Method Fund calls for financial and public support of court hearings concerning the legal definition of censorship in Ukraine

We invite everyone to support the campaign by:

• donating any amount comfortable for you;
• providing media support.

The gathered sum will cover expenses on legal support provided by Trust Me Law Firm (Kyiv, Ukraine).

Payment details:

Method FundIBAN:  UA283510050000026003567248000 

BENEFICIARY BANK: JSC “UKRSIBBANK”Andriivska. str. 2/12, Kyiv, Ukraine

SWIFT: KHABUA2K

PURPOSE: Charitable contribution according to the program “About establishing the fact of censorship” 

Detailed information about the case:

In 2013, on a day before the exhibition “Grand and Great” in Mystetsky Arsenal museum complex in Kyiv, Ukraine, was opened, a mural by Volodymyr Kuznetsov called “Koliivschyna: the Judgment Day,” created specially for this exhibition, was painted over with black paint on the order of the director of the museum complex Nataliya Zabolotna. The exhibition commemorated the 1025-th anniversary of Rus’ baptism and was accompanied by official events.

In 2015, Volodymyr Kuznetsov initiated a long series of court hearings to protect his right for freedom of expression. His last lawsuit against Mystetsky Arsenal and Nataliya Zabolotna has been concerned with establishing the facts of censorship and copyright infringement, demanding moral compensation for these violations. In February 2018, the court ordered to close the lawsuit concerning the fact of censorship.

The ban and destruction of Kuznetsov’s “Koliivschyna” is an act of censorship. This case became the foundation for numerous discussions in Ukraine’s cultural field. The right to freedom of thought and speech, to free expression of one’s opinions and beliefs, is guaranteed by Constitution of Ukraine; however, the attempt to solve the conflict in the legal field showed that the current law of Ukraine has no clear notion of censorship and no definite punishment for acts of censorship.

A lack of legal definition of censorship and refusal to acknowledge that this case was a case of censorship presents us with a risk of emergence of a prohibitive mechanism, allowing any official or a director of any cultural institution to ban or even destroy any “ambiguous” piece of art that he or she cannot understand.

_

ESTABLISHING THE FACT OF CENSORSHIP is a crowdfunding campaign initiated by Method Fund as a program of solidarity action to support the court hearings on establishing the fact of censorship, to determine the notion of censorship, and to organize an educational program enhancing creative workers’ knowledge of the law.

The Method Fund is an independent, nonprofit organization aimed at supporting and developing contemporary art and culture in Ukraine by initiating scientific, educational and exhibition projects.

If you have any questions, please contact the campaign’s coordinator Olga Kubli, methodfund@gmail.com