Events map: concert in Khanenko, acoustic seminar on sociology, Kryvolap’s icons, Lada Verbina, Liudmyla Yastreb, Oleksandr Glyadyelov
17 april, 2024
Feature
Featured Art Events in Ukraine
"Practices of Recognition. The ‘Defloration’ exhibition" project
Dates: March 28, 2024 — April 28, 2024
Address: Kyiv, Lavrska Street, 28 (Mala Gallery of the Mystetskyi Arsenal)
Operating Hours: Wed–Sun, 12:00–19:00
Ticket Price: Free admission
Organizers: Laboratory of Contemporary Art "Mala Gallery of the Mystetskyi Arsenal"
Co-organizers: with the support of the Center for Urban History of East-Central Europe, Heorhii Kosovan, Oleksandr Soloviov, and Oleksandra Kushchenko
Curator: Anastasia Garazd
The exhibition is the result of the work of the Laboratory of Contemporary Art "Mala Gallery of the Mystetskyi Arsenal" as part of the broader project “Practices of Recognition.” Focusing on the study and understanding of the artistic process of the 1990s in Ukraine, it will consist of four cycles, each dedicated to a specific exhibition that significantly influenced the art community, artistic process, or institution. In this way, the organizers aim to create a platform for dialogue between different generations of artists and ensure the continuity of Ukrainian art.
The first event in the series focuses on the "Defloration" exhibition, which took place in 1990 at then Lenin Social and Cultural Center in Lviv. Initially, it did not gain much publicity, but later became a phenomenon for both contemporaries and the younger generation. According to a participant in the original exhibition Platon Sylvesterov, "defloration" means "permanent love," "infinity" that has no beginning or end. It is through this term that young artists Olya Yeremeyeva, Yeva Kafidova, Nastasiya Lelyuk, and Maria Matiashova contemplate the themes that concerned the participants of the 1990 project.
The first event in the series focuses on the "Defloration" exhibition, which took place in 1990 at then Lenin Social and Cultural Center in Lviv. Initially, it did not gain much publicity, but later became a phenomenon for both contemporaries and the younger generation. According to a participant in the original exhibition Platon Sylvesterov, "defloration" means "permanent love," "infinity" that has no beginning or end. It is through this term that young artists Olya Yeremeyeva, Yeva Kafidova, Nastasiya Lelyuk, and Maria Matiashova contemplate the themes that concerned the participants of the 1990 project.
"Ukrainian Diary 2022–2023" exhibition project
Dates: March 28, 2024 — April 28, 2024
Address: Kyiv, Khreshchatyk Street, 2 (National Center "Ukrainian House")
Operating Hours: Tue–Sun, 11:00–19:00
Ticket Price: 50/100 UAH (concessions available)
Organizer(s): National Center "Ukrainian House," Karas Gallery, ArtHuss Publishing
Co-organizer(s): with the support of Oschadbank and Visa
Curator: Yevhen Karas
The exhibition will present 375 works by 81 artists, created between 2022 and 2024. These works reflect on the personal experience of Russia's attack on Ukraine. The exhibition also includes essays and a retrospective of drawings from the multi-year project "A4, ballpoint pen." Founded by the Karas Gallery in 2006, this competition was suspended in 2020. The current project marks its revival.
"The post is gone already. A car comes once a week" exhibition by Lada Verbina
Dates: April 5, 2024 — April 28, 2024
Address: Kyiv, Luteranska Street, 6 (thesteinstudio)
Operating Hours: Thu–Sun, 11:00–19:00
Ticket Price: Free admission
Organizer(s): thesteinstudio
Curator: Milena Khomchenko
A personal project by artist Lada Verbina, consisting of painting, audio, and installations, reflects the sense of belonging to a place and the history of organic disappearance amid the aggressive disappearance due to the Russian war on Ukraine. "The post is gone already. A car comes once a week." — this is what the residents of the Stara Huta village in Khmelnytskyi region used to say, where Verbina's grandmother lived. Despite witnessing the gradual decline of the village, the artist hopes for its possible revival. Lada Verbina has long been working with themes of memories and archiving the past, as well as with images of food, particularly bread. The leading images in the exhibition at the thesteinstudio are walnuts, raised buns, earth relief, and coins from a swan-shaped piggy bank, which often serve as central elements of local traditions and rituals.
"Let the Dream Follow the Night" exhibition by Daniil Revkovskyi and Andrii Rachynskyi
Dates: April 6, 2024 — May 12, 2024
Address: Kyiv, Tereshchenkivska Street, 13 (Voloshyn Gallery)
Operating Hours: Wed–Sun, 11:00–18:00
Ticket Price: Free admission
Organizer(s): Voloshyn Gallery
Curator: Kseniia Malykh
The exhibition is a continuation of the "Tailings Dam" series, the first part of which was exhibited at the PinchukArtCentre, and the second at Voloshyn Gallery (both in 2021). The new works — collages, videos, and drawings on paper — tell the story of Klavdiia Chervonyk, who worked as a construction worker at Pivdenmash (Pivdennyi Machine-Building Plant, PMBP) from approximately 1945 to 1983. There, the protagonist built carrier rockets for nuclear weapons, which led her to experience a recurring nightmare: "a garden near the house, onto which different types of missiles produced by PMBP fall." The constant paranoia turned Klavdiia's life into hell and led to her suicide. This is part of the imaginary museum of the decline of human civilization created by Rachynskyi and Revkovskyi, which supposedly exists in the future.
Daniil Revkovskyi and Andrii Rachynskyi are a duo of Ukrainian artists who work in media such as video, photography, graphics, and installations. In their practice, they combine fictional and commemorative practices: in this controversial combination of approaches, the artists manage to sharply address issues of human and collective responsibility for historical events (including in the project "Mickey Mouse's Steppe", which we wrote about earlier).
Daniil Revkovskyi and Andrii Rachynskyi are a duo of Ukrainian artists who work in media such as video, photography, graphics, and installations. In their practice, they combine fictional and commemorative practices: in this controversial combination of approaches, the artists manage to sharply address issues of human and collective responsibility for historical events (including in the project "Mickey Mouse's Steppe", which we wrote about earlier).
Exhibition of painting and graphics by Liudmyla Yastreb
Dates: April 10, 2024 — April 21, 2024
Address: Kyiv, Taras Shevchenko Blvd., 12 (Taras Shevchenko National Museum)
Operating Hours: Tue–Sun, 10:00–18:00
Ticket Price: 60/130/200 UAH
Organizer