Carnivalia at this year’s Coronation of the Word

The second Carnivalia masquerade ball was held in the columned hall of Kyiv City Hall. It was organized by the Art Treasury International Charitable Foundation, whose president is Tetiana Logush. Many interesting events organized by the Logush couple have taken place in recent years. Some have become annual traditions, like the national novel, drama, and film script competition, Coronation of the Word.

Supporting Ukrainian books remains the Logush couple’s priority. Proof of this is the opening of the Publishers’ Bookstore at the Cupid Bar Club in Kyiv, where all genres of literature, ranging from Kant, Taras Shevchenko, and Lesia Ukrainka to Larysa Denysenko, Liubko Deresh and Serhii Zhadan are represented. The Art Treasury also purchases books for raion centers and village libraries. In 2007 the foundation replenished the collections of 90 libraries in Kyiv. “Now we want to pave the way to bookstores through balls,” said Yuri Logush, the head of the organizing committee. “But this time, the money we raise by selling celebrity belongings will be used to purchase fairytales, textbooks, and workbooks for orphanages. We also want to show that we have our own rich ball traditions. The Ukrainian aristocracy used to hold balls that brought guests from everywhere. We are emphasizing Ukraine’s cultural unity with Europe and the rest of the world.”

The first part of the Carnivalia was called “Ukrainian Epiphany.” This was followed by the Redoubt Viennese Ball, conducted by the professional dancers Olena Shoptenko and Vladyslav Yama, who rocketed to fame after appearing on the TV show Dancing with the Stars. The last event was the Indian Holi Feast. During the ball the guests were entertained by Nina Matviienko, Oleksandr Vasylenko, the Merited Veriovka National Academic Folk Choir, the Volodar folk band, the A6 dance group, the Kyiv Classic Orchestra conducted by Herman Makarenko, the Nakshatra Indian Dance Theater, and the Indian movie star Ravi Chauhan.

A total of 36,000 hryvnias was raised at the auction featuring a Swarovski necklace donated by Vlada Lytovchenko, a hat by Veronica Jenvie , an Aelita 11 necklace by Lilia Pustovit, a microphone donated by Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, a mask called The Game, designed by Olena Holets, an elephant sculpture donated by Oleh Pinchuk, and a decorative pillow by Diana Dorozhkina. This is just a preliminary figure because the buyers have to submit their payments in the next three days. “This kind of auction is a good cause,” said writer Andrii Kokotiukha. “My way was simple. I donated 15 books from my personal library. I do this regularly through the Art Treasury or I bring them myself, because I know that there is virtually nothing past the Kyiv Ring Road.”

“I came here with a lot of prejudice. I thought I would end up at a ball where Soviet people are pretending to be grand aristocrats and wild bourgeois,” artistic director Serhii Arkhypchuk told The Day. “Fortunately, it was not like that. We are changing for the better. All these balls are held by the Logushes, who work for the benefit of Ukrainian culture. They have created great conditions for socializing. Besides the politicians, business people, and diplomats who regularly attend Carnivalia, you can see a lot of publishers, writers, and literary specialists, who are not usually seen attending such events.”

“It has been a long time since I went to a party. My life is monotonous: conferences, disputes, books, so I was reluctant to come here. My kids just pushed me out of the house. But, you know, I liked it. The atmosphere at Carnivalia is quite casual and easy-going. There are no restrictive rituals,” said MP Mykola Kulchytsky, the director of the Mazepa-Fest rock festival. “I shared a table with some nice people. It was a pleasure to have some intellectual conversations with them. By the way, most of the guests at the ball spoke Ukrainian. It is also important that the concert included our folk and modern culture. It was a sort of fusion of jazz and choir singing. I dream about fusing genres at the Mazepa-Fest too. So, Tetiana and Yuri Logush are doing a great job. In fact, this ball was created by a new elite that accepts — and appreciates, I hope — everything that is Ukrainian.”

Events in support of books and reading have their roots in the best libraries and the most famous art galleries of Ukraine and Europe, which are “musts” if you want to be a highly-cultivated individual. A ball is just one dimension of this level of cultivation, which must be nourished by the quality and depth of the books we read, the films we watch, the paintings we buy, and the people we support. It is clear that for many people Carnivalia may spark an internal evaluation of their relationship with Ukrainian culture and the relationship of the culture to the demands of time.