SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MONUMENTAL ART IN THE CITY OF IVANO-FRANKIVSK IN THE 1960S–1980S

Abstract

The study is devoted to the cultural aspect of the development of new monumental art in Ivano-Frankivsk in the period 1960–1980. It was during this period that the monumental art of Ivano-Frankivsk was influenced by a number of factors, namely the spread of functionalism (mainly embodied in the Bauhaus program), the development of urban infrastructure, and the demand for changes in the way of life caused by political ideology. Architecture became the most expressive indicator of large-scale reconstruction, as a result of which trends were initiated in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk towards the construction of large objects with a social purpose. Such a radical approach involved the destruction of the spiritual component of the life of the local population, thus the Jewish cemetery near the central part of the city was destroyed, and churches were closed. There was a rethinking of life values, traditions, forms of social structure and even renaming the city of Stanislaviv (previous name until 1962) to Ivano- Frankivsk (in honor of Ivan Franko). The specified period is a controversial form of imposed political demagoguery and at the same time the formation of a new stylistic system of monumental art. To this day, the issues of the not fully revealed formation of distinctive features of architecture, sculpture and graffiti in the environment of Ivano-Frankivsk, which have become a kind of polemic between the manipulations of the then leadership and artists, remain relevant. Although, according to the developed general plans, monumental art, in particular architecture, has changed fundamentally, but thanks to local artists, it has acquired a special color in the forms of decoration. Until now, the buildings of our city have preserved large-scale graphic and mosaic panels, which are filled with Hutsul themes and characteristic features of Ukrainian culture. Artists decorated the planes of the facades with the harmony of large stylized images and thematically emphasized the significance of the buildings. The value of the creative potential of Ivano-Frankivsk artists in the early 1960s has not been fully appreciated, because their creativity is a phenomenon in the territories of Carpathian region and Ukraine in general. The author examines the period 1960–1980 in the context of a holistic coverage of historical, political and artistic changes in Ivano-Frankivsk.