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Abstract(s)
Soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the phenomenon of Eurorenovation emerged ready to help numerous citizens of the newly established Ukrainiain state to get rid of their gloomy past. The movement, disguised as the reorganization of the private space of one’s own home, actually functioned as a face-lift and a cover-up of all sorts of problems instead of the much-needed search for solutions. Plastic euro-windows and euro-doors, dropped ceiling and plastic paneling flooded Ukraine, mimicking European design and eventually the lifestyle while effectively ignoring massive infrastructural problems, poverty and the immense gap between a devastated country in transition and a seemingly flourishing Europe. In 2010, R.E.P. group initiated a long-term project called Eurorenovation aiming at identifying symptoms of this process and consequently apprehending Eurorenovation in its complexity in order to be able to describe similar sociocultural relations in other countries. Over the following years the artists created a series of installations, where they literally copied recognizable trends in the popular interior redesign of Soviet apartments using cheap imported materials. Strange as it may sound, but Europe – Ukraine’s role model – may have fallen into the very same trap. A tendency towards the cosmetic concealment of problem areas and patching up instead of coming up with problem-solving methodologies characterizes European governance in recent years. With that said, the Ukrainian know-how could be of practical value as well as the R.E.P. group visual research that convincingly demonstrate the dangers of the Eurorenovation approach.
Description
Keywords
Europe Eurorenovation mimicry architecture decommunisation
Citation
FILYUK, Kateryna – “Eurorenovation (euroremont): The art of concealing” in Eduarda Neves (Ed.) WALKING AROUND THE SUN. MACHINES, SPIDERS AND BUCCANEERS | NOTES ON EUROPE. THE DOGMATIC SLEEP. Porto: CEAA/ESAP-CESAP, 2021, pp.30-35.