A branch of the Union of Artists of Russia was established in Donetsk: so far it survives on membership fees

Russian creative associations, one after another, “enter” the Donbass. In the autumn of 2022, the Union of Writers of the DPR was transformed into the Donetsk Republican Organization of the Union of Writers of the Russian Federation. The local Union of Artists joined the Union of Artists of Russia – the constituent assembly of the new regional branch took place the other day. But in the barrel of honey of epoch-making events, a fly in the ointment was immediately discovered, even a few. The correspondent of “MK” understood the situation.

At the moment, only the Union of Theater Workers of the DPR is a little behind in terms of cultural integration with “mainland” Russia, although in the fall, 17 artists of the Donetsk Musical Drama in Moscow were awarded membership cards of the STD of Russia. These are purely organizational rough edges – the moment will come when the people of Donetsk will now take piles of necessary papers to the Russian Ministry of Justice and receive official certificates of registration of their Unions. And it will be a great day. But its greatness, unfortunately, will not protect people and the buildings of theaters and museums from constant shelling. Unfortunately, it will not solve such non-obvious problems as the property problems of Donetsk artists inherited from Ukraine. As it turned out, even under the previous government (the Donetsk “effective owners”) the main premises were taken away from them, and the exhibition halls and workshops that are available today are rented by painters, paying for this luxury from their own pocket. And just changing the sign does not change anything. Melik Aghabekyan, chairman of the branch of the Union of Artists of Russia in the DPR, says:

— Marina Rogatovskaya, executive director of the Union of Artists of Russia, came to Donetsk on March 2. We were handed Russian tickets – 21 people received them. They became founders. We have prepared 17 more applications, so we will continue to transmit them in batches.

– After joining the Russian Union, did the size of membership fees increase for Donetsk residents?

– In the Union of Artists, contributions of 1000 rubles. We had 1500. True, they were not enough. We had to increase, because utility bills are rising.

So you don’t know how much to raise. We have a lot of pensioners – where do they get their money from.

– That is, the contributions go to the needs of the organization itself?

– We spend them on payments for heating, water, garbage collection and the maintenance of the Artist’s House. We don’t have our own property. We rent everything from the city. In Lugansk, it is much easier for artists: they still have real estate. They even rent it out and use this money to keep both a lawyer and an accountant. And we have nothing.

– Shouldn’t you have rooms left from Soviet times?

Everything has been sold…

Before 2014 or after?

– Of course, even under Ukraine. We had a three-story building in the Covered Market (the central part of the city, where in the past a modest two-room apartment cost from 100 thousand dollars. – I.V.).

– What is there today?

— Offices. This building changed its owner four times, there were endless courts. One took the side of the artists, and the next gave the new owner. And it was never possible to find out who first bought it. But this buyer got everything done in a month – try to do something in such a short time!

– Did you report these problems to Rogatovskaya? Are you and your colleagues counting on Moscow’s help?

– We told Marina Nikolaevna about everything. How they can help us, in what way – they will decide for themselves. Maybe at least they will help with the provision of staff, at least hire a lawyer – no one will work for free. We are moving to another level, that’s the main thing. Russian expanses are open to us – and these are trips to the open air, participation in exhibitions.

– It’s good to be a guest, this is understandable, but are you ready to receive guests?

– Not really. Half of our House (there are 400 squares) was given to an art school, because we could not bear the operating costs ourselves. If large-scale exhibition activities begin, if people start coming to us, there will not be enough space.

From myself it remains to add that in the republican Donetsk reality the word “nationalization” was heard very often, especially if it concerned the assets of “fugitive” oligarchs. The old building of the Union of Artists was “two in one”: both the administrative part and the workshops. If you return it to those to whom it was originally intended, all questions will be removed. But the legality of privatization must be determined by the court.

Then the option remains to give the masters of the brush a roof over their heads. Or at least not to take money from them for renting the space where they create, perpetuating their time in paint and stone.