Centre.
Curators: OdesaCityLetters
Curatorial team: Anastasiia Yavtushenko, Volodymyr Damaskin
Artists
EtchingRoom1, Mykhailo Skop #Neivan, Ksenia Stepas, Anton Hudo, Varvara Perekhrest, Oleksiy Revika, Danyl Shtangeev, Bohdana Davydiuk, Mari Kinovich, Oles Derega, Zhenya Oliinyk, Lilya Petrova, Yulia Zinchenko, Anna Gavryliuk, Olena Zahrebina, Vira Olevska, Zhenya Polosina, Anastacia Sholik, Daria Filippova, Albina Kolesnichenko, Maria Kovalchuk, Kyrylo Tkachov, Victoria and Vitalina Lopukhiny, Oleksandra Korchevska-Tsekhosh, Marchela Mozhyna, Michael Rafailyk, Olexandra Chaykovskа, OdesaCityLetters