New Collection of Photos from Pokrovsk Historical Museum

The Urban Media Archive received another collection with the images of industrial cities in Donetsk Oblast. In the framework of the project “(Un)archiving (Post)industry”, we digitized 95 negative images from Pokrovsk Historical Museum.

The collection covers the period of the 1970-1990s. It represents Pokrovskyi district (Krasnoarmiyskyi before 2016). Economic development, construction of new stadia and schools, local everyday life, public events, celebrations, and memorial sites: a mass grave of soldiers and underground combatants who have perished in the Second World War, or a monument to Lenin near the “Myr” cinema. 

Portraits show us the delegates of the Communist Party Conventions in Ukraine, and some leading factory workers. 

Photographers have not been identified, but most images fit in the genre of press photo. There are also some panoramic views of the town and its street life. The collection focuses on progress, success and innovations, but also shows the day-to-day routines. The approach is rather neutral and documentary, while staged portraits present the characters in a simple and mundane light, rather than in a high-flown manner.  

At our Media Archive, you may also see collection of photos by Pavlo Kashkel from Mariupol.  

The project "(Un)archiving (Post)industry" focuses on preserving the materials from company, institutional, and personal collections and their use in new research and art projects. It is implemented in partnership with the University of St Andrews (UK) and museums in Kramatorsk, Mariupol, and Pokrovsk.

Credits

Cover: Attraction in the park of culture and recreation "Jubilee," May, 1990. Collection of the Pokrovsky Historical Museum // Urban Media Archive of the Center for Urban History