Serhii Parajanov. The artist of many worlds
I am an Armenian born in Tbilisi who was imprisoned in russia for Ukrainian nationalism
– these words belong to a world-renowned film director Serhii (Sergei) Parajanov. Born under the name Sargis Hovsepi Parajanyan, he grew up among three cultures: Armenian, Georgian and Ukrainian. Constantly interacting with borders and mixed identities, Serhii Parajanov based his cinematic work on the folklore and mythic tales of different cultures. For example, his debut feature film Andriesh explored the world of a Moldovan fairy tale with the same name. Meanwhile, his most famous masterpieces such as Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and The Color of Pomegranates (Sayat-Nova) follow the Ukrainian and Armenian cultural heritage.
Those who knew Serhii Parajanov personally described him as charismatic and intuitive in art. The artist organized his environment the same way he did with film frames and collages. He had the obsession of a collector. By welcoming the chaotic flow of the flea markets and antiques shops, he oftentimes found the unique objects to bring home. Then, going further with the flow, Parajanov gifted the same 'hidden gems' to his friends. The circulation of beautiful things between him and his friends never stopped. The same richness of creation applied to his artistry.
Photo: Serhii Parajanov by Viktor Bazhenov, 1979-1980 / Serhii Parajanov posing against the background of a magnificent painting of Sheki Khan’s Palace, 1983
While working in Ukraine, the filmmaker strongly contributed to Ukrainian poetic cinema in the 1960s. The emergence of this cinematic and cultural movement is often prescribed to the release of Parajanov’s masterpiece, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. It's easy to spot a Ukrainian poetic cinema when you see it. While based on ethnographic themes, the movies strike you with unfigurative visual language that dwells on associative imagination and nonlinear storytelling.
Stills from Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Courtesy Dovzhenko Centre
Another great yet unfinished cinematic work of his authorship dedicated to Ukraine is Kyiv Frescoes. It depicts the consequences of war, the daily struggles of post-traumatic stress syndrome, the unborn children and many more. Due to the accusations of "impressionism permeated with the idea of pacifism", Parajanov was never allowed to finish it, and there are only 15 minutes of film tests made by the cameraman Oleksandr Antipenko that nevertheless can be rightfully considered an outright artistic expression.
Stills from Kyiv Frescoes, courtesy of Dovzhenko Center
Among objects within the Serhii Parajanov's Museum in Yerevan, one may find scripts, collages, photos, and postcards, all made by Parajanov. Wherever he came, art and craft flourished. It's no surprise, that the setting of Parajanov’s house resembled the staging of his movies, with lots of craft, antique decorations, and self-made mise-en-scènes. Still, the need to recreate his cinematic vision in private space came from a place of unease and censorship.
Collages by Serhii Parajanov: Red Finned Fish, The Last Supper, Pinturicchio Rafael. Courtesy Parajanov-Vartanov Institute
By profession and vocation, Serhii Parajanov was a "man with a movie camera," and by the circumstances of fate, for a large part of his life, a "man with scissors and glue."
Diana Klochko
In the 1970s, during Leonid Brezhniev's rule, many artists, writers and public figures from the Soviet republics, including Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia, were followed and persecuted by the KGB (the main security agency in the USSR at the time). Many of them went through the Soviet prison system with trumped-up, politically motivated legal cases and were forbidden from any artistic activity. Having friends among Ukrainian dissidents, Parajanov proceeded to voice his disagreement with the oppressive Soviet system. “This country does not know how to make movies. You are better at sending tanks into other capitals,” he stated sarcastically while talking to Moscow's official, referencing the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968. Under a fabricated case for homosexuality, Parajanov spent five years as a political prisoner. After suffering from dehumanizing conditions, forced labour and inability to express artistically, he was banned from living in Ukraine.
Photo: Serhii Parajanov by Yuri Mechitov, 1983
For me, it is a great honor that I lived in Ukraine and I loved this land. And when I was expelled from this land, I left my heart here. I am a highlander, but I loved the steppe, the great Ukrainian steppe.
[Serhii Parajanov]
Join the Ukrainian Institute during the 100th anniversary of the artist's birthday by diving deeper into his heritage to the artist’s world.
Asia Pavlenko, the Programme Coordinator at the Ukrainian Institute, developed the page's content.