Odesa's Art Scene: Dmytro Velychko on Student Challenges and Future Aspirations

Odesa has a great demand to be considered a cultural city, but this is a difficult indicator to measure. We talked to Dmytro Velychko, an artist and dean of the Faculty of Art and Graphic Arts at the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushynsky, about contemporary students, artist diplomas, and the isolation of Odesa artists and institutions. Watch the full version and read a shortened version of the interview on Intent about the difference in colors, images of artists, art for oneself, and stereotypes about artists.

You were born in Sumy region, why did you decide to move and study in the South?

No one asked me, let's just say. Because my mom is from Odesa region, and my dad is from Sumy region. And as my mother used to say to my father: "I moved in with you, I lived with you all my life, and now in my old age you will come with me and we will live there (in Odesa region - ed.) because now I want to go home." My mom really wanted to come back.

I lived in a village in the Odesa region for two years, went to school. This is also my entire experience, because there I lived in the city, I lived in the village, and now I'm in Odesa, and I see all these layers-they are all completely different. I went to enter the university in Odesa, and it's an interesting story, because I applied to be a choreographer. I went to the tram stop, came back, picked up my documents, and applied to the art department. And I've been here for 19 years in the same place.

What is this difference in people for you?

In Sumy region, people speak Ukrainian. There's a certain world of surzhyk there that differs from the surzhyk in Odesa region. We lived literally 10-12 kilometers from the Kursk region. It was a different surzhyk, but the population was mostly Ukrainian-speaking. Then I lived in the village for two more years, picked up so much surzhyk that I spent another ten years trying to change it all.

Of course, I use all these words, but when you talk on the phone with your friends from Sumy region, they really don't understand what it means. Here, it was constant and daily. For a year in the village, I thought that all dogs were called Tsiba. Because everyone said "Tsiba," meaning from here. They laughed at me for a very long time, because they don't speak like that there.

Indeed, the language is different if we are talking about even home traditions. The climate is very different, and for me it is more difficult than in Sumy region.

Odesa was a new way out of my comfort zone, because I couldn't get used to it for 2-3 years. It was uncomfortable and awkward, I wanted to go anywhere but here. And then I catch myself thinking that when you get on a train and go somewhere, you already have a pang somewhere that you are leaving home.

I used to go to Sumy region every year or two, definitely all these years. Now, unfortunately, you can't go there, because there is virtually nothing left of our place.

Who are today's art students, and can we put them into a certain image?

I agree that this is the generation of tiktokers and social media. Even in the last 20 years, if we analyze 2006-2008 and now, they are completely different people. They are all different, they are all cool, eager, interested, active. It is very difficult for them to study.

I understand, because we lived so many years in kovid, then the war and distance learning. Some people graduated from school remotely. I think that they communicate with each other unrealistically little. Even when they are in class. I used to find a common language with students in one or two classes, but today it takes me about six months to have normal eye contact and dialogue with them.

Photo: Intent/Natalia Dovbysh

If we recall that we had such friendly courses, I think that everyone who is my age or a little older says that we had a class or a course, and we have been communicating and being friends for 20 years. They don't have that.

Very, very rarely does a year come along when they stick together like this, stand for each other. But now, on the other hand, students are very conscious, they clearly show their position, they know how to defend it, or if they don't know how, they try.

It's great, because we couldn't afford to do that. They are not afraid. You can't scare them. For me, they are all really cool. Young, lively, active. And since they choose to create, and they are more conscious than most, it's cool for me, because they clearly understand. Do you know many millionaire artists? No, I don't. So they realize that it's a hard profession.

Do you have an art degree?

Yes, an artist's degree. There is a thrill in it. The Faculty of Art and Graphic Arts, and pedagogical universities in general, used to graduate exclusively teachers. The system was changing, something was being reformed somewhere, there was a need in society, and an artist's degree could only be obtained at an art academy. Nowadays, the art academy, the institute, and the university have the same specialties. An artist can study here.

It's unrealistic to say that a lot of children are enrolled and it has increased during the war. The faculty has grown more than ever before. That is, there is a specialty of teacher and artist. Where there are artists, there will always be 3-4 times more students.

