By Evgenia Mussuri, Kyiv Post Staff Writer

Organizers of an original Ukrainian opera titled "Moses" are complaining that they are receiving little support from advertisers, ostensibly because the opera has received support from the Vatican and because the premiere is timed to coincide with the visit of Pope John Paul II.

"Moses" is based on an Ivan Franko poem. It is an allegory between the Jews tribulations in the desert and Ukrainians' tribulations under the Russian Empire.

Add to those tribulations the ones borne by the opera's supporters, who have discovered that advertising and art with religious overtones can be a touchy combination.

It has taken the artists several years to stage the opera. After an attempt to produce the three-hour performance in Lviv a year ago failed, Myroslav Skoryk, the show's artistic director and composer, asked the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to underwrite the performance. They got the cash they needed and a papal blessing for their work as well.

A handful of other sponsors followed: West Ukrainian Commerce Bank (a branch of Poland's Kredyt Bank), Pro-W Ukraine and Brocard.

The Vatican's sponsorship, ho3wever, has spooked many potential corporate sponsors.

"Most of the companies we addressed refused us," Anna Lazurenko, the administrator of the opera production group said. "Some of them gave us vague reasons for it, some did not give any reasons."

For the most part, organizers have found that prospective advertisers are unwilling to have anything to do with the pope. They did not want to become embroiled in the heated conflict between the Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches on one side and between the Moscow Patriarchate and Kyiv Patriarchate on the other, Lazurenko said.

"Advertisers do not participate in political and religious projects." Said Julia Falyush, account media manager at Zenith Media. "It is a normal and widespread practice."

Advertisers shun divisive religious and political projects because they fear potential customers will infer that they are tacitly endorsing the content.

Falyush said that Zenith Media clients approached to sponsor the Pontiff's visit declined for just such reasons.

Though "Moses" is only indirectly involved with religion, the policy was applied to it since the Vatican was the first to sponsor it.

"Some of the companies said they did not want to have anything to do with the pope, and this is sad, because we are talking about mere art here," Lazurenko remarked. "It is very said that the Vatican cares more about Ukrainian culture than our companies."

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The global marketing communications company Cordiant announced earlier this month that it had entered into a definitive agreement under which Scholz and Friends Group GmbH would merge with United Visions Entertainment AG (UVE). Scholz & Friends is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cordiant. UVE produces live entertainment programs for television and the Internet.

Evgenia Mussuri can be reached at gen@kyivpost.com

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