Vitalii Okhmaniuk – Candidate of Sciences in Art History, Professor, Honored Worker of Arts of Ukraine, and leader of the Volynianka folk instruments orchestra. He heads perhaps the most creative structural division of Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University – the Faculty of Culture and Arts.
It is interesting that Vitalii Fedorochovych, de facto, went through all the main stages of his career and professional development at this faculty: he studied here, taught, and is currently its dean. By the way, he is one of the youngest deans at the University. That's why we didn't think for a long time about choosing a location for the conversation – we met in the walls of Vitalii Okhmaniuk's alma mater and started conversation.
– This academic year has been very difficult, given the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 and the beginning of a full-scale invasion by the Russians. Can you say that the Faculty of Culture and Arts has adapted to these conditions and managed to arrange an effective learning process?
– Yes, we have set up distance learning. I want to emphasize the creative specificity of our specialties and the need for a face-to-face format for them. Thanks to the Rector Office, we got permission for a mixed form of education. It helped us a lot. Our students had the opportunity to study practical disciplines in the classrooms and work with a teacher in-person (to draw, play, dance, and work with the design). Although, group-oriented classes in general disciplines were conducted online. Thanks to God, we had the opportunity to work live, and our students are very satisfied with it.
– In general, the Faculty of Culture and Arts has made significant progress in the sphere of international cooperation and the involvement of foreign students. Before the start of the full-scale invasion, they were mainly students from China. Will the faculty have the opportunity to engage foreign students in new circumstances?
– This problem is multifaceted. Let me start with academic mobility. We have an agreement on the “Double Diploma” with the Pomeranian Academy. It still needs to be refined. However, one-semester exchange works very well for us: from the new academic year, we plan to send three students to Slupsk under this program. As for students from China, we currently have six students studying in the Master's degree program. As long as it was possible, they stayed in Lutsk and studied offline. In three months, they have mastered the Ukrainian language and our folk songs quite well. Two students from China are studying with us at the “Musical Art” specialty online. Another six students also study remotely at the third education level, in the specialty 034 Cultural Studies.
Students from China went home because of the active hostilities. They now write us very touching letters and say that they are looking forward to returning to our university. We recently signed an agreement between the two ministries and universities. This is about our university and Xingtai University in China.
We have had fruitful negotiations, and our choreography teacher is going to conduct classes at this university. She will teach two subjects there in the first semester and will organize the entrance exam at the same time. The training will be both distance learning and in-person. The first semesters will be remote. We will probably be the first in Ukraine to introduce distance education for Chinese students in Choreography. Such are the realities of modern times.
– People say that adversity brings people together. As the war escalated, did you feel that students and teachers became even more friendly and united?
– The war gave an impetus to work in extreme conditions, but we managed to organize it efficiently and conscientiously. A few years ago, it seemed to us that the specifics of our faculty could not provide for distance learning. However, modern realities show us otherwise. Of course, offline training is more efficient. In any case, we all really united and learned a lot of new things.
I would like to mention that only one of our teachers left for abroad. By the way, we have a temporary displaced teacher from Ivan Kotlyarevskyi Kharkiv University. I found out by chance that he was in Lutsk and invited him to our faculty. He is a Candidate of Sciences in Art Studies (specialization-piano). Students like him and are satisfied. We helped his family with housing. A teacher from Mykolaiv in Decorative and Applied Arts, Honored Culture and Arts Worker, and professor sent us a letter. She wants to move to Lutsk, and we are determined to hire her. Our faculty gives temporarily displaced persons the opportunity to work and continue their creative activities.
– Unfortunately, the war continues in its active phase. It was a tragedy for all of us that Vladyslav Voitovych, a student of the Faculty of Culture and Arts, died in the war. Many teachers and students are involved in volunteer activities. They paint shelters’ walls and give charity concerts. Tell us more details about the faculty's activities during the war.
– Our creative teachers and students give concerts and collect money for the ZSU. It is also about the artists who paint pictures for sale. Representatives of our faculty actively participate in volunteer activities. We can say that this is our front. Perhaps we would not be of much use on the front line. Therefore, our front is creative work. We earn money with our concerts, paintings, and exhibitions and transfer it to the Armed Forces.
