Chernivtsi Perspective

FEATURES

EDITORIAL

By Halyna Maslak Editor-in-chief

Mid-term modules are over and students can sigh with relief. One is satisfied, one needs to work harder. But why do we

study at the university? Sometimes stu-dents feel the material they study is not at all interesting or useful. Too much home-work. Learning by rote. Sleepless nights. Perhaps this all won’t make us happier or wiser. Maybe the university doesn’t teach us the things we need to know. Perhaps students don’t learn — we just get points. What is more important: good marks or the “school of life”? Do we have time for leisure, for fun, hobbies, sleep, or are there no such things in a student’s life? What is the point of higher education? Do we get what we need? These are all wonderful questions for dis-cussion, and there are many different opinions. Set your priorities and combine your “must-do” and “wish-to-do” wisely. Live while you are young and don’t lock yourself in four walls of gray routine. Keep calm, work hard, don’t worry about the things you cannot change. Take the rough with the smooth.

If you are too busy to enjoy life and follow the latest city news, read this newspaper and have fun. The first issue of the Chernivtsi Perspective was funded by CACTUS, an international English lan-guage program organized by Ukrainians and Americans, supported by the U.S. Peace Corps Ukraine and many national and international donors. CACTUS pro-motes civic society development in the next generation of young Ukrainian lead-ers. Two alumni of this program, CHNU students Daniel Korlotyan and Sofia Mor-ska, created this newspaper as their com-munity service project with the help of their mentors, me and Becky Bosshart, a Peace Corps Ukraine volunteer. All of us would like to thank the hard-working staff of the Chernivtsi Perspective, many of whom are reporting in English for the first time. This newspaper is possible because of their creativity and dedication.

Welcome to the Chernivtsi Perspective!

NEWS

By Natalka Tsiplitska Staff writer Many of us dream, but only a few of us know how to turn dreams into reality. The Chernivtsi Regional Board of National Students’ Council is cooperating with the Bukovyna Investment Fund to provide a new business opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to create a startup. “Business” is a word that awakens a lot of emotions and images in a person’s mind. The first association is money. Most students find business opportunities desirable, though unrealistic. This new city project can change that. The project’s goal is to embolden young people to start their own business. Participants need to have a good idea and a business plan. They must also be students of Chernivtsi IHE (Institutions of Higher Education). Until Nov. 1, stu-dents can submit ideas for consideration. The winner will be chosen by five business leaders in late Novem-ber. “We wanted to invest in students’ ideas and to make the best of those come true,” said Sergiy Palagniuk, project coordinator. The idea for the competition was inspired by television and adjusted to the required standards. The winner earns sponsorship and will be required to report monthly to the group. The winner will have a consultation with the investment fund. Students can participate in business. Develop your-self, broaden your outlook and you’ll see that your startup is just around the corner.

Would you like to run your own business?

New borders of art consciousness in Chernivtsi

By Iryna Kozaruk Staff writer

For some people, art is a way to be enter-tained, but for others it’s a way to be edu-cated, to go deeper into a world of signs, symbols and other realities. Art-Act is one of the first local exhibitions of abstract art held in Chernivtsi in the

exhibition center Vernissage. Ninety-seven painters from Ukraine competed for the right to be exhibited here. Only 58 of them made the exhibition. These works of abstract art gave visitors an opportunity to slow down and look outside the every-day reality of our contemporary world. This exhibition opened view-ers to a new and unpredict-able way of showing abstract art. It revealed the alter ego of modern fine art. This event had a great influence on developing abstract art in Chernivtsi.

By Krystyna Rauliuk Staff writer On Oct. 5, the city of Chernivtsi celebrated its birthday. Some main events of the day took place at Turkish Square. Peo-ple from all over Ukraine came to Chernivtsi to sell goods, traditional crafts and national dishes. The trade fair began at 10 a.m. and by 11 a.m. the square was already crowded. Artists showed their paintings and authors talked enthusiastically about their books. Regional and international chefs brought their best cuisine to the fair. One of these was an Indian mobile kitchen. Hiren, a stu-dent at Chernivtsi medical col-

lege, shared some information about their national dishes. The most popular: Murg Malai Tikka (chicken with sour cream

and seasoning); Murg Masala (chicken with sauce made from Indian spices); and, of course, Indian tea (with milk and spices). Hiren explained that this was the first time the In-dian kitchen has been to the city festival, and they are really glad that so many people got to taste their food. He hoped that afterward more locals will visit their restaurant at 119 Holovna St.

