Sugar Democracy Public Programme
On September 22, 2016, at 7 PM, IZOLYATSIA presents Sugar Democracy, an interactive sculpture installation by Irish artists Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels. The project features a series of lectures, excursions, and panel discussions, dealing with the history of the Teacher’s House, Kazimir Malevich’s oeuvre, and the arts patronage in Ukraine.
Ukraine is a world-renowned leader in the sugar industry. Historically, the wealthy sugar magnates, like the Tereshchenko, Symyrenko, Khanenko, and Brodsky dynasties, were among the most active philanthropists engaged in charity activities, giving Ukraine numerous buildings, cultural and educational institutions, as well as art collections, now kept in national museums.
The Sugar Democracy project begins with a reference to historical Ukrainian architecture, with the central part of the installation being a sugar model of the Teacher’s House in Kyiv. Originally built in 1912 for the Kyiv Pedagogical Museum, the building famously hosted Ukraine’s first Parliament – the Central Council of Ukraine – in 1917-1918, as well as the Lenin Museum in 1943-1982, before reacquiring its original function as an education institution. The Teachers’ House epitomises a kind of place where culture and education give rise to democracy. Today it needs a new impulse for revival, just like Ukraine itself, and culture as well as democratic values are instrumental to this process. Symbolically, September 29, 2016 marks the 150th anniversary of Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Head of the Central Council, whose life story is inseparably tied to the Teacher’s House.
Surrounding the model of the Teacher’s House are sugar buildings inspired by the Suprematist architectons of Kazimir Malevich. The utopian Modernist skyscrapers by the Ukrainian-born artist have in many ways determined the looks of the architecture in the 20th and 21st centuries and symbolise the ever-present potential for intrepid creative futures that exists in Ukraine.
Programmed events
September 23, 7 PM – sugar architecture workshop by artists Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels (IZONE, 8 Naberezhno-Luhova St, Second Floor). Free entrance.
September 24, 3 PM – artist talk by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels and presentation of previous projects (IZONE, 8 Naberezhno-Luhova St, Second Floor). Free entrance.
September 27, 7 PM – interactive lecture by Vlad Goldakovskiy From Malevich to the Coming Community (IZONE, 8 Naberezhno-Luhova St). Entrance fee UAH 100. Registration required.
September 29, 10-11 AM – a one-time tour of the archive exhibition as part of the Mykhailo Hrushevsky anniversary conference (Teacher’s House, 57 Volodymyrska St). Free admission. Group of up to 30 persons. Please have your ID or other documents with you. Registration required.
October 1, 12 PM – Romantic rendezvous with Mykhailo Hrushevsky tour (in partnership with Mykhailo Hrushevsky Historical Memorial Museum, 9 Pankivska St). Admission fee UAH 50. Group of up to 25 persons. Registration required.
October 2, 3:30 PM – Evgeniya Sladkova’s tour Echoes of the Sweet Epoch (meeting at the corner of Taras Shevchenko Blvd and Volodymyrska St at the park entrance). Admission fee UAH 50. Group of up to 25 persons. Registration required.
October 4, 4 PM – class tour for children Treasures of the House of Hrushevsky (in partnership with Mykhailo Hrushevsky Historical Memorial Museum, 9 Pankivska St). Admission fee UAH 10 (children), UAH 25 (adults). Group of up to 20 persons. Registration required.
October 5, 5 PM – tour of the Pedagogical Museum. Duration 1.5 hours (Teacher’s House, 57 Volodymyrska St). Free admission. Group of up to 20 persons. Registration required.
October 7, 6:30 PM – Mykhailo Kalnytsky’s lecture The Teacher’s House and the Traditions of Arts Patronage in Kyiv celebrating the building’s 104th anniversary (Teacher’s House, 57 Volodymyrska St). Free entrance. Registration required.
October 8, 6:30 PM – Hrushevsky’s Coffee Stories (Mykhailo Hrushevsky Historical Memorial Museum, 9 Pankivska St). Entrance fee UAH 50. Group of up to 12 persons. Registration required.
October 9, 12 PM – Hrushevsky’s Volodymyrska Street tour (in partnership with Mykhailo Hrushevsky Historical Memorial Museum). Admission UAH 50. Group of up to 25 persons. Registration required.
October 12, 3 PM – discussion The TAO of Business: In Service of Culture. Speakers: Hanna Rudyk – Vice Director at the Khanenko Museum; Mykhailo Kalnytsky – Kyiv historian; Anna Hulevska-Chernysh – Head of the Ukrainian Philanthropists Forum; Liudmyla Garbuz – Manager of the corporate social responsibility projects at the ASTARTA Company (Khanenko Museum, 15-17 Tereschenkivska St). Free entrance. Registration required.
October 15, 2 PM – tour of the Museum of History of Philanthropy in Kyiv (6/9 Kostiantynivska St). Free admission. Group of up to 15 persons. Registration required.
October 20, 7 PM – Vitaly Kovalynsky’s lecture Kyiv’s Philanthropists (IZONE, 8 Naberezhno-Luhova St). Free entrance. Registration required.
October 21, 6:30 PM – Hrushevsky’s Coffee Stories (Mykhailo Hrushevsky Historical Memorial Museum, 9 Pankivska St). Entrance fee UAH 50. Group of up to 12 persons. Registration required.
October 23 – Khanenko Museum tour (15-17 Tereschenkivska St). Museum entrance fee UAH 50. Group of up to 20 persons. Registration required.
October 28 – final discussion Sugar Democracy Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (IZONE, 8 Naberezhno-Luhova St). Free entrance. Registration required.
Additionally, there will be regular sugar architecture workshops open for all visitors three times a week (Thursday at 7 PM, Saturday at 12 PM and 5 PM). It is possible to book group workshops at different hours.
The missing information will be updated at our website.
Contact numbers:
+38 095 428 04 51
+38 063 773 94 76
Partners of the Sugar Democracy public programme
Department for Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration
Kyiv Teacher’s House
Mykhailo Hrushevsky Historical Memorial Museum
Khanenko Museum
Ukrainian Philanthropists Forum
Museum of History of Philanthropy in Kyiv
General sponsor
Main Partner
Special media partner
Media partners
