Ukrainian steampunk and theatre instead of museum: what objects from Ukrainian passport appear in pop culture

The 2015 Ukrainian passport is not only a symbol of visa-free border crossing but also a symbolic guide to all regions of the country. The pages of the document are decorated with cultural heritage objects symbolising different parts of Ukraine. The Crimean Chersonese, the walls of Lutsk fortress, the oldest churches of Kyiv and the slag heaps of Donbas. The document's design became especially symbolic after the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine - it reminds us that the entire territory of our state - from the West to the East - is indivisible and Ukrainian.

Some of the objects from the passport are now under threat and have suffered from the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. A number of important objects- such as symbols- have been actualised in pop culture and artistic projects. They are present in films, modern books, plays, music videos, and even pseudonyms of performers.

Socportal explores how symbols of Ukraine are portrayed in contemporary art and what new shades they acquire.

1. Image of the Golden Brahma (Golden Gate) in Kyiv

The Golden Gate, an iconic symbol of historic Kyiv, is one of the oldest structures in Eastern Europe. The gate itself began to be erected in the time of Vladimir the Great, and in the time of Yaroslav the Wise, the Church of Annunciation consecrated in 1022, was added to the ensemble. For a thousand years, the monument has survived destruction and restoration. It looks like a crenellated tower 14 metres high, crowned with the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. Inside the Golden Gate, there is a monument museum. Before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, concerts and performances were often held in the museum. "Golden Gate" - often represent Kyiv and Ukraine in the world. So, recently, their photo decorated a souvenir euro-banknote. In addition, the image and even the name "Golden Gate" are widely present in pop culture.

The Golden Gate is a theatre, not a museum. The Golden Gate brand has sprawled into other cultural spheres as well. For example, the capital's theatre is the eponymous "territory", popular among visitors of different generations and active even in a full-scale war. It was created in 1979, and its first production was staged in the Golden Gate. Now, the artistic institution operates in the Government Quarter at Silkovichnaya, 7-a. The logo reads "Golden Gate - a theatre, not a museum" (a slogan that became popular after the rebranding in 2014). The Golden Gate Theatre has a recognisable face, popular performances in the repertoire and a regular audience. The top of the playbill: psychological plays about civic position, problems of relations with parents, elaboration of post-colonial trauma caused by Russia, black comedies and a recent novel - the play LOVE REVOLUTION - based on the stories of the classics of the Renaissance. Due to the auditorium's location, shows are not interrupted during air raids.

A world-famous metro station - where to look for an important ancient inscription. One of the super-popular Kyiv objects that tell about Kyiv and Ukraine abroad is the Golden Gate metro station. It was opened on 31 December 1989. Inside, the station is decorated with mosaics by the outstanding muralist Grigory Korenya. World-famous brands Apple and Google filmed adverts at the Golden Gate, and the British publication Daily Telegraph included it in the list of the 22 most impressive metro stations in Europe. In 2018, among the mosaic images found the inscription "Glory to Ukraine", which, apparently, was made during the Soviet era.

You have to look in the middle concourse. This inscription is laid out just above the descent to the escalator. Right in the centre. Unfortunately, this lettering darkens over time. This is a normal reaction," Nataliya Makogon, advisor to the head of Kyiv Metro, revealed the secret at the time.

Location in Kokotyukha's detective story. The Golden Gate appears in the story of a popular writer, author of historical novels and detectives - Andrei Koktyukha. In particular, the location is present in the teenage detective "The Gymnasist and the Black Hand", which 2016 was released in the publishing house A-BA-BA-BA-GA-GA-LA-MA-GA. In the centre of the plot - Kyiv gymnasium-eighth-grader Yurko Turyanitsa. Must uncover the identity of a sinister stranger calling himself the Black Hand. And at the same time, ironically, only the Black Hand knows who committed the murder, who is accused of being a Ukrainian soldier-volunteer. Since the action takes place in Kyiv, Andriy Kokotyukha creates for the reader a real atmosphere of "immersion", of course, using this purpose familiar and iconic locations - not without the "Golden".