If you think about it logically, they study practically the same disciplines there: artists have a little more creativity, but teachers have pedagogy and psychology added to their studies and can use their diploma afterwards. They are not interested in this at all.

They have this word artist, it's fun in its own way, but they can make a choice. And they don't think about what will happen next. They don't have any planning. Perhaps this is the reality of our life, that they live for the moment. Who are we going to be? Artists. What are you going to do next? How are you going to make money? And here the question arises that we never had. We never thought we wanted to be businessmen.

If you ask the students, everyone has a high percentage of confidence that they will be able to open something of their own. This was not the case before. We couldn't even think about it, couldn't even imagine it. We realized that we didn't have the funds, any start-up capital, opportunities, or contacts. They are not afraid of anything.

Everyone is sure that everyone will be able to open their own. I'll be a great artist, I'll sell my works, I'll make money. This is how they see things in their minds very easily. They think it's so easy, like, 'pop, and that's it. God help me if I'm wrong and everything works out, and we'll be happy.

Is it expensive at the stage of studying, what does a student have to invest on their own?

It has always been expensive. But in recent decades it was still more affordable. Now it is very, very expensive. We are often asked why we closed the jewelry business. Because a person is not able to buy the amount of material he or she needs to work for at least a year or two and start making some hackwork, earning money with it. It's very difficult.

On the other hand, if you want to be an artist, you will paint on anything. On newspaper, paper, wallpaper, anything. And it all depends, again, on your desire.

It's expensive for him to buy in a store, he'll assemble everything himself, then it will be three times cheaper. But you have to spend your time and effort. There is also a choice here. I have never thought about it in my own work and have never regretted it.

I can make a big exhibition, get into big debts because I want to. I think we are all strange, maybe someone will be offended, we are all strange artists. All of us, absolutely. And if you have an idea, whether you have the capital for it or not, you will do it.

So the ultimate goal is an exhibition?

Not everyone agrees with this. This is my position. I'm sure, and again I always say to young people like this, that you have to show what you're doing. Because there are artists: they paint, their workshops are filled, they enjoy it, some of them are in awe, some of them are in agony.

There are artists I know who are not ready to make an exhibition in their entire life because they are not confident in themselves. What do they think? Artists and criticism is a separate, global topic, a painful one.

Someone says it's expensive. Someone is not ready because they are not sure of themselves. I categorically disagree with this, because if you write in a studio, you work a lot, and you don't show it to anyone, it's selfishness. That is, you work for your own pleasure.

I didn't understand this purpose of everything at the time. Once you've painted, you have to show it, because any art has to have an audience. There must be feedback. What kind of feedback will it be? You may not always like it. It's a common thing, and from the outside you always think that you've come to an exhibition, everything is cool, bright, and everyone has congratulated you. Such a beautiful picture, but what is hidden behind it and what you can hear...

It's cool when people tell you, especially people you really trust, or want to hear their opinion. And more often than not, it's not as cool and awesome as it seems. But it helps you develop. If you say that everything is cool, cool, then your creativity will end there. That's it. You have achieved everything. You've reached the top. The exhibition. What's next?

What would you like to see in Odesa in the future from your perspective, what should we be striving for?

The maximum number of places where artists can realize themselves. I would really like to see professional art management finally start to appear not only in Odesa, but in Ukraine as a whole. So that professional people, professional gallerists, professional managers, would do it instead of the artist selling the painting. The artist was engaged in creativity.

Photo: Intent/Natalia Dovbysh

Today, an artist has to come up with an idea, create it, make a design, negotiate, pay money, and show it. If you manage to sell it, you sell it yourself, bargain, pick it up, bring it. It is so multifunctional today that creativity often suffers because of this. Because the time when he could be in the studio working, he is doing these things. I would like to see this happen.

So far, this is happening very slowly in Ukraine. In Odesa, we need to open 10-15 normal large exhibition halls so that artists can show there. So that they can move around. As it is, we have three places, and we show them there year after year. You look at some of the artists. I started in 2006, I saw this portrait. Now it's 2025, and I see the same portrait. Why is that person an artist? He painted it alone and has been showing it all his life. So, of course, an art manager would like to have as many galleries and exhibition spaces as possible. Because people go there. And young people come.

Марія Литянська