The relevant document published in the Facebook community "Kharkiv toponymic group". It became a reaction to the fact that the city authorities repeatedly blocked attempts to remove the name of the imperial poet and the mention of the aggressor state from the name of the Kharkiv Academic Russian Drama Theater named after OS Pushkin.
"It is extremely important for the theater to get rid of the markers of the murderous country. Because, in fact, this positionally overcomes the historical tragedy of the creation of this theater in 1933 as if to "replace" the Kurbasiv Berezol destroyed by the Soviet totalitarian regime. The theater team also appealed to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration and the head of the Kharkiv Regional Council with a proposal to remove the words "Russian" and "the name of O. S. Pushkin" from the name of the institution," the authors of the letter explain.
In addition, they emphasize that in the conditions of the war started by Russia against Ukraine, the position of most of the deputies of the regional council, who on September 20, during the plenary meeting of the XII session of the VIII convocation, did not support the removal of the name of the imperial poet O from the name of the Ukrainian theater is unclear. S. Pushkin and the mention of Russia. Then 44 deputies - representatives of all regional council factions - voted for the relevant draft decision. But at least 61 votes were needed for approval.
Then the apparatus of the regional council prepared a new project of the decision on renaming the theater, and it was included in the agenda of the next session. But on December 2, the plenary session did not take place due to the lack of a quorum: the Kernes Bloc – Successful Kharkiv faction did not join the online session in almost its entirety, as well as the majority of non-factions from the former OPZZ. On December 3, the plenary meeting of the XII session of the Kharkiv Regional Council of the VIII convocation was held, but the issue of the Pushkin Theater was no longer on the agenda.
"He was formally expelled on the basis of a letter from the non-governmental organization Krugozir. Motivation". The authors of the letter refer to the Law of Ukraine "On assigning to legal entities and objects the right of ownership of the names (pseudonyms) of natural persons, jubilee and holiday dates, names and dates of historical events" and insist on holding a public discussion. Although the Law provides for this procedure, only if it is about assigning the property right to the name of a natural person, and not about removing the name from the name. The proposal to include the issue of renaming the theater on the agenda was supported by only 27 deputies of the regional council," the authors of the open letter continue.
The appeal has already been signed:
- Serhii Zhadan, writer, public figure;
- Olga Turutya-Prasolova, director of the Kharkiv Academic Russian Drama Theater named after O.S. Pushkin;
- Yana Partola, theater expert, dean of the theater faculty of KhNUM University named after I.P. Kotlyarevsky, Candidate of Art History;
- Ihor Ladenko, creative director of "Theatre 19", teacher of the department of mastery of acting and directing of KhNUM University named after I.P. Kotlyarevsky;
- Stepan Pasichnyk, Honored Artist of Ukraine, chief director of the Kharkiv Academic Drama Theater named after T.G. Shevchenko;
- Vakhtang Kebuladze, philosopher, translator, publicist;
- Halyna Kuts, doctor of political sciences, professor, deputy of the Kharkiv Regional Council;
- Maria Takhtaulova, historian, head of the North-Eastern Department of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance;
- Tetyana Pylypchuk, director of the Kharkiv Literary Museum;
- Ivanna Skyba-Yakubova, managing partner of Bagels & Letters PR agency, volunteer of the BF «Kharkiv is with you»;
- Anton Bondarev, researcher of Kharkiv history;
- Vsevolod Kozhemyako, commander of the volunteer battalion «Charter»;
- Olena Lybo, senior lecturer of the Department of Theater Studies of the KhNU University named after I.P. Kotlyarevsky, UKF expert;
- Oleksandr Savchuk, publisher, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, employee of V.N. Carazine;
- Lyuba Morozova, musicologist, music critic, member of the Shevchenko Committee;
- Maryna Kutsenko, research associate of the Kharkiv Literary Museum;
- Volodymyr Yermolenko, philosopher, essayist, translator;
- Tetyana Ogarkova, literary critic, doctor of philosophy;
- Lidia Kalashnikova, head of the department of the Kharkiv Literary Museum, etc.
"We demand to pay attention to the situation. After all, this is not a separate local issue - it is a national security issue. The situation has already gone beyond the competence of local self-government and needs attention at the central level. We consider it unacceptable to keep any references to the aggressor country and its cultural figures in the name," advocates of renaming the cultural institution suggest.
You can sign the letter at the link here.
Full text an open letter regarding renaming the theater.
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The Kharkiv Regional Council refused to rename the theater named after Pushkin