by Artur Sumarokov (Ukraine)
translation: Marin Gherman
“The proclamation of independence in 1991 may be considered the starting point of the decommunization of Ukraine. After this essential moment, when it cut itself loose from the decomposing corpse of the USSR, Ukraine passed through brutal historical changes that influenced its new identity. The real process of emergence from communism began after the Revolution of Dignity, as a consequence of the adoption of relevant laws by the Supreme Rada in April 2015. Decommunization was just a part of the political and social process of decolonization – a total and inevitable rupture of Ukrainian society both from its Soviet past and from the ‘Russian world’.
The present hot phase of the Russian–Ukrainian war, which began at 4 am on 24 February, 2022, marks a new stage in decolonization, especially at the personal level.
I was born in Moscow, and lived there for five years until my father was murdered by paid assassins. Neither the killers nor those who ordered the murder have ever been found. A part of my family disappeared in the Gulag. No one has been punished for that. I do not even know the names of my relatives. But I want to know the names of the perpetrators. For me, the process of inner decolonization is as important as the hope that Ukraine will win the war and that Kherson, the town from which I fled after losing my home and all that meant my life, will be liberated.
My performance is an uncomfortable public reflection on the notions of private / public, personal / political.
Artur Sumarokov is an actor, playwright, and art critic, born in 1990 in Kherson, Ukraine. He has published articles in Flashforward Magazine and Moviegram. He has taken part in the Week of Actual Play festivals of contemporary Ukrainian drama (2018, 2019, 2020), and has been a member of the artistic teams of productions at the Totem Center Theatre Lab in Kherson.