MADE IN SLAVUTYCH
The town of Slavutych was built between 1986 and 1988 for the residents of Prypyat which was evacuated in 1986 after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster. The town has several unique features, it is the youngest town in Ukraine, the average age of its residents is very young (thanks to the great number of children), and the living standards in Stavutych are presumably much higher than national average. Yet, in this town I had a feeling that I went back 30 years to the past. The town was finished in 1988 and, according to my data, since then it never changed. The downtown is a big main square with a town council and several stores nearby. Most of the residents live in panel buildings nearby. I was interested more in people living there, rather than architecture, even though the language barrier stood in the way. Most of the Slavutychans, during my research, were interested much more in the subject of war with Russia, rather than the nuclear power plant disaster thirty years ago. That’s understandable. The fact that I’m coming from the country with over 40 years of communist regime rule is helping me. I’m familiar with the kind of problems that arise when a ‘thing’ that belonged to everyone suddenly finds just one owner. The people often feel that their world ends outside the door of their house, since everything else belongs to somebody else. Before that, the people were building something together and had much stronger connection to the place they lived in. Today the people travel more, not only because of the work, but also to buy something or for entertainment. The place they sleep in at night becomes merely a stop on their way.
With my project I wanted to wake people up from such lethargy. I would like to give them a feeling that it is possible to create something together, that it wouldn’t be pointless and will have certain results. Today the people, unfortunately, are much more apathetic than they used to be. It is much more difficult to bring up their interest to a common goal. Still, I believe it is possible, not only in Slavutych or my native Líšeň, but everywhere in the world. You only have to pick a proper solution for certain place.
In Slavutych I’ve decided to do something that may seem weird, I want Slavutych to make it to the Guinness World Records. The way to do it is up to the residents to decide. It has to be something common, to make them feel it’s their common record. The real record, certified by the Guinness World Record. The record which will tell about Slavutych to the readers and fans of the Guinness Book of Records from all around the world. Slavutych may become a town which will inspire other towns and cities in the world. The town which will tell it is still worth doing something together.
Kateřina Šedá
The public presentations will take place on May 6 at 16:00 at the Palace of Children and Teen Arts and May 7 at 12:00 at the Film and Concert Center.