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The social (de)construction of the meanings of soviet visual heritage in urban space: the mosaics of the Kyiv bus station through the lens of social constructivism

stmm. 2026 (3): 123-145

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2026.03.123

Full text:

MARYNA SOBOLEVSKA, Doctor of Sciences in Sociology, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (60, Volodymyrska St., Kyiv, 01033)

msobolevska@knu.ua

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5544-3883

YEVHENIIA MOROZ, Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (60, Volodymyrska St., Kyiv, 01033)

morozeo@knu.ua

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2618-3541

TETIANA CHERVINSKA, Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (60, Volodymyrska St., Kyiv, 01033)

chervinta@knu.ua

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5054-0206

The urban space of contemporary Ukraine emerges as a field of intense symbolic struggle, where the material traces of the past are transformed from ideological décor into dynamic elements of political and mnemonic tension. The article substantiates the relevance of rethinking Soviet monumental and decorative art through a new methodological lens that moves beyond art-historical description toward a critical analysis of the social production of meaning in a postcolonial context.

The empirical focus is concentrated on the complex of Soviet mosaics at the Kyiv Central Bus Station. The study, conducted as an analytical exercise by master’s students in sociology within the course “Phenomenology of Urban Space,” examines these mosaics not as inert artifacts of the past, but as living objects that continuously transform their meanings through processes of social interaction. Through the theoretical lens of social constructivism as developed by P. Berger and T. Luckmann, the bus station mosaics are approached as a complex symbolic object of inquiry. The application of the method of epoché (phenomenological reduction) made it possible to “bracket” ideological clichés and focus on the everyday perception of the object under study. The analysis of student reports, based on structured observation and employing H. Lefebvre’s triad, traces the transition from spatial practice (daily transit through the station), through representations of space (theorization), to representational spaces (the symbolic experience of the object).

The article demonstrates how material artifacts of the past become dynamic “visual texts” that reflect the struggle between memory, the politics of decommunization, and the everyday experience of urban residents. The authors argue for the importance of “reading” the city through a constructivist lens. Within this approach, Soviet mosaics cease to be merely a “colonial burden,” instead becoming instruments of collective self-understanding. The practical value of the study lies in the development of a methodology that transforms problematic heritage into a resource for the formation of contemporary identity and for fostering dialogue between the past and the future of Kyiv.

Keywords: societal resilience, cultural resistance, social agency, violence, social change, Ukraine

References:

  1. Bachynska, L. (2021). Synthesis of arts in Soviet architecture: Stages of development, main directions, causes of their occurrence. Transfer of Innovative Technologie, 2(4), 16-27. https://doi.org/10.32347/tit2021.42.0102

  2. Benjamin, W. (2002). The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility. / Trans. by Yu. Rybachuk). [In Ukrainian]. In: W. Benjamin, Selected Works (pp. 53-97). Lviv: Litopys.

  3. Berger, P.L. & Luckmann, T. (1991). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Penguin Books.

  4. Certeau, M. de. (1998). Ghosts in the city. In: The Practice of Everyday Life (pp. 133-138). University of Minnesota Press. https://doi.org/10.5749/9781452943541-012

  5. Foucault, M. (1986). Of other spaces / Trans. by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics, 16(1), 22-27. https://doi.org/10.2307/464648

  6. Honcharenko, N.K. (2019). Cultural Heritage of the Soviet Period in the Public Space of Modern Ukraine: Discussions on Historical and Artistic Value. [In Ukrainian]. The Culturological Thought, 15, 161-168. https://doi.org/10.37627/2311-9489-15-2019-1.161-168

  7. Horova, N. (2014). Avant-Garde Objects of Kyiv New Buildings of the Early 1960s: Central Bus Station and the Palace of Pioneers (Participation of Artists). [In Ukrainian]. Modern Problems of Research, Restoration and Preservation of Cultural Heritage, 10, 65-72. Retrieved from: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Spdr_2014_10_10

  8. Hryhorov, V. (2019). Transformations in Murals and Mosaics of Kyiv at the Turn of the 1950s-1960s and Their Influence on the Development of Monumental Painting. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian Academy of Art: Research and Methodological Works, 28, 90-97. https://doi.org/10.33838/naoma.28.2019.90-97

  9. Kohutiak, M. (2021). Mosaics of Modernist Artists Were Restored at the Central Bus Station. [In Ukrainian]. Rerieved from: https://www.village.com.ua/village/city/picture-story/314073-restavratsiya-mozayiki-na-tsentralnomu-avtovokzali

  10. Kovalevska, O. (2015). Space Liberation. Decommunization as Decolonization of the Visual Space of Ukrainian Cities. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://tyzhden.ua/zvilnennia-prostoru-dekomunizatsiia-iak-dekolonizatsiia-vizualnoho-prostoru-ukrainskykh-mist/

  11. Lefebvre, H. (1991). The Production of Space. Wiley-Blackwell.

  12. Shulha, O. (2009). Typology of the Categorial and Conceptual Apparatus of Phenomenological Sociology (last part). [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 4, 56-66. https://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2009-4/6.pdf

  13. Sikora, H. (2016). The Text of the City as a Linguistic Phenomenon. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainska Mova, 4, 122-135. Rerieved from: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Ukrm_2016_4_10

  14. Skliarenko, H. (2022). Ukrainian Mural Painting of the 1960s-1980s: Evolution of Artistic Language. [In Ukrainian]. Modern Art, 18, 175-188. https://doi.org/10.31500/2309-8813.18.2022.269727

  15. Soklakov, M. (2024). Monumental mosaics as places of memory in public spaces of Ukraine. Українські культурологічні студії, 1(14), 22-26. https://doi.org/10.17721/UCS.2024.1(14).03

  16. Soviet Mosaics in Ukraine. (2013). Retrieved from: https://sovietmosaicsinukraine.org/ua/

Received 19.03.2026

Accepted for publication after review 12.06.2026

The social (de)construction of the meanings of soviet visual heritage in urban space: the mosaics of the Kyiv bus station through the lens of social constructivism

stmm. 2026 (3): 123-145

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2026.03.123

Full text:

MARYNA SOBOLEVSKA, Doctor of Sciences in Sociology, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (60, Volodymyrska St., Kyiv, 01033)

msobolevska@knu.ua

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5544-3883

YEVHENIIA MOROZ, Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (60, Volodymyrska St., Kyiv, 01033)

morozeo@knu.ua

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2618-3541

TETIANA CHERVINSKA, Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (60, Volodymyrska St., Kyiv, 01033)

chervinta@knu.ua

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5054-0206

The urban space of contemporary Ukraine emerges as a field of intense symbolic struggle, where the material traces of the past are transformed from ideological décor into dynamic elements of political and mnemonic tension. The article substantiates the relevance of rethinking Soviet monumental and decorative art through a new methodological lens that moves beyond art-historical description toward a critical analysis of the social production of meaning in a postcolonial context.

The empirical focus is concentrated on the complex of Soviet mosaics at the Kyiv Central Bus Station. The study, conducted as an analytical exercise by master’s students in sociology within the course “Phenomenology of Urban Space,” examines these mosaics not as inert artifacts of the past, but as living objects that continuously transform their meanings through processes of social interaction. Through the theoretical lens of social constructivism as developed by P. Berger and T. Luckmann, the bus station mosaics are approached as a complex symbolic object of inquiry. The application of the method of epoché (phenomenological reduction) made it possible to “bracket” ideological clichés and focus on the everyday perception of the object under study. The analysis of student reports, based on structured observation and employing H. Lefebvre’s triad, traces the transition from spatial practice (daily transit through the station), through representations of space (theorization), to representational spaces (the symbolic experience of the object).

