Donald Weber & Arthur Bondar: Barricade - The EuroMaidan Revolt

(Paperback)

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"Goat Swamp" (Ukr.: Kozyne Boloto) is the original name of the area in central Kiev where Maidan Nezalezhnosti or Independence Square finds itself the current epicentre of global tensions. Unlike sheep, goats do what they will and command special attention in folklore for their pugnacious and fertile abandonment to freedom. So it is with the creative accoutrements of these anonymous street fighters, their homemade uniforms, molotovs, trophies, and tire barricades - the smoking language of the Revolt's siege apparatus, as photographed by Donald Weber and Arthur Bondar. The two worked independently to bring a dual perspective to the orchestrated chaos of a deadly street theatre. Weber focuses on cataloging the expressive impulses behind the protesters' stoic dissimilitude and the almost holy rapture of their public self-assertion. Bondar explores redaction and heavy censorship, using inkblots to deny and assert the truth of visual interpretations. The final barricade lies in the political language of representation itself. Ukraine's absolute polarities of past and future, its utter blackness and transcendent light, are the deeper themes of their interpretation. Barricade is a high-risk collaboration with the hundreds of brave men and women whose unquenchable thirst for change fuels hope for a new generation.

Author Bio

Donald Weber was originally trained as an architect and worked with urban theorist Rem Koolhaas' Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He has since devoted himself to the study of how power deploys an all-encompassing theatre for its subjects; what he records is its secret collaboration with both masters and victims. Weber is the author of two books. His first, Bastard Eden, Our Chernobyl (Photolucida 2011) asked a simple question: What is daily life actually like, in a post-atomic world His second book, Interrogations (Schilt Publishing 2011), about post-Soviet authority in Ukraine and Russia, has gone on to great acclaim; it was included in Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's seminal The Photobook: A History, Volume III. Weber is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lange-Taylor Prize, the Duke and Duchess of York Prize, two World Press Photo Awards, PDN's 30, as well as being named an Emerging Photo Pioneer by American Photo and shortlisted for the prestigious Scotiabank Photography Prize. His diverse photography projects have been exhibited as installations, exhibitions and screenings at festivals and galleries worldwide He is a dedicated teacher, noted for his ongoing series of lectures and workshops and is a frequent trainer with World Press Photo. Weber is a member of the acclaimed VII Photo and is represented by Circuit Gallery in Toronto. Arthur Bondar was born in the metallurgical city of Krivoy Rog, Ukraine, on July 3rd 1983. After studying in his own town he entered the National Linguistic University and moved to Kiev in 2000. He received a bachelor's degree in English philology 2000-2004. He tried almost twenty jobs before he found his way in photography. Arthur Bondar is a freelancer and shoots his own documentary projects. He studied photography at New York University and was a participant of the Eddie Adams Workshop and NOOR-Nikon Masterclass. Arthur was awarded a Magnum Emergency Fund, The Documentary Project Fund, National Geographic Grant and the Best Photographer of the Year in Ukraine. Nowadays Arthur is a part of the VII mentor programme. His works were exhibited and shown in Canada, U.S.A., England, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine.