Modernism in Kiev : Kyiv/Kyïv/Kiev/Kijów/Ḳieṿ : jubilant experimentation

The first book-length examination of this subject, __Modernism in Kyiv__ is a breakthrough accomplishment that will become a standard volume in the field. Contents 5 Acknowledgments 9 Permissions 11 List of Illustrations 13 A Note on Transliteration 23 Introduction: Reconnecting Modernisms 25 Part One. Kyiv: ‘Special and bewildering’ 40 1. Modernism in Kyiv: Jubilant Experimentation 40 2. ‘A Theatrical Mecca’: The Stages of Kyiv in 1907 50 3. ‘Special and Bewildering’: A Portrait of Late-Imperial and Early Soviet Kyiv 76 4. Three Novels, Three Cities 122 5. Film in Kyiv, 1910–1916 163 Part Two. Kyiv the Epicentre 194 6. In the Epicentre of Abstraction: Kyiv during the Time of Kurbas 194 7. The Yiddish Kultur-Lige 221 8. Politics and the Ukrainian Avant-garde 243 9. Kyiv’s Multicultural Theatrical Life, 1917–1926 267 Part Three. ‘Fire and Motion’ 302 10. Towards a New Vision of Theatre: Les Kurbas’s Work at the Young Theatre in Kyiv 302 11. The Choreographic Avant-garde in Kyiv, 1916–1921: Bronislava Nijinska and Her École de Mouvement 335 12. Kyiv, the 1920s, and Modernism in Music 346 13. Music in the Theatre of Les Kurbas 367 Part Four. The Invisible Made Visible 386 14. Les Kurbas’s Early Work at the Berezil: From Bodies in Motion to Performing the Invisible 386 15. Abstraction and Ukrainian Futurist Literature 411 16. The Graphic Arts: From Page Design to Theatre 432 17. Dissecting Time/Space: The Scottish Play and the New Technology of Film 467 18. On the World Stage: The Berezil in Paris and New York 503 Part Five. Elegies: Reflections on the Future Past 559 19. Vsevolod Meyerhold and Les Kurbas 559 20. Les Kurbas and the Spiritual Foundations of the Ukrainian Avant-garde 578 Appendices 609 Contributors 629 Index of Names and Titles 633

The study of modernism has been largely focused on Western cultural centres such as Paris, Vienna, London, and New York. Extravagantly illustrated with over 300 photos and reproductions, Modernism in Kyiv demonstrates that the Ukrainian capital was a major centre of performing and visual arts as well as literary and cultural activity. While arguing that Kyiv's modernist impulse is most prominently displayed in the experimental work of Les Kurbas, one of the masters of the early Soviet stage, the contributors also examine the history of the city and the artistic production of diverse groups including Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, and Poles.

Until now a silent presence in Western accounts of the cultural topography of modernism, multicultural Kyiv is here restored to its historical, intellectual, and artistic complexity. Excerpts taken from the works of artists, writers, and critics as well as the numerous illustrations help give life to the exciting creativity of this period. The first book-length examination of this subject, Modernism in Kyiv is a breakthrough accomplishment that will become a standard volume in the field.

Until now a silent presence in Western accounts of the cultural topography of modernism, multicultural Kyiv is here revealed in its historical, intellectual, and artistic complexity. Excerpts taken from the works of artists, writers, and critics as well as the numerous illustrations help give life to the exciting creativity of this period. The first book-length examination of this subject, Modernism in Kyiv is a breakthrough accomplishment that will become a standard volume in the field. --Book Jacket M̀odernism in Kyiv restores the multicultural city of Kyiv to its rightful position as a major player in the dialogue and cross-pollination of ideas occurring between important modernist figures in centres such as Paris, New York, London, and Vienna. Engaging and highly readable, this collection is impressive in its scope, depth, and breadth.'