Since adolescence, my political convictions have evolved from primitively pro-Soviet to an articulated and conscious activist position. It is crucial for the Ukrainian left to disassociate themself from the Stalinist past of our country. Therefore, I believe that socialism must necessarily be anti-xenophobic, sensitive to grassroots movements and the real needs of society, environmentally friendly, and sharply pro-feminist, which means democratic. Of course, I believe that a revolution is a necessary measure to move society forward, but for effective activity, a political movement must be flexible and adapt to the objective conditions of a particular country, situation, and time.
Political views that I already had in high school pushed me in many ways to choose a profession. Recently I got a bachelor’s degree in book graphics and learned various techniques that are now in great demand for working with leftist media. In addition to illustrations, I often work with fonts, book layouts, and the design of various graphic products. Most pleasant to me is to work with traditional printing techniques such as linocut, collagraphy, and etching, but during the war, my technical and temporal possibilities were very limited.
Now I am an active member of the Socialniy Rukh, where I work as a volunteer designer and create a full range of visual materials for the organization: Instagram posts, t-shirts, illustrations, brochures, and posters. Pretty hard to imagine what I haven’t done for my comrades. I communicate very closely with the committee of the organization, and I have truly friendly feelings for our activists, although their position is not monolithic and sometimes there are discussions.
In the past, I had experience organizing student protests in Kharkiv, I still actively work with the community of my academy of arts, where I am a member of the student council and head of the dorm. Before the war, I oversaw a small Marxist reading group in Kharkiv and tried to be a link for the left of this city. Now, even in the status of a refugee, I actively participate in the Ukrainian socialist movement and do everything in my power: from media work to rough physical work as a volunteer.
Since my whole family ended up in occupied Mariupol and some family members died due to hostilities, it can be psychologically difficult for me to work and devote enough time to art. But now I do much more artwork than before the war, everyone is fighting on their front, and the main task for me is to popularize the ideas of socialism in Ukraine, create a new recognizable style of the Eastern European left, and course, help our society in opposition to Russian imperialism. The short-sighted Ukrainian and Russian left groups, as well as the government of the Russian Federation, which parasitizes the Soviet legacy, have significantly spoiled the opinion of the Ukrainian people about the communists and various leftists. The belief of some local activists that the war is between the two imperialists NATO and Russia, and that it is a good idea to sabotage the Ukrainian army, or do nothing at all, is fundamentally wrong.
Such an opinion moves away from us at the moment of the victory of Ukraine, which is fighting in the decolonial struggle, removing the left from popular support, depriving the Ukrainian left movement of the opportunity to develop. I hope that all this horror will end as soon as possible, and together we will begin to rebuild our beautiful country, along the way bringing it closer to the model of a strong social state that will carefully and sensitively treat its people, who honestly work to change the world for the better.
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Katya Gritseva
Patrick Le Trehondat
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