Stanislav Mishchenko presents his second Lomo-exhibition in Munich called “K-olours”

Munich, 14th of December 2013 – You see nothing more than silhouettes. But these are bright – filled with the colours of Kiev: with graffiti, with traffic signs, flowers, leaves, buildings and light. The Kiev based LGBT-activist Stanislav Mishchenko has once again portrayed couples of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of his hometown.

The photographs are on display from the 25th of January until 16th of February 2014 in the Glockenbachwerkstatt in Blumenstraße 7. The opening will take place on 25th of January 2014 at 7 pm – with a speech by City Councillor Lydia Dietrich and music from the women rock band QueenBaba.

It is Stanislav’s second lomography exhibition in Munich. Last year his exhibition impressed many people at his first K-People exhibition at the gay communications centre- SUB. That time he looked directly at his subjects faces but this time he shows only the outlines, but filled with the colourful motifs of Kiev. This is thanks to the Lomo technique he uses with double exposures.

The message is always the same: Kiev’s community lives in hidden places, but lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Ukraine do exist! And they constitute the whole diversity of the country just like any other residents of Ukraine. Life is colourful ! “It is a shame they are forced to hide their inner beauty”, regrets Mishchenko.

Life can be very dangerous for Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Ukraine. Assaults, verbal or even physical, are very common. Even so the Ukrainian Parliament is expected to draft a similar law to the Russian anti-gay propaganda law. In the, sometimes violent, attempts of the country to move closer to the European Union opponents have abused the topic of gender equality over and over again for their own purposes and caused even more homophobic feelings (for example “EU= gay marriage”).

Stanislav Mishchenko will put each of his 30 portraits in a specific order at the exhibition so that all the motifs together form a rainbow. The rainbow stands for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-community in the whole world and for the diversity of life in general. Stanislav’s message is loud and clear : “We exist, we are many. And we are part of your life. Let us be friends”.

For the opening of the exhibition, the organisers have invited the City Councillor Lydia Dietrich (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen). She will give a brief speech along with the photographer himself, who is in Munich for the opening. Munich’s female band QueenBaba band will accompany the evening with some rock and some sentimental ballads. Munich Kiev Queer would especially like to thank the Glockenbachwerkstatt for providing its premises free of charge.

The artist, Stanislav Mishchenko, has been living in Kiev for four years. He was born 30 years ago in Nikopol and he is currently the Vice -President of the All-Ukrainian organisation “Gay Alliance Ukraine”. He is also the International Secretary of KyivPride. In his spare time, the LGBT-activist works as a photographer, musician and designer. He is a member of the group Munich Kiev Queer that coordinates cooperation between Munich’s and Kiev’s LGBT-community which reflect the fact that Munich and Kiev are twin cites.