Ukraine Independence Monument, Maidan Nezalezhnosti

Kyiv’s Independence Square is probably the single most famous place in Ukraine after Chernobyl. Universally known by its Ukrainian-language name of... more

by Douglas Taylor

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Price

$195

Dimensions

30.000 x 60.000 inches

Title

Ukraine Independence Monument, Maidan Nezalezhnosti

Artist

Douglas Taylor

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Digital Photography

Description

Kyiv’s Independence Square is probably the single most famous place in Ukraine after Chernobyl. Universally known by its Ukrainian-language name of Maidan Nezalezhnosti or simply “Maidan”, it has achieved a remarkable degree of international recognition in recent decades as the location of not one but two post-Soviet revolutions, and has lent its name to a grassroots form of protest politics that continues to keep dictators across the former USSR awake at night. Maidan is quite simply the ultimate symbol of Ukrainian independence.

The journey has been, and continues to be, arduous and perilous for the Ukrainian people. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, the colossal Lenin monument that had dominated Kyiv’s central square for much of the Communist epoch was unceremoniously removed from its plinth. At the same time, there was a name change from October Revolution Square to Independence Square.

The 2004 Orange Revolution was a watershed moment in Maidan’s metamorphosis, imbuing the square was a sense of dignity and gravitas it had previously lacked. The mass rallies of the Orange Revolution were not the first political protests to take place on the square; that honor belonged to the student demonstrations of October 1990 that helped pave the way for Ukraine’s August 1991 declaration of independence. However, the uprising of late 2004 completely dwarfed anything that had come before it. Mass protests attracted hundreds of thousands of participants.

Following the Orange Revolution, it became increasingly common for people to use the term “Maidan” in a political context. This was equally true in Ukraine itself and elsewhere throughout the post-Soviet world. Russia in particular soon became obsessed with the threat posed by the Maidan model of popular protests. Nevertheless, it would take another decade before Kyiv’s main square finally completed its transformation.

In late 2013 and early 2014, Maidan once again became the focal point of a popular uprising as millions of Ukrainians protested the government’s last-minute decision to abandon plans for a landmark Association Agreement with the European Union. By now, the square’s fame and associations with political activism were such that this new protest movement was quickly dubbed “Euromaidan.”

Unlike 2004, it did not end peacefully. In February 2014, dozens of protesters were gunned down in the immediate vicinity of the square as the uprising reached a bloody climax. This tragedy left an indelible mark on Ukraine and served to consecrate Maidan as a sacred place at the heart of modern Ukraine’s post-Soviet experience.

Today this 200 foot tall marble column celebrates the Ukrainian's centuries long fight for independence, and also serves as a memorial to the hundred protestors gunned down and killed by police in 2014. Sadly, they will not be the last to die for their country.

Slava Ukraini!

Uploaded

March 15th, 2022