Les Kurbas
Discover the Ukrainian theater director and the pioneer of Ukrainian expressionism whose work helped to keep Ukrainian culture alive during a time of political repression
Les Kurbas by Les Kurbas (1910 photo). Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. ©2001 All Rights Reserved. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
The theater director and actor Les Kurbas was one of the most prominent figures of the so-called Executed Renaissance (cultural period in Ukraine in the first third of the XX century).
Kurbas was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1887. He studied law at the University of Kyiv, but soon became interested in theater. Amid World War I, Kurbas formed the Ternopil theatrical evenings and the Molodyy Theater ("Young Theater") in Kyiv, which was the first ensemble to experiment with both new and ancient acting techniques.
Les Kurbas by Les Kurbas and Molodyi Teatr actors. Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. ©2001 All Rights Reserved. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Kurbas paid much attention to communication with the audience. He believed that the creator must go a few steps further, not to lose the attention of the audience.
It was only in 1922 that conditions in the now Soviet-ruled Ukraine were stable enough to allow Kurbas to found the Berezil theater ("spring" or "new beginning"). Its original home was in Kyiv, but in 1926 the troupe moved to Kharkiv. Also known as Artistic Organization Berezil, the company included several studios, a journal, a museum, and a theater school.
Les Kurbas by Les Kurbas (1919 photo). Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. ©2001 All Rights Reserved. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Kurbas gave up on the elements of farce and primitive theater in favor of avant-garde theater, possibilities for synthetic arts, and audience engagement.
Because of his vocal criticism of the Soviet regime, in 1933, he was arrested and sent to a labor camp. It is now known that he was shot on November 3, 1937, with 289 other members of the Ukrainian intelligentsia at the killing field and burial ground of Sandarmokh in Siberia.
Reconstruction of scenes from the play Maclain Gras by Mykola Kulish. Berezil, 1933, dir. Kurbas
Text: based on text by Borys Filonenko
Original text from the album of the Prominent Ukrainians project, published jointly by Pictoric Illustrators Club, Pavlo Gudimov Ya Gallery Art Center, Artbook Publishing House and Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Photo:
©2001 All Rights Reserved. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
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