I have been to Kyiv or Kiev or however you want to call it. The capital of Ukraine. I was invited to talk about Scandinavian design at two occassion, but managed to get some spare time to see the city. And it is a wonderful city.
Kiev is a city almost double the size of Stockholm, with a cute old town and of course newer parts. Googling Kiev, you will find that everyone who has been here – falls in love with the city. Like my German friend Igor. And it is understandable. It is a classical Eastern European city, a bit rough on the edges but quirky and fun. And cheap. A beer is less than two euros. A meal with food and wine nine euros.
In one post on Kiev, I found that this city has some recognition for murals and street art. And they are everywhere. Nice.
It is a wonderful city to just walk around and look at buildings.
Podil, the old town, with the house where Michail Bulgakov lived.
The market
Amazing craft and vintage market in old town.
Vintage shopping…
The “champs elysee” of Kiev, or the high street is Khreschatyk Street. Shopping in this city is ok, but perhaps not the main reason to go here. Go here for culture and food.
This shop on the high street, keeps only Ukrainan design and craft. Three floors full of stuff.
The museum scene needs a bit of tender love and care. This is the National Museum of Arts. And it was really so-so. Ukraine have a rich history and I miss a lot of the role art has played in history.
The absolut main reason to go to Kiev is to look at the churches. They are amazing. I don’t think I have ever seen anything like this. It is really mindblowing. Colourful, open, historical and just amazing. It doesn’t really matter what they are called. If you go to Kiev, just head for the nearest church. Of course Saint Sophia and Lavra are UNESCO listed as world heritage and they are wonderful. But St Andrew and St Michael and all the others are very lovely too.
The reason for me to be here in Kiev, is to talk about Scandinavian design. I was especially invited by Electrolux that celebrates a 100 year anniversary. I of course talked about how Scandinavian design is reduced from ornaments (minimalistic), true to materials (few material mixes) and always functional. Swedish design is also often very engineer driven like Ericsson, Volvo, ABB and of course Electrolux.
I also included my trend report and talked about how we will see more anticonsumerism, sustainability and a new set of values taking shape. Difficult but important issues for our future.
And this was apparently extremely interesting for the media in Ukraine so I did two tv interviews, one radio and close to ten regular interviews for magazines. So I talked a lot. A lot.
Kiev was amazing. Three days was really not enough. I hope to come back really soon.