Donbass

The Donbass, a vast hard-coal region in the Ukraine, is one of the major industrial-urban agglomerations in Eastern Europe, where coal has been mined since the 18th century. After the fall of the Soviet Union, over half the mines there were shut down. For more than a decade, photographer Alexander Chekmenev has been documenting the lives of Donbass coal miners who work in illegal, self-built mines. Alexander Chekmenev (*1969) lives and works in Kiev, Ukraine. His works have been exhibited all over the world, including at the Photodocumentfestival in Poznan', Poland, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia. He has received several awards, for example at the Festival Images, Vevey, Switzerland. "Chekmenev's coal is a frozen and heartless ›raw material.‹ His coal is a different kind of rock, from a new Donbass era, an era when coal mining means nothing more than a fight for survival, often spelling death, and at best ensures a meager living for workers who have no other choice." Andrej Krementschouk