Design is chosen for Ukraine's Holodomor Memorial Complex (09/17/06)

Design is chosen for Ukraine's Holodomor Memorial Complex

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - A design featuring Christian symbols and a labyrinthine underground museum was selected on September 9 as the plan for Kyiv's Holodomor Memorial Historical Complex.

A judges' panel of about 20 experts selected the architectural plan proposed by architect Anatolii Haidamaka, a prolific designer of churches and national monuments, as well as a close adviser to President Viktor Yushchenko.

The decision marked the biggest step in five years in planning for a world-class Holodomor memorial which Ukraine's leadership hopes to complete in time for the country's 75th anniversary commemoration of the Famine-Genocide in 2008.

"If foreign countries defined that famine as genocide, if we know about it, if the Communist Party made excuses in 1991, we have to end debates and put up this memorial," said Pavlo Movchan, a well-known writer and the assistant chair of the jury selecting Mr. Haidamaka's design.

It was Mr. Haidamaka's use of Christian themes, not only in the memorial's artistic expressions but overall structure, that was most lauded by the jury's leaders, including Mr. Movchan and Chairman Mykola Zhulynskyi.

Skeptics, however, alleged Mr. Haidamaka's plan was selected because of his close relationship with President Yushchenko.

The complex's artistic focal point, which may eventually become the internationally recognized symbol for the Holodomor around the world, is a metal sculpture of a frail, starving Ukrainian girl.-Clutching five ears of wheat in her folded-over hands, placed over her heart as if she were praying, the girl is depicted looking toward the sky.

Her sunken eyes appear to reveal hope in God and, simultaneously, disbelief that He allowed such a tragedy to transpire.

"This is the memorial's most convincing image," Mr. Movchan said.

The sculpture of the girl with the ears of wheat might be posed in front of the planned museum's entrance.

In the view of Morgan Williams, a Washington insider who has been among the most active advocates for a Holodomor complex in Kyiv, the sculpture should be large and central to the memorial.

In fact, the central placement of the sculpture is probably the only thing that those involved in planning and developing the memorial can agree on.

The remaining art is largely Christian. Two large structures are planned, the first depicting a traditional ritual cloth (rushnyk) draped above an icon of the Virgin Mary or the Savior and the second a traditional bell tower.

While Ukrainians embraced Mr. Haidamaka's use of religious themes, Mr. Williams believes they're not effective in distinguishing the memorial and making a political statement against communism and totalitarian governments.

The predominance of Christian symbolism may lead visitors to associate the memorial more with Christianity, rather than communicating the evil of communism and totalitarian governments, he said.

"I'm not against religious symbols," Mr. Williams said. "But that's only half the story. Ukraine might miss the boat to tell the story about a political system and leaders that crushed the nation by causing the Holodomor. It's a weak response to talk about the victims."

The memorial's design is based on a Christian theme as well.

Visitors will enter the underground museum along a downward path that is meant to symbolize the descent into hell endured by Holodomor victims. In the labyrinth's center, a window allowing a glimpse of the sky will symbolize Ascension.

The labyrinth continues to lead the visitor through a cosmic corridor decorated with thousands of stars, through a wreath of thorns to a cranberry grove, a depiction of heaven, the ultimate destination of the millions of innocent victims.

Engraved in black, granite blocks symbolizing Ukraine's chornozem (black earth) will be the names of millions of Holodomor victims and their villages.

Perhaps the biggest source of contention has been the Holodomor Memorial Historical Complex's location.

After years of denials or indecision regarding various sites in Kyiv, even as far as the Lukianivskyi Cemetery, the complex's organizers were offered the slopes below Kyiv's Park of Eternal Glory along the Dniprovskyi Descent, as decreed by former President Leonid Kuchma.

Also sanctioned by the Verkhovna Rada, the proposed location incensed the Organization of Veterans of Ukraine, which stated that such a location is a political attempt to discredit the Soviet Union and the Red Army, and eclipse their honor.

At a September 6 public hearing, Red Army veterans asked that their sacrifices and achievements on behalf of the Soviet Union be respected and demanded that organizers move the park to a different location, far from the Park of Eternal Glory.

"In my mind, comrades, the idea to put this memorial complex in the Park of Eternal Glory is just a cynical and angry attempt to detract from and to reduce [the achievements of] the victors, the front-line soldiers," said Stanislav Hryhoriev, the first assistant chair of the Kyiv Organization of Veterans.

"We can't combine what can't be combined. Talk to psychologists, and they'll tell you that you are trying to cause a conflict between generations, between people, to incite public opinion," he said.

The location also drew criticism from the Forum for Kyiv's Salvation, a citizens' group that opposes illegal or abusive real estate development in Kyiv.

The capital's center already has enough national monuments and parks in its central district, and constructing the complex would only add traffic and detract from the area's natural beauty, said Vitalii Cherniakhivskyi, the forum's leader.

Mr. Movchan refuted that claim, stating that the wooded slopes designated for the complex are rarely traversed by anyone. "It is just a place for walking with dogs," Mr. Movchan said.

Many details of the complex remain open to adjustment, including its overall size, design and various components, Mr. Zhulynskyi said.

No budget has been set for the complex, which will be funded by the Cabinet of Ministers and the Kyiv City Council.

A vague estimate of $10 million has been floated for Mr. Haidamaka's design, and the extent to which it will be possible to develop the complex will largely depend on how much financing Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych will be willing to provide.

It's also unclear whether the coalition government, which is led by and almost exclusively consists of Russian cultural sympathizers, is willing to support an expedient and well-financed construction of a complex focusing on the Holodomor.

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