Illustrations for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill" 1956

Curator: The artwork before us consists of illustrations by Hryhorii Havrylenko for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill," created in 1956, using ink on paper. Editor: These drawings have such a gentle, folk-art feel! I’m curious, looking at these images of working animals in a children’s book… what catches your eye about Havrylenko's artistic choices, especially regarding their material context and what might be revealed about post-war Ukraine? Curator: What strikes me is how these illustrations negotiate the relationship between labor and leisure, or more precisely, the ideological value placed on collective industriousness, even within children’s entertainment. The material production – building, foraging, even learning – it’s all work, framed in simple strokes using accessible materials like ink and paper. Consider how the mass production of books and images such as these became powerful tools of state messaging after the devastations of World War II. Do you notice the squirrel students, clutching their books? Editor: I do! So you are suggesting that depicting animal characters doing labor reflects societal values being taught to children at the time? The means of printing these images for mass consumption itself plays a role. Curator: Precisely. We see a carefully constructed vision of collective effort and industriousness, utilizing accessible and reproducible artistic means. The seemingly innocent medium becomes a vessel for instilling very specific social ideals related to labor. Editor: That's fascinating; the focus on labor becomes so much clearer when viewed through that materialist lens. It definitely gives a new appreciation for children’s book illustration! Curator: Yes, it helps us question the seemingly neutral or transparent nature of images. Recognizing that even in these humble materials and forms, power and meaning are actively being produced.