We organize various projects and joint initiatives of students and teachers. For example, seven of our graduate students are in the war zone. They are members of the orchestra and study with us. But now, they are in the army as servicemen of the 14th OMBR named after Prince Roman the Great, and we do our best to provide them with comprehensive support and assistance.
– Creative people say that muse and inspiration come somehow differently in extreme conditions. You are undoubtedly in the cohort of creative people. What is your opinion about it?
– After the state exams, teachers came to me and shared their impressions of the students' works. They noticed that the drawings by our best students have become gloomy. Some of them have relatives at war, and some are suffering and having a hard time with it all. I can't say that their works have become worse, but they have become somewhat more tragic. One more thing, we have students at “Musical Art” specialty who are currently living in Kherson. The house of a student from Huliaipole was bombed. She moved to our city with her mother. We are trying to help them with all our might. The geography of our students is diverse. We try to find an individual approach to everyone because everyone has their own story and tragedy. Without any doubt, the war has its impact on creativity.
– The active phase of the admission campaign will begin soon. This is a very important time both for the faculty and for the University. What competitive advantages of the Faculty of Culture and Arts can you name? Why should entrants make a choice in its favor?
– Our applicants must be motivated and have basic training in music schools, choreographic institutions, etc. A great advantage of this year's admission to a Master's degree course in artistic specialties is the cancellation of the EVI exam. Previously, up to 80 % of creative, gifted students could not pass an exam in a foreign language. Now, our students are returning from abroad to enroll without EVI and want to study with us. Similarly, the multi-subject test for creative specialties, except for the specialty "Design", is not demanded, and it is very convenient for the applicants on the basis of the secondary school. Children are to demonstrate only their creative talent.
At our faculty, students will be able to realize themselves creatively, grow professionally, and gain experience. Our students pay less attention to general disciplines and have more time and possibilities to be engaged in creativity. The teaching staff of the faculty is highly-qualified. All of the teachers are great professionals, have honorary titles, scientific degrees, some are doctors of science and honored artists – the elite of our nation.
We have the opportunity to transfer experience and skills to our students. The geography of our students is quite diverse. The faculty is chosen by children from different parts of Ukraine, especially from the South and East of Ukraine. I believe that we have one of the best creative institutions in Ukraine. We provide a wide range of qualifications – the qualification of a teacher, a performer, and a leader of artistic collectives.
– It is also worth speaking about the “Design” specialty, the newest at the Faculty of Culture and Arts. Will you tell some words about its development and prospects?
– The Design specialty at our faculty has been operating for only two years. This is a very interesting and promising specialty. I am very often asked about this specialty and its features. First of all, we have a General Design course but from the second year of their studies, students can choose elective course/discipline, such as Clothing design, Graphic design, Landscape design, etc. This year, thanks to university management, we have purchased some of the best computers for students of this specialty. Using them, they can extract the most powerful license programs. We managed to make this purchase before the war. We are sure that the number of applicants for this specialty will increase this year.
– The folk instrument orchestra “Volynianka” is your brainchild. Do you have enough time for it?
– Yes, I try to find time for my orchestra that functions at the Palace of Culture of the city of Lutsk. I have been managing the collective since 2005. All orchestra members are students and teachers of the Faculty of Culture and Arts. Even now, we are actively preparing for festivals. Recently, we shot a clip for the song “Oh, in the meadow red viburnum” and dedicated it to the Constitution Day. The activity never stops and actively continues.
– I want to finish conversation with a purely personal question. Your rhythm of life before the war was very intense: administrative work as a dean, teaching activities, creative work, playing sports, football in particular. How did your daily routine change during the war?
– It has become more difficult to go in for sports. I have got some health problems. The first two months were very difficult. The war affected creativity and concert activity. Now we try to return to our usual rhythm of life. In parallel with the administrative work, we are starting the admissions campaign. We are holding concerts and preparing for the folklore festival with the Volynianka orchestra, which will be held in Poland. A human adapts to everything.
Interview was conducted by
Andrii MOSHKUN
Photo by Dmytro BAIDA
