Have you got a light? 1988

Editor: So, this is Oleg Holosiy's "Have you got a light?", painted in 1988 using oil and acrylic. It strikes me as quite mysterious, almost dreamlike. What symbols jump out at you when you look at this piece? Curator: Well, the most obvious symbol is the light itself, right? Fire. But consider: in 1988, the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse. Holosiy was Ukrainian. This shared light might symbolize a desperate need for connection, for shared vision, even as the old order flickered and threatened to extinguish entirely. Editor: That’s fascinating. I hadn't thought about the historical context. Curator: And consider the poses – the obscured faces. Does it evoke for you a sense of clandestine exchange? Of something forbidden? The sharing of light, perhaps, stands in for a sharing of ideas, of hope. What feelings does this light provoke in you? Editor: I see a kind of cautious optimism, but also fragility. The way the light seems almost swallowed by the darkness around it. Is that intentional, do you think? Curator: Absolutely. Darkness is as important as the light. It represents the unknown, the fear of the future, but also the potential for something new to emerge from the shadows. The question isn’t just about lighting a cigarette, it's about igniting change. Editor: It makes you wonder what kind of change Holosiy envisioned back then. I’ll definitely look at this painting differently now. Curator: Exactly. Art like this can show us history from new perspectives and offer potent warnings of our continued search for shared illumination.