|
PAGE NOT PUBBLIC
500 kilograms. The weight of freedom.
By Stefano Mitrione, Wednesday, July 26,2023
IN REVISION
|
The Statue of the Motherland of Kiev is 62 meters high against the 46 of the Statue of Liberty in New York.
Built between 1976 and 1981, as a tribute to the war of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany, over time it has become one of the most iconic symbols of the city and of the Soviet homeland. A symbol with an uncomfortable meaning that lasted over half a century, and which today has been converted to the cry for independence towards the same country that erected it. The not easy task was entrusted to the sculptor Oleksii Perhamenshchyk, certainly not new to such public performances. His task was to create the colossal trident, measuring 7.6 x 4.56 meters, to replace the Soviet symbol. I think of the upcoming August 24, 2023, as one of the most important days, not only for Ukraine itself, but for the entire Western democracy. Five hundred kilograms of stainless steel, not even the weight of a small car like the Zaz Tavria, but which makes an enormous difference on an international geopolitical level. |
I met Oleksii on February 28th of this year, in a private chat between our Facebook accounts.
He reproached me for a cultural levity on the humorous content of one of my satires, halfway between the desire for peace in Ukraine and the pro-Russian narrative.
One of my usual hybrids gets angry both left and right, bearing in mind that an artist's job is to be able to provoke, or at least create new discussion points on issues that are very difficult for their own understanding of historical nature.
His words left me petrified and at the same time I felt ashamed: "You'd think twice about laughing if this son of ... sent a rocket in your vicinity. I wish you would never see what I see".
I could do nothing but lower my head and take the blow.
Him under the bombs, me with my little story of little value, seeking the consent of my followers.
That day you learn well what it means to write on a social network because words are not just words, they are real weapons.
And a reporter should always keep faith with this profound analogy, he should always remain above his own emotions in order not to influence those involved in very painful facts.
The trident had stung me in my superficial westernism, and today how can I not pay at least one tribute?
But don't think it's a flag in the wind and that thanks to this new friendship, he's selling me to the highest bidder, just to get a scoop on a piece of news, even though this piece of news may still represent my liberal thinking.
However, I wouldn't know what position to take, also because the two parties involved, and what is at stake, go far beyond my ideological understanding.
What I can't accept is simply the way the dialogue has descended.
How is this possible with all the diplomatic roads viable today?
How is it possible that an evolved species like ours has instead proved inadequate to its leadership on this planet?
How much does the desire for freedom weigh, and vice versa how much does the desire for oppression, possession and control weigh?
Does freedom weigh perhaps five hundred kilograms?
No, the desire for freedom has the same immateriality as dreams.
And every man on this planet should never be put in a position to put freedom on the scales.
Oleksii, like millions, indeed billions of others of his own kind, still live today in a state of semi-freedom, blackmail and fear.
And what leaders really think about this state of incivility. I think of all the leaders of this world, not one in particular.
Because it seems to me that very little is being done to bring peace to the world, it seems to me rather like an Amazon package traveling around the world without a recipient.
The truth is that no one in human history has ever truly proposed a credible and sustainable peace program.
No one has ever really opened the borders of their land making it available to man.
He reproached me for a cultural levity on the humorous content of one of my satires, halfway between the desire for peace in Ukraine and the pro-Russian narrative.
One of my usual hybrids gets angry both left and right, bearing in mind that an artist's job is to be able to provoke, or at least create new discussion points on issues that are very difficult for their own understanding of historical nature.
His words left me petrified and at the same time I felt ashamed: "You'd think twice about laughing if this son of ... sent a rocket in your vicinity. I wish you would never see what I see".
I could do nothing but lower my head and take the blow.
Him under the bombs, me with my little story of little value, seeking the consent of my followers.
That day you learn well what it means to write on a social network because words are not just words, they are real weapons.
And a reporter should always keep faith with this profound analogy, he should always remain above his own emotions in order not to influence those involved in very painful facts.
The trident had stung me in my superficial westernism, and today how can I not pay at least one tribute?
But don't think it's a flag in the wind and that thanks to this new friendship, he's selling me to the highest bidder, just to get a scoop on a piece of news, even though this piece of news may still represent my liberal thinking.
However, I wouldn't know what position to take, also because the two parties involved, and what is at stake, go far beyond my ideological understanding.
What I can't accept is simply the way the dialogue has descended.
How is this possible with all the diplomatic roads viable today?
How is it possible that an evolved species like ours has instead proved inadequate to its leadership on this planet?
How much does the desire for freedom weigh, and vice versa how much does the desire for oppression, possession and control weigh?
Does freedom weigh perhaps five hundred kilograms?
No, the desire for freedom has the same immateriality as dreams.
And every man on this planet should never be put in a position to put freedom on the scales.
Oleksii, like millions, indeed billions of others of his own kind, still live today in a state of semi-freedom, blackmail and fear.
And what leaders really think about this state of incivility. I think of all the leaders of this world, not one in particular.
Because it seems to me that very little is being done to bring peace to the world, it seems to me rather like an Amazon package traveling around the world without a recipient.
The truth is that no one in human history has ever truly proposed a credible and sustainable peace program.
No one has ever really opened the borders of their land making it available to man.
Oleksii Perhamenshchyk
- Sculpture (BA) at National Academy of Arts of Ukraine
- Painting, Sculpture, Pottery, Anatomy at Kent State University
- Escultura Monumental at НАОМА