Marianna, of Lviv, was selling purses and toys handmade with natural materials. Since childhood she has had a great imagination and loved to draw, which now helps her with her designs. She said her husband

occasionally helps her, and he was the one to invoke her passion for handmade goods when he bought her a hand-made purse for her birthday. One of the most inspiring peo-ple at the trade fair was Ilona Georgievna, from Zakarpattia. She had different baskets,

shoes and birdcages all made out of maize leaves. In her early years, Georgievna said she liked to make small deco-rations. What started as her hobby became a job. Through-out the years her devotion to her art grew until she became a professional artist. Geor-gievna has been invited to Poland and this was her third time in Chernivtsi.

Том 1, выпуск 1 CHERNIVTSI PERSPECTIVE 2

FEATURES The place where cultures meet

Temistokl Virsta exhibition International artist celebrates his 90th anniversary

By Kate Kovalchuk Staff writer The artist Temistokl Virsta, born in the vil-l a g e o f I s p a s (Chernivetska region, Ukraine), is famous all over the world as a founder of the style he calls allegorical sym-bolism. His works combine bright colors, imagination and a sincere belief in further happiness. On the one hand, all his paintings are very complicated and obscure, but on the other hand, they can inspire people to be more calm and relaxed. The artist often doesn’t name his can-vases. He does this so that spectators define what exactly they see on their own. This is the point of allegorical symbolism. Virsta was born on Oct. 15, 1923 in Vyzhnytsia, Bukovyna. Most of his life Virsta has lived and worked in Paris. Mainly he creates paintings in oil, but he’s also interested in sculpture.

The artist takes part in numerous exhibitions (solo and collec-tive) in Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan. He is one of the founders of a famous painting school in France. Virsta’s works are exhibited in mu-seums, collections, galleries and univer-sities all over the world. D e s p i t e c o l d weather on Oct. 3, the hall of the Chernivtsi Art Mu-seum was full of visitors interested in the creative and personal life of Virsta. They toured the exhibition and watched the premiere of a film about his life and work. “Temistokl Virsta: Stream of con-sciousness” was dedicated in honor of the artist’s 90th anniver-sary. Many photographers, poets and painters were present at this event. Continued on page 3

“Why am I interested in Virsta’s creative work?” she asked. “Because there is little information about the representa-tives of the third wave of Paris art school, and what’s more, many people know noth-ing at all about them. And Mr. Virsta is one of the representa-tives and, moreover, he’s a Ukrainian. So it was extremely interesting for me to communi-cate with him, to know what he thinks about the art, how he finds his inspiration, as he has completely devoted his life to art. “Temistokl Virsta was formed as an artist in Paris,” Diakovska said. “It’s really im-

possible to imagine how hard it was to reach the target there. But Mr. Virsta suc-ceeded in Paris and became one of the most famous painters in the world. More-over, he helped young Ukrainian sculptors and artists, giving them his own studio for work.” Unfortunately, the artist couldn’t visit Chernivtsi for his exhibition because of health problems. But his wife, muse and best friend, Orysa Virsta, did attend. She was deeply moved by the event and all the warm words about her husband. Temistokl Virsta received two awards: a diploma of honor from Vyzhnytsia and the Glory Medal of Chernivtsi. More events were planned in Vyzhnytsia, the artist’s home town. TV channel Glas, filmmakers from Kyiv, managed to picture the whole life of the master. They interviewed close friends, art critics and artists interested in Temistokl Virsta’s creativity. “The main task of this film is to introduce Temistokl Virsta to people, to show his perception of the world, beauty and crea-tivity,” said Valeriy Sharmov, a director of this project. “Shooting lasted for three

weeks in France and three days in Bukovyna. It was quite difficult to make a film about such a person because his life is very hard to reflect on the screen be-cause there is little information. Many people who knew him have already died, or they are at an advanced age, so memories may be inaccurate sometimes.”

CHERNIVTSI PERSPECTIVE

By Yulia Pikh Staff writer On Oct. 6, Soborna Square featured the rock festival Vidrodzhenia in celebration of city day. As usual, the concert started a little bit late. The band Vans began with their song “Airplane.” Their second song was called “Love Like Game,” a great start to the festival. There were some sound prob-lems, but the hosts tried to keep everybody happy, even saying that they hoped this festival would become the sec-ond Chervona Ruta, which is the biggest and the most pres-tigious Ukrainian festival of modern music. The band The B-Sides per-formed with such songs as “What’s Going On” and “Hey

