COURAGE

gyűjtemények hálózata

The current owner approached several institutions in Ukraine with these materials on several occasions. The first such meeting took place in 2003 (possibly 2013) at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (formerly the Kyiv Art Institute), which suggested that the owner leave the documents there for inspection. As no one showed interest in these materials, they remained unpublished. In November 2015, the owner once again approached researchers, this time to much greater effect. In April 2016, together with other materials about the Kyiv period of Malevich, the documents related to his teaching at the Kyiv Art Institute in 1928-1930 from the Kropyvnytskyi archive were published in the monograph "Kazimir Malevich: The Kyiv Period 1928-1930" by Rodovid publishing house in Kyiv, who bought a one-year copyright for the materials. 

The discussion about the exhibition was organized by the Sofia City Art Gallery with participation of the director of the Gallery, Adelina Fileva; the curator of the exhibition, Krasimir Iliev; journalist Toni Nikolov, editor of the Portal "Culture"; Ekaterina Boncheva, a member of the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to State Security and Intelligence Services of Bulgarian National Army (in brief: Comdos); historian Dr. Momchil Metodiev, professor at Sofia University; literary critic Mihail Nedelchev, professor at the New Bulgarian University; and art critic Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva.

The exhibition was presented as a provocation against the idea of ​​resistance as "shooting with sub-machine gun” (Toni Nikolov), visualizing the great variety of forms of resistance in art. The event drew significant attention by people of all ages. 

The exhibition was organized to coincide with the celebration of 25 years of Croatian independence, when various celebrations marked of the Great Jubilee on 12 September 1976, as well as the 1,040^th anniversary of the royal burial of Queen Helen in the oldest shrine at Our Lady's Isle (October 8, 976).

The exhibition of photographs of the Great Jubilee, the burial of Queen Helena and the concert of the Marian compositions symbolically launched the activities to promote the importance of early Croatian localities, "The Valley of Croatian Kings": Rižinica - remains of the oldest Benedictine monastery in Croatia, Our Lady's Isle with the oldest Marian shrine among the Croats and the mausoleum of Croatian kings and the Hollow Church - the Church of St. Peter and Moses, the coronation basilica of King Dimitar Zvonimir. The exhibition was opened on 7 October 2016.

The exhibition, designed by Ovidiu Taloş, was opened in Braşov on 8 October 2016. The exhibits were structured in two sections. One brought together large-scale reproductions of about 500 photographs, which were exhibited in the open-air in the park of the Faculty of Forestry, a place well-known as a pedestrian area for locals. The second section consisted of copies of around 100 photographs and was put on display at the Romanian Order of Architects–Braşov, Covasna, and Harghita Branch (Ordinul Arhitecţilor din România–Filiala Teritorială Braşov, Covasna, Harghita; OAR–BV–CV–HR), in the city’s old town. The exhibited pictures come from private photograph collections and the archives of several institutions. The reproductions illustrated various topics, such as the evolution of some areas in the old town at the beginning of the twentieth century, school-related activities in Braşov, leisure time in Braşov and its surroundings, and the city’s expansion during the twentieth century. A part of the exhibits depicted daily life under communism, notably school and patriotic work, as well as building of the new districts during the communist regime. The exhibition was organised under the aegis of OAR–BV–CV–HR, it was financed by the Braşov Municipality in partnership with the local newspaper Karpatenrundschau, which also offered numerous official photographs to be displayed.

The most important event for the dissemination of the materials relating to this collection was the recent publication of the proceedings of the Third Congress of the MWU in a volume co-edited by the Moldovan researchers Vasile Bahnaru and Gheorghe Cojocaru. This publication, which appeared in 2016, collected a series of valuable texts concerning the Third Congress of the MWU, its broader implications for the local public sphere and the response of the authorities. Specifically, the editors made extensive use of the collections of the Mihail Kogălniceanu Museum of Romanian Literature (including the audio recording of the Congress proceedings) and a wide array of the periodical press from that era (e.g., the literary journals Nistru and Cultura and the official newspapers Moldova Socialistă and Sovetskaia Moldavia) in order to convey a complete picture of the event and its aftermath. They also used Fond 51 of the AOSPRM (The Fond of the Central Committee of the CPM), which holds the minutes of the Party meetings convened in December 1965 to discuss writers’ “subversive attitudes” and the appropriate counter-measures. This volume revived general public interest in the Third Congress of the MWU, serving as a significant complementary material to the documents stored in Fond P-2955 of the AOSPRM. The volume is available to a wide audience of potential readers and will hopefully have an impact on reassessing the role of Moldavian writers under Soviet rule.