Euromaidan, New Middle Ages
Maydan is the central square of Kyiv, today has the official name of Maydan Nezhalezhnosti/Independence Square. The square is surrounded by buildings, some of them are administrative like Main Post Office or House of Labour Union, but the square has nothing at the center, apart from stella and fountains, reorganized with every change of the power.
Maydan in Ukraine but also in Mediterranean, Middle East called main, usually trade square in the center of a city. In Ukrainian Cossack Christian villages of Dnieper Ukraine (central and Eastern regions of current Ukraine territory), Don Russia (Russian regions around basin of Don river, also associated with Eastern borders of Ukraine) maydan was called a square near a church in the center of a village, where people gathered to trade, talk, entertain but also resolve common for a village issues. It is assumed that the word was adopted into Ukrainian language together with other words of step turkish nomads.
Today Maydan Nezhalezhnosti/Independence Square is used by citizens for political and cultural gatherings: demonstrations, concerts, holidays. In a political sense “to gather Maydan” means that large group of people feel need to discuss either manifest common issues and gather for this purpose at the central square of their city. Both Orange Revolution and Euromaydan occupied Maydan Nezhalezhnosti/Independence Square for months with barricades and camping for long-time settlement of activists, many of them arrived from regions. During protests Maydan had reminded even more of Zaporizhska Sich: unofficial Cossack state that had existed for more than 200 years at hidden by rocks islands in the central Ukraine and hosted escapees from feudal lords, criminals, hunters for adventures and military affairs lovers.
“Mariya Pavlenko’s photographs from the “Euromaydan – New Middle Ages series”, in turn, show those aspects of the square that bring it closer to a medieval city – an organism closed behind fortifications, where everything works so that there is no need to go out to the outside world. Religious elements are also noteworthy – statues of saints, icons, a crucifix, rosaries, installations resembling altars, volunteers in the church recalling medieval clergy or icons, armed defenders of the “city” ready to fight 24 hours a day.”
Ewa Sułek, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, extract from the article “Aesthetics and narratives of the Maydan revolution” in the journal “Discourse and Dialogue”.