Hello.” The next band was SuperKeks. Their songs “Sex Drive” and “Against Every-body” were enjoyed by the audience. They also performed

the cover “Let’s Smile More Often.” The next band was Rukukudza. Their frontman charmed the crowd with his charisma. Many people liked their songs “Zombie” and “Tango.” The Light performed the cover “Titanium” by David Guetta featuring Sia. The next band, Slaughtered, even

amazed Serhiiy Kuzin, one of the judges, who was nodding his head to the beat. The vocalist captured the crowd, which was jumping and screaming. The last band was MaxHaMax. In this battle of the bands competition, Slaugh-tered placed first, B-Sides sec-ond and Rukukudza third. Katherina Georgiyan-Kozachuk, 33, one of the or-ganizers of the festival thanked the Chernivtsi City Council for help in organizing the festival. Chernivtsi Perspective: I’ve read the festival Vidrodzhenya was founded in 1996. So when exactly did you join the festi-val? Georgiyan-Kozachuk: I have been working at the leisure center for half a year already and this is my first festival. CP: And why did you decide to join the festival? Georgiyan-Kozachuk: This festival has existed for 17 years already and it belongs to the rock club Fan Park where I am working now as a chief. CP: So do you like rock music at all? Georgiyan-Kozachuk: Yeah,

no doubt. CP: Do you think this festival will have some demand in the future? Georgiyan-Kozachuk: I think it will. The youth want it.

CP: So does the festival en-courage people, especially the youth, to listen to Ukrainian rock music? Georgiyan-Kozachuk: Yeah, it definitely does. CP: And what about foreign rock stars? Do you think it’s possible that they may take part in this festival in the fu-ture? Continued on page 4

Do you wanna rock? Chernivtsi Rock Festival Vidrodzhenia (The Revival)

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CHERNIVTSI PERSPECTIVE

The “Chernivtsi Perspective” The English newspaper of Chernivtsi National University

Issue 1. Vol.1 November 2013

Find us on FB www.facebook.com/groups/chernivtsiperspective

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entrepreneur — n. a person who organizes and operates a busi-ness, usually they take on great financial risk startup — n. a newly established business allegory — n. a story, poem or picture that has a hidden mean-ing, usually political or moral symbolism — n. the use of symbols (images) to represent

ideas or qualities prestigious — adj. inspiring respect and admiration charisma — n. attractiveness or charm that inspires devo-tion in others invoke — v. to call on, summon maize — n. British term for corn alter ego — n. a person’s alternative personality. Batman to Bruce Wayne abstract — adj. deals with ideas rather than concrete exis-tence, often theoretical

Vocabulary box — your words for current events in Chernivtsi

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Georgiyan-Kozachuk: Well, maybe. Ac-tually, this is a regional festival. This year, seven music bands from Chernivtsi have passed the competition. Last year, for instance, we had bands audition online from Kolomyia, Khmelnytskiy and Kamyanets-Podilsky. CP: What about a symbol of the festival? For example, a tree or an animal. Georgiyan-Kozachuk: Well… No, it doesn’t have any, but maybe in the future. Bogdan Voloshin, 21, is the guitarist for the rock-band SuperKeks. Chernivtsi Perspective: How many festi-vals have you performed? Voloshin: As for the festival Vidrodz-henya, it is the second time. But we also took part in many others, like Respublica, Uzvar, the Middle Ages in Khotyn, and Forpost in Kamyanets-Podilsky. A lot of festivals. CP: When did you form your band? Voloshin: It was in March 2012. CP: So how did the idea of creating your own band come to your mind? Voloshin: To cut a long story short, my

friend Oleksiy and I had already been playing together since 2008. Formerly we had another band. When that band fell apart and we decided to create a new one and call it SuperKeks. Then Pavlo [the vocalist] joined us. We’ve changed our

bassist probably four times. CP: What kind of music do you like? Voloshin: Rock music, obviously. Also we are very keen on punk-rock. Actually we play pop-punk and punk-rock. CP: How can you describe the future of your band? Voloshin: We need money. Actually, it’s a kind of a problem, you know, speaking about sponsorship. I think what is going to be tomorrow will be tomorrow. CP: But personally, would you like to be on the international stage? Voloshin: Of course! But again, money! I mean, making videos, recording songs and so on. CP: And one question about your leisure time. What do you like to do when you are not making music? Voloshin: I work [laughter]. Pavlo and Dmytro [bassist] also work. Oleksiy stud-ies. Well, what can I say… for us, leisure time means making music, yeah. And we don’t divide music into some categories, such as job and entertainment.

Managing editors: Daniel Korlotyan and Sofia Morska Editor-in-chief: Halyna Maslak Section editors News editor: Maria Teslenko Features editor: Maggie Sterlikova Photo editor: Kate Henrich Staff reporters: Kate Kovalchuk, Yulia Pikh, Krystyna Rauliuk, Iryna Kozaruk, Natalka Tsiplitska, Tanya Sa-vulyak, Olga Kostyuk Photographer: Olexandra Ageyeva Page designer: Mykola Stovpyuk, Andriy Rybalko Adviser: Becky Bosshart

Chernivtsi Perspective staff

If you want to con-tribute to our work and donate money for the next issue, please, call Daniel: (095) 385-08-60. He'll be happy to hear that :-)