Manchester has a Soviet statue of Engels. Shame no one asked the city’s Ukrainians – The Guardian
The statue of Friedrich Engels pictured before it was taken to Manchester. Photograph: Nikiforov Yevgen/Courtesy: Shady Lane Productions
I first heard that Manchesters city centre had a new statue when pictures appeared on my Twitter timeline on Monday morning. The media coverage of the project had passed me by. For those of you who also missed it, Turner prize-nominated artist Phil Collins has moved a Soviet-era statue of Friedrich Engels from Ukraine and permanently installed it in Manchester as part of the Manchester International Festival. On Sunday, the festival closed and the statue was unveiled as part of a live film event called Ceremony.
My first reaction was anger. Why have we put up a piece of Soviet propaganda in the centre of Manchester? I then wondered what the communities in Manchester who have been affected by communism would think.
My wife is third-generation British Ukrainian. Her grandparents were captured by the Germans and worked in forced labour in Germany during the second world war. After the war, they were sent to a displaced persons camp in England and they eventually settled in Cheetham Hill, north Manchester. The city has one of the largest Ukrainian communities in Britain. It has a social club, church, school, youth organisations, dance groups, choirs and museum. The members of this community epitomise everything that is great about Manchester intelligent, hardworking, cynical, creative and good-humoured.
An anti-Soviet voice would have added an important perspective to the work
Communism was a very real thing for British Ukrainians from the 1950s to 1990s. Many had relatives on the wrong side of the iron curtain. Others had lost family in the Holodomor. Millions of Ukrainians lost their lives to the Soviet regime. Anti-Soviet protests in Manchester or London were a common part of diaspora life. You could argue they are also part of the Manchester radical narrative. The aftermath of the Soviet era still affects Ukraine and its diaspora today.
I have grown to love the Manchester Ukrainian community. We were married in the Ukrainian church and our daughter was baptised there. I have visited Ukraine on two occasions. I respect the traditions and culture of the Manchester diaspora. Like any community, they are not always perfect, but they are proudly Mancunian and deserve to be listened to.
I understand that art should be challenging, but for me the statue and Ceremony glorify communism. I feel uncomfortable that the statue was part of the Soviet propaganda machine even if it originates from the softer Brezhnev regime (the statue was created in 1970). The placards promoting communism that have been placed around the statue do not help.
Im not the only one uneasy about the project. Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan has asked where the outrage is, comparing it to erecting a statue honouring Hitler. But these comparisons by Hannan and other rightwingers are crude. Engels was a philosopher, not a mass murderer. A better analogy would be asking whether we would tolerate the presence of Nazi propaganda in Manchester.
When I saw the statue in person I was drawn to the faded blue-and-yellow paint of the Ukrainian flag on the legs. I assume that it was painted by Ukrainians following the fall of the Soviet regime in 1991. A part of me longed to repaint the statue in the Ukrainian colours.
Do I have a problem with a statue of Engels in Manchester? No. There is already a sculpture of his beard in Salford. He is an important figure in Manchesters history. But I do have a problem with a statue created specifically to promote Soviet propaganda being placed in Manchester if, as a result, it romanticises communism and totalitarianism.
The Manchester International Festival is brilliant for the region, but it is a shame neither the festival nor the artist engaged properly with the citys Ukrainian community beforehand. I understand that members of the community were approached about providing a choir for Ceremony, but they turned it down when they discovered the context. This was the first they knew about the project. The communitys anti-Soviet voice would have added value and an important perspective to the work.
Perhaps it is not too late to involve the Ukrainian community and other anti-Soviet voices. Sarah Perks, artistic director at Manchesters Home arts centre, told the Financial Times that discussion points would be created around the statues base to encourage viewers to participate. If the statue is to remain in Manchester, let us at least make sure all voices are heard in this participation and it is properly interpreted.
Look, this is a personal opinion. I dont represent the views of the Manchester Ukrainian community some may react differently. But at least involve them properly in the process.
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Manchester has a Soviet statue of Engels. Shame no one asked the city's Ukrainians - The Guardian