Works of Nadin Hazan, paintress from Alchevsk, saturated with fear and pain, illustrated events on the east of the country for visitors of her exhibitions. Many paintings were made a long time before the war. Nadin told Informator.lg.ua about years spent in Donbass, about a sense of war and integration of Luhansk artists into Kiev art-sphere.

— People develop under influence of places, where they were born, which surround them. You spent your childhood in Alchevsk, which was left by thousands of residents. How did this smoky city impact you as an artist?

— While living in Donbass I learned to look deep inside myself, not to feel shy about methods of self-realization and not to be afraid to annoy people. Those people, who understood me – were near me. I’m not arrogant, but I’ve developed a natural filter for communication in Alchevsk.

When I was young I knew that I will leave the city. I didn’t want to be like everyone else – family, work, pension. I feel more comfortable when I create objects of art instead of making a career. My art shows what I see in people around me. Of course I exaggerated their images, attracting attention to absurdity of actions or desires of people. Did I expect recognition and praise? No, never. But sometimes I managed to establish a dialogue in cases, when it was almost impossible.

I was really amazed, when everything, what I was laughing at and considered to be surrealistic, came true. It revealed itself as real violence and human malice, which developed into betrayal and war.

The city and its residents let me understand that environment plays a great role in person’s formation, development of his culture. I had enough of its influence. That is why I don’t live there anymore. It became my essential need to change the city, it was impossible to develop myself in Alchevsk.

— Tell about Luhansk art-sphere. Exhibition of young artists took place “under the bridge” – is that because contemporary art is on the sideroad of public interests in Luhansk?

— Of course things we’ve been doing were based on bare enthusiasm and weren’t interesting for officials in cool cars, owners of mines, fuel or vodka sellers.

Artists and connoisseurs of art organized themselves and created culture environment in places, where it seemed to be impossible – under the bridge, for example.

Exhibition of contemporary art “+/-16”, Luhansk, 2011

Later we found a premise of old factory in Luhansk and organized cultural space there – “10th Tseh”. We managed to hold a few actions there before the war. “10th Tseh” could become a good art center, like Donetsk “Izolyatsyya”, but those plans meant to fail. Almost all people of culture had to leave Luhansk.

Serious literature movement has been organized in the city before the war. It was partly based on Ukrainian national self-identification. There were festivals of musical, visual and multimedia art, photography. People were interested in those events. We can even say that there was some kind of art hunger in Luhansk. Of course not all people understood and accepted our art. There were a lot of aggressive critics, but it is not strange – region wasn’t called “depressive” for nothing. Some people called us marginal.

— Why Donbass has been a donor of human resources for decades but hasn’t become self-sufficient culture region?
— It is obvious. No one needed art there. Businessmen and officials refused to help artists, and people didn’t want to pay for paintings.
Love for art wasn’t cultivated among Donbass residents. People consumed television and considered best examples of Soviet pop-culture to be classic art.

That is why it is easier to go to the place, where people appreciate art and are interested in your work – it is important for any artist.

— You lived in Kharkov, then in Lvov, then in Kiev – you’d left Alchevsk a long time before the war. Last year you’ve gone to Donbass. What did you see in your native city?

— My friends and relatives stayed there, my childhood and memories. That’s it. I felt nostalgia for some time, but now I feel sorry for people, who stayed there. But I don’t feel sorry about people, who called the war there intentionally.

I’ve found Donetsk stopped dead, overdosed or in coma. The feeling is like the city came back to 90s. I always knew that aggressiveness of Donbass residents will cause troubles, but couldn’t imagine such profound split of society. I didn’t try to get involved into politics and after a trip to Alchevsk I understood that I had made right decision to leave my native city.

— Almost all people of culture and intelligentsia left occupied territories. How do you live now, where do you hold exhibitions?

— Comparing to other victims of the war – I’m alive and that’s not bad. I work in art sphere. I paint a lot. I’m surrounded by great people, artists from Luhansk, and we organize exhibitions together.

Everything is developed and born step by step. We try to keep in touch with each other and combine forces. For example, in 2014 we organized collective exhibitions within “Gogolfest” festival – “+/- Luhansk”, “Doncult” – “Identifikatsyya”, which attracted attention of Ukrainian connoisseurs of contemporary art. In 2015 our works were exhibited in few places: in a gallery of Charity Foundation “Ukraine”, Museum of Lesya Ukrainka, on a collective exhibition in “Mystetskyy Arsenal”.

War – is a terrible experience for any person, what about artists?

See, I still don’t want to believe, that everything, what is happening with us and Ukraine – is real. The fact that many people turned into “men without humanity” causes rejection.

It is awful that we have to face inhumanity more and more often, to see it in people. Installation, that I’m working on now, is devoted to a mirror as a mystical object, to reflections.

I wish your reflection after the war not to be shocking.

Mykyta Pidgora, for the Informator.lg.ua