The article demonstrates how material artifacts of the past become dynamic “visual texts” that reflect the struggle between memory, the politics of decommunization, and the everyday experience of urban residents. The authors argue for the importance of “reading” the city through a constructivist lens. Within this approach, Soviet mosaics cease to be merely a “colonial burden,” instead becoming instruments of collective self-understanding. The practical value of the study lies in the development of a methodology that transforms problematic heritage into a resource for the formation of contemporary identity and for fostering dialogue between the past and the future of Kyiv.

Keywords: societal resilience, cultural resistance, social agency, violence, social change, Ukraine

References:

  1. Bachynska, L. (2021). Synthesis of arts in Soviet architecture: Stages of development, main directions, causes of their occurrence. Transfer of Innovative Technologie, 2(4), 16-27. https://doi.org/10.32347/tit2021.42.0102

  2. Benjamin, W. (2002). The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility. / Trans. by Yu. Rybachuk). [In Ukrainian]. In: W. Benjamin, Selected Works (pp. 53-97). Lviv: Litopys.

  3. Berger, P.L. & Luckmann, T. (1991). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Penguin Books.

  4. Certeau, M. de. (1998). Ghosts in the city. In: The Practice of Everyday Life (pp. 133-138). University of Minnesota Press. https://doi.org/10.5749/9781452943541-012

  5. Foucault, M. (1986). Of other spaces / Trans. by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics, 16(1), 22-27. https://doi.org/10.2307/464648

  6. Honcharenko, N.K. (2019). Cultural Heritage of the Soviet Period in the Public Space of Modern Ukraine: Discussions on Historical and Artistic Value. [In Ukrainian]. The Culturological Thought, 15, 161-168. https://doi.org/10.37627/2311-9489-15-2019-1.161-168

  7. Horova, N. (2014). Avant-Garde Objects of Kyiv New Buildings of the Early 1960s: Central Bus Station and the Palace of Pioneers (Participation of Artists). [In Ukrainian]. Modern Problems of Research, Restoration and Preservation of Cultural Heritage, 10, 65-72. Retrieved from: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Spdr_2014_10_10

  8. Hryhorov, V. (2019). Transformations in Murals and Mosaics of Kyiv at the Turn of the 1950s-1960s and Their Influence on the Development of Monumental Painting. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian Academy of Art: Research and Methodological Works, 28, 90-97. https://doi.org/10.33838/naoma.28.2019.90-97

  9. Kohutiak, M. (2021). Mosaics of Modernist Artists Were Restored at the Central Bus Station. [In Ukrainian]. Rerieved from: https://www.village.com.ua/village/city/picture-story/314073-restavratsiya-mozayiki-na-tsentralnomu-avtovokzali

  10. Kovalevska, O. (2015). Space Liberation. Decommunization as Decolonization of the Visual Space of Ukrainian Cities. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://tyzhden.ua/zvilnennia-prostoru-dekomunizatsiia-iak-dekolonizatsiia-vizualnoho-prostoru-ukrainskykh-mist/

  11. Lefebvre, H. (1991). The Production of Space. Wiley-Blackwell.

  12. Shulha, O. (2009). Typology of the Categorial and Conceptual Apparatus of Phenomenological Sociology (last part). [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 4, 56-66. https://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2009-4/6.pdf

  13. Sikora, H. (2016). The Text of the City as a Linguistic Phenomenon. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainska Mova, 4, 122-135. Rerieved from: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Ukrm_2016_4_10

  14. Skliarenko, H. (2022). Ukrainian Mural Painting of the 1960s-1980s: Evolution of Artistic Language. [In Ukrainian]. Modern Art, 18, 175-188. https://doi.org/10.31500/2309-8813.18.2022.269727

  15. Soklakov, M. (2024). Monumental mosaics as places of memory in public spaces of Ukraine. Українські культурологічні студії, 1(14), 22-26. https://doi.org/10.17721/UCS.2024.1(14).03

  16. Soviet Mosaics in Ukraine. (2013). Retrieved from: https://sovietmosaicsinukraine.org/ua/

Received 19.03.2026

Accepted for publication after review 12.06.2026

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