“Art does play a big role in this war.
Art is keeping us alive.”
How artist Sergey Melnitchenko has found a way to revolutionize survival in times of war.
The Zoom call starts and we are greeted by a brightly smiling Sergey Melnitchenko. Flashed by his cheerful aura, you could almost forget why we are having this call.
One and a half hours later, we have talked about art in times of war, dancing in China, and the longing for freedom. All while making a new friend.
Where are you at the moment and how are you doing?
Sergey Melnitchenko: Right now, I am in the west of Ukraine.
The day the war started, the 23 of February, I was in Kyiv, doing a lecture at my friend’s photography school.
Around 5 pm I received a call from Mykolaiv, my hometown, that the city was being bombed.
We didn’t hear explosions in Kyiv yet, even though bombs were flying in every part of Ukraine.
Me and my students started packing our bags, and I went immediately back to my hometown Mykolaiv, which is in the south of Ukraine.
It took me 6 hours to drive, there were huge traffic jams everywhere, especially going all the way from the south to the west of the country.
Then, the city next to Mykolaiv got occupied by the Russians.
People were scared and afraid that our hometown would be next.
So, I picked up my mom and my son and we started making our way to the west as well.
Which was a much safer place at that time.
After driving for 36 hours, sleeping in the car, and multiple massive traffic jams we finally arrived in the west.
We spent two weeks in the mountains, but after listening to the devastating news and growing fear, I decided to move my mom and son outside of Ukraine.
I have an uncle living in Bratislava, so I managed to bring them to the border of Slovakia.
Now I rented a flat in Ivano-Frankivsk, also in the west of the country, which was the city my first personal exhibition of this year was supposed to be.
It’s kind of safe here. I have friends and family nearby and we are trying to volunteer, to raise and send money to people in need.
Of course, we can hear the air-raid alarms the whole day, but we are lucky to be in one of the safer parts of Ukraine.
But in general, it’s hell. No one can believe that this has been going on for over a month now.
I was very impressed by the photo of the naked men standing next to the Ukrainian flag.
Your art is not necessarily erotic art, but nakedness is a reoccurring subject. What’s that all about?
Sergey Melnitchenko: I specialize in conceptual art.
In 2012 I did a feature on Pornceptual.com, a series called “Schwarzenegger is my idol”.
I experimented with naked people and loved the naturality of it.
I fell in love with the freedom and simplicity of nakedness.
So, whenever I use naked people in my photography, I try to show the realness of my vision.
Not through poses or anything similar, but through the freedom of the naked body.
That’s what I also tried to show in my series “Young and Free?”
As everyone knows, in 2020 COVID-19 ripped a hole into our lives and freedom.
We started to think: Am I really young and free?
I implemented different types of symbolism to highlight the feeling of restriction and uncertainty, but to also show the longing for freedom.
You guys should know all about freedom, you are from Berlin!
Have you ever been to Berlin before?
Sergey Melnitchenko: Yes, for sure.
The first time I went it was to pick up the Leica Oskar Barnack Award in 2017.
It was the first time seeing another country in Europe, besides Ukraine.
After that, I went a couple of times, but just for work reasons.
But what I could feel just by being there was the omnipresent feeling of liberty.
It’s beautiful.
Berlin has this huge party scene and so many different cultures in one spot.
I have so many friends there, also photographers and I also had a couple of exhibitions there as well.
When I went the first time though, I felt the huge cultural difference.
Before my trip to Berlin, I had spent 2 ½ years in China. And the Ukrainian and the Chinese culture is so different from the German one!
I was really surprised and enjoyed the switch-up as Ukrainian culture is a very post-Soviet and a pretty conservative one.
What was the life of Sergey Melnitchenko like before the war started and how did it change due to war?
Sergey Melnitchenko: It was super cool.
No, but really, I always had the privilege to work on myself and never for somebody else.
Whether it was photography or dancing.
Dancing? What type of dancing do you do?
Sergey Melnitchenko: I am actually a professional Latin Dancer.
I have been dancing since I was five and I have a master’s in sports for professional dancing.
That’s why I went to China in the first place.
Together with my friends, my dancing group, I did performances in China.
At the same time, I had my camera with me and took photos all the time.
I thank God I could do this, not many people in our post-Soviet countries are able to do what they love and make money with it.
My hobbies turned into my job and my job made it possible for me to travel the world, have exhibitions and festivals in different countries and connect with many people.
What value does art have in times of war?
Sergey Melnitchenko: As you know I am a conceptual artist, not a documentary one.
So, I am unable to continue with my art right now.
But art is beautiful.
Art is peace.
Art is freedom.
It keeps us civilized in times of violence.
And it actually keeps us alive. Physically.
Ukrainian artists and the art community have been contributing a lot.
A few weeks before the war started, I made my way into the NFT community. I had uploaded a series from China, about 50 pieces, not expecting anything.
And then, remember, I went on this 36-hour drive to flee from the bombs.
I didn’t check my phone during this odyssey, but after arriving, I updated my Twitter and was bombarded with messages by the community.
A huge support campaign had started, and I got message after message saying that my pieces sold online.
All 50 pieces of my art, all of them were sold within two days!
I gained a lot of new followers and saw that the whole art community, collectors, artists, and journalists were buying art from Ukrainian artists to support us.
They understood that people need to flee from their homes and get to a safer place.
And the support keeps coming today.
I decided to upload a special project from 2014, a series called “Military Commissariat”.
Within 1 hour all 14 pieces were sold, and I collected a total of 8,000$.
I donated everything to the army of Ukraine and to local people in need.
Friends stepped in and sent me an additional 6,000$ to donate.
Ukraine is receiving a lot of money from Europe and other countries, but we need money right here for clothes, medicine, and food.
Other people followed, and artists started selling their prints, canvas, and works.
So yes, art does play a big role in this war.
Art is keeping us alive.
Are you in touch with any Russian artists right now?
Sergey Melnitchenko: Many of my online students actually are from Russia.
When the war started, I was happy that all my students stayed clear-minded and supported us instead of their regimen.
They even sold some of their pieces and donated the money to our army.
Besides that, one artist really caught my eye. Nikita Teryoshin, a Russian artist living in Berlin, he made an NFT created out of protest.
He burned his Russian passport and sold it as NFT to raise money for us.
He was even mentioned in a German newspaper.
As Sergey Melnitchenko, an artist yourself, you are the man behind the camera, but you also appear quite often in front of it.
Is it important for an artist to show themselves, or is their art enough?
Sergey: I think that’s a personal preference for every artist.
In my case, I am running a photography school, and behind me is a generation of young Ukrainian artists that are growing into professionals.
It’s important to me to show myself, to give interviews as I love talking about my art.
It depends on the person; I think it totally valid if an artist just speaks through their art and not through his appearance.
In 2018 you founded your own photography school – and that before turning 30.
What was the thriving force behind that?
Sergey: I have been photographing since 2009. In 2016 I had been in photography for 7 years. Over time I had done several exhibitions, festivals, and works.
Then I went to China, to do my main job, dancing and performing.
But whenever I had time to spare, I took photos, so in 2017 I was awarded the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, and to receive it I traveled to Berlin.
The award took me up a notch in the photography world.
I was the first Ukrainian to ever win that prize.
After coming home to Mykolaiv, which is one of the smaller towns in Ukraine, I realized that there is no photography community present.
There were a few photographers doing old-school shots, but none was having a unique approach.
So, I wanted to gather people who were interested in visual language.
I started a course, which turned into two, then three lectures, and so on.
And now the school is 4 years old, we have over 200 students and over time many have been getting national and international attention.
I am honored and happy, that some have a really beautiful approach to photography and are following in my footsteps.
We have grown into a family that helps each other.
Especially now, in times of war, it’s great to see how connected we really are.
How can we help you and Ukraine?
Sergey: Great would be to share what’s going on. Because what’s going on is just fucking insane.
Then support our artists, and if you can, donate to our people.
The only positive thing that this whole disaster brought with it is that now Ukraine is in the spotlight.
I have tons of interview requests in my email inbox, people are trying to buy my art and to help.
I love that connections are being established.
Everyone stands with Ukraine.
Even though it’s hard to be happy right now, it makes me feel appreciated and seen.
I even had my first solo exhibition in Japan.
I have been dreaming about this and now due to a Japanese gallery trying to help me, it has become reality.
Additionally, all sales made there are going to Ukrainian funds as well.
Every bad situation has a positive light shining through.
And being unhappy doesn’t take us any further.
Generally, I am a very happy person and I try to see the good in everything.
We are standing our ground and we will be fine.
I have realized, and I am sure many others as well, that life is the most precious thing in the world.
A lot of things do not matter anymore if your family and friends are not doing well.
I value life differently now.
I told everyone, as soon as the war is over, I will travel through Europe and to Japan.
So, if you want to do something, go do it now!
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FINDING SERGEY MELNITCHENKO
www.melnitchenko.com
IG: @sergey_melnitchenko
TW: @melnitchenkosv
FOUNDATION: @melnitchenko13
