Iphigenia in Tauris. Lesya Ukrainka in Crimea
This exposition presents objects and documents collected during the curatorial research for the exhibition and outlines the historical context in which our contemporaries find themselves. What narratives, myths, figures, and experiences of women's resistance existed around Crimea before its temporary occupation? What voices resonate among contemporary activists, artists, and citizens? What roots and sustains the strength of women's resistance in Crimea?
To some extent, these historical contexts explain the narrative field in which all other works exist (and from which they arise). The study of historical context, particularly figures and ideas resonating with the main theme of the exhibition, revealed the importance of Lesya Ukrainka, one of the most significant figures of female subjectivity in modern Ukrainian history (not coincidentally, the activist group during the occupation, "Zla Mavka," calls themselves by the name of the character from Lesya Ukrainka's most famous play, "The Forest Song").
Lesya Ukrainka's stay in Crimea was not only a place of recovery after the progression of her illness but also had an impact on her creativity. Here, she emerges as a mature playwright, integrating Ukrainian literature into the European context and exploring and incorporating Crimean Tatar culture into her world. Notably, one of the first plots to emerge during this time is Iphigenia in Tauris – the story from the classical ancient tragedy written by Euripides, the main action of which takes place precisely in Crimea.
"Iphigenia in Tauris" by Euripides (written around 414 BCE) tells the story of the times of the Trojan War. The eldest daughter of King Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra is to be sacrificed to the goddess Artemis for the sake of victory over Troy. The king leads his daughter to believe she will marry Achilles, but on the way, she learns of the true intention of the sacrifice and accepts her death for the sake of her country's victory. In the final moment, Artemis saves the girl and, in her place, offers a deer as a sacrifice. On a cloud, the goddess transports Iphigenia to the distant land of Tauris, where she becomes the chief priestess in Artemis` temple. No mortal knows that the girl has survived. In the temple, Iphigenia's task is to sacrifice unwelcome strangers, as it is the custom among the local residents. The girl suffers in exile from her family and homeland. Many years later, her younger brother Orest (whom she has not seen since childhood) arrives in Tauris with a friend, intending to steal the statue of Artemis and bring it home as atonement for his sins. Iphigenia recognizes her brother and helps him steal the statue. Together, they flee and return to their native Hellas. The anger of the Taurians and the pursuit of the heroes are stopped by the goddess Athena herself, who assures that everything is happening according to the divine plan.
Euripides' work essentially tells that Tauris was the location where the events of the major European war, the Trojan War, took place. All European war narratives refer to this, as the mythological metawar against which all subsequent earthly wars are compared. The culture and art of European civilization have interpreted this plot and its participants for millennia up to our present day. A foundational event for the entire Western European history also occurred on the territory of Crimea.
Ukrainian culture interprets the Trojan War relatively late, and Lesya Ukrainka is one of the first to explore these narratives. Probably, her stay at a villa named Iphigenia stimulated her to reflect on the proximity of ancient events and the actualization of this narrative. Ultimately, like Iphigenia, Lesya Ukrainka suffered from nostalgia for home and family in distant lands, where she was cast not by a goddess on a cloud but by illness. The writer creates a dramatic scene intended as a complete poem but was left unfinished. Nevertheless, even a small fragment holds extraordinary value. Lesya Ukrainka would further develop her "ancient series" in her other works.
Unfortunately, Lesya Ukrainka's interest did not motivate translators to create a Ukrainian version of Euripides' text. Only a century later, another important woman in Ukrainian culture, Solomiya Pavlychko, who sought to connect Ukraine with European civilization, published the first translation of classical Greek drama into Ukrainian. This translation, created by Andriy Sodomora, was released under her own publishing house "Osnovy." Paradoxically, this happened in 1993, amidst the height of the cold Russo-Ukrainian war for Crimea.
In 1994, an exhibition of contemporary art titled "Alchemical Capitulation" took place in Sevastopol, curated by Marta Kuzma, the first head of the Soros Center for Contemporary Art in Kyiv. The exhibition occurred on the warship "Slavutych," which soon became part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. However, Kuzma's artistic intervention during the peak of the Cold War was a significant gesture of appropriating the space of the ship into the Ukrainian cultural context.
During her stay in Crimea, Lesya Ukrainka devotes special attention to the study of Crimean Tatar culture. She visits Bakhchysarai, explores villages, and studies the traditional culture of Crimean Tatars. Lesya makes sketches of Crimean Tatar ornaments, which remind her of Ukrainian ones, and intends to publish them, for which she sends them to M. Dragomanov. Unfortunately, the sketches were most likely lost during World War II, and the publication was not realized.
During an expedition into the mountains, Lesya Ukrainka notices a small flower on the highlands amidst cold stones and moss. The flower, not particularly attractive in appearance, but impresses the poet with its vitality. It grows among stones and moss, practically without water, enduring extreme temperatures and being buffeted by sharp winds. This image captivates Lesya Ukrainka with its delicate strength, the power to resist circumstances, and the will to live. She associates this flower with her own life and invents the name "lomykamin`" for it – one that breaks the stone. This Crimean endemic plant has entered scientific circulation with the poetic name Saxifraga irrigua – Lomykamin’ moistened or irrigated.
She broke the stone, that stone which conquered all,
That crushed even mighty oaks,
And defiant thorns.
Scientists call that flower Saxifraga,
For us, poets, it befits to name it Lomykamin,
And to honor it more than the luxurious laurel.
The exposition is complemented by a video of the same name, where we hear the history of Lesya Ukrainka's museum in Crimea from its former director, Oleksandra Visych. We also listen to excerpts from the dramatic scene "Iphigenia in Tauris" performed by the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, Tamila Tasheva. This scene was written by Lesya Ukrainka in Yalta at the villa "Iphigenia." Additionally, we hear the voice of the poetess herself, miraculously preserved to our days. In this video, the voices of women from the past and present resonate – Hellenes, Ukrainians, and Crimean Tatars, each experiencing their own ordeals of wartime.