2. Graphic drawing "Cossack calamar with a feather"

Image of Cossack musical instruments: bandura and kettledrum. Image of Khotyn fortress and a fragment of a Cossack boat "Seagull".

The Cossack theme is actively represented in various pop culture genres - from cult cartoons to the names of popular music bands. In particular, the Cossack theme is dedicated to films that have already become classics, such as "The Missing Gramota" (1972), as well as new Ukrainian films such as "Hell's Horugvia, or Cossack Christmas" (2019), "Cossack Fables" (2013) and the series "Cossacks. Absolutely False History" (2020). The cult cartoon series "Cossacks" by Vladimir Dakhno, created at the Ukrainian studio "Kyivnauchfilm" - is one of the top 100 best films in the history of Ukrainian cinema. A postage stamp was dedicated to the cartoon in 2020.

Cossacks sing about people who are titans. Cossacks are present in popular songs and even band names. For example, patriotic songs about the defence of Ukraine are actively created by Kozak System with frontman Ivan Leno. The selection of the band, which has existed since 2012, includes compositions on the words of poets of the sixties and modern authors. In February 2024, the band presented a new composition, "People-Titans".

Fascinating comic book and noir cinema. Cossacks became the main characters of Igor Baranko 's mystical comic book "Maxim Osa and the Gold of Pesigolovets". The plot is based on a detective investigation, which is conducted by Maxim Osa. He is looking for the murderer of fellow Szechiviks and the gold of the Polish king, who disappeared under strange circumstances. Witnesses point to the intervention of a mystical force. In 2022, the Ukrainian box office released a film of the same name directed by Miroslav Latyk, in which Maxim Osa embodied Vasyl Kukharsky. On 7 December 2023, the actor died after severe wounds he received at the front, defending Ukraine.

Cossack Mamai and his musical instrument. There is also a "bandurka" in pop culture that is on the pages of a passport. This is the so-called "Cossack bandura," or "Mamaev's kobza." The instrument appears both on familiar images of the legendary Mamai and on new "replicas" - in memes and author's drawings. "The bandura has become a trendy instrument thanks to the bright, creative projects of popular performers such as Marina Krut and the B&B project group.

Adrama-feature that has been "lying in drawers" for 40 years. Cossacks also appear in a genre that is usually called high - opera. In 2017, the Lviv Opera presented a modernised extravaganza When the Fern Blossoms by Yevgeny Stankovich, which was banned under Soviet rule. In 1978 it was being prepared for a tour in France. She had pro-Ukrainian messages. It told, in particular, about the traditions of celebrating Ivan Kupal. At that time, the work was not "missed". After 40 years, its updated version was presented by Vasyl Vovkun. The opera consists of three parts. The second - the "Cossack" story moves to the events of the Maidan and the defence of Ukraine in the East.

3. Fragments of the interior of the Cathedral of St Sophia in Kyiv

A monument of Ukrainian architecture and monumental painting of the 11th century (1011-1018), St Sophia of Kyiv is one of the few surviving constructions from the times of Kievan Rus'. It is one of the main Christian shrines of Eastern Europe. St Sophia Cathedral preserves the ancient architecture and the world's most complete ensemble of original mosaics and frescoes of the XI century. - 260 square metres of mosaics and 3000 square metres of frescoes. They are true masterpieces of world art.

Festival on the territory of the shrine. The territory of St Sophia of Kyiv becomes a location and a direct participant in the festival of high culture in summer. Even despite the full-scale war, the traditional and popular among Kyiv citizens (and not only) Bouquet Kyiv Stage is held on the territory of St Sophia Cathedral. During the days of the event, classical and experimental music and new films are shown in the Sophia Garden, exhibitions are held in the Bread Garden, and a literary square operates at the location "Under the Ash Tree" and talks about high culture with artists, scientists, historians and opinion leaders take place.

The National Reserve "Sophia of Kyiv" is an iconic and favourite place for Kyiv citizens, the heart and soul of Kyiv, - stress the organisers of the "Bouquet".

Sophia and the Khmelnytskyi Monument were shown to depict "My Kyiv". Photos of iconic locations also appear in the "My Kyiv" concert, which was presented at the end of 2023 on the Teatroom chamber stage of the Palace of Ukraine. The shows are planned to resume in autumn 2024. The concert is called the evening nostalgia of the capital's hits and includes the most popular songs of the 60-80 years associated with Kiev. "How not to love you", "Cheremshina", and "Day passes, night passes..." are performed by popular performers.

During the performance of hits, collages with photos of the most significant places and sights of the capital are shown on the screens. These include St Michael's Cathedral, St Andrew's Church, monuments to the founders of Kiev and Prince Vladimir, the legendary Golden Gate and panoramas of the old streets of the no less legendary Podol. For visitors of the city it is a great clue where to walk and what to visit, and for Kyiv citizens it is an occasion to remember hidden but no less iconic places that are known only to locals," Katya Tsarik, director of the My Ukraine project, told Socportal.

Kyiv with monkeys, watermen and the reanimated. In the Kyiv fantasy-detective "Lazarus" by Svetlana Taratorina, the events which unfold in the early twentieth century, the most iconic locations of the capital, in particular, the temples, are depicted. For example, the most ancient of the surviving ones, the Church of St Cyril, becomes the place of the denouement of a tangled mystical story about a magical force protecting Kyiv from enemies.

4. Image of the engraving "Panorama of the city of Lviv"

The biometric passport contains an image of the engraving "Panorama of the City of Lviv", made by Abraham Hogenberg after a drawing by the late 16th - early 17th-century engineer and fortifier Aurelio Passarotti. Besides recognisable buildings - cathedrals, churches, town hall - the engraving depicts the coats of arms of Lviv, Poland, Russian Voivodeship and the Coat of Arms of Pope Sixtus V, who in 1586 granted Lviv the right to use his symbol on an equal footing with the city's.

Lviv mages in the game. Recognisable sights of cities have become an effective means of creating an atmosphere in the books of modern writers, particularly authors of urban fantasy. Thus, Lviv landscapes appear in the story of Natalia Matolinets "Varta in the Game". The city of Lviv is full of sorcerers, witches and alchemists who live quietly alongside tourists and locals - working and drinking Lviv coffee. Everything changes when the big Game begins - the confrontation of dark and light forces for power in the Central European conglomerate for the next century.

On the bank of a river that doesn't exist. Such performers as Christina Soloviy, Serhiy Zhadan, Kuzma Skryabin, "Ocean Elzy", "One in a Canoe", Jamala, Ruslana filmed music videos for their songs in Lviv. In particular, the music video "City of Spring" by Svyatoslav Vakarchuk and the group "One in a Canoe" features popular locations in Lviv and even shows the "trademark" Lviv downpour. The song features the river "which does not exist" - Poltva - an underground river explored by diggers.

Lviv in a film about "another Franko". Lviv's iconic places also appear in a film recently released about Petro Franko, a famous pilot and the son of a Ukrainian classic of literature. The youngest son of the famous writer was a sportsman, one of the founders of the plast movement, a soldier in the ranks of the Sechen Sagittarians, the founder of Galician aviation, a diplomat, a scientist-chemist, also tried himself in literary and publishing activities - recalls in a review of the film journalist, researcher of the city of Uzhgorod Nadezhda Vovk. In the film filmed views of the old city. A lot of attention was paid to the Franko estate.

Good acting, fragments of Lviv and Franko's house, elements of the original setting - all this creates a certain special atmosphere. Little, if anything, is known about Peter Franko. The film reminds about this extraordinary incredibly interesting personality, popularises, encourages to look for more information about the youngest son of Ivan Franko, - writes Nadezhda Vovk.

By the way, Peter Franko also had a Ukrainian passport - however, the sample of the UNR. You can read more about it in our previous article.

So, iconic Ukrainian monuments and symbols of different regions, which are present in the Ukrainian passport and denote the diversity and variety of Ukraine, are actively used by the creators of the new Ukrainian culture. These symbols can be found in cinema, theatre, on drawings by popular artists, in books by top authors - and this is certainly evidence of attention to one's own culture, traditions and the importance of the cultural basis for the creation of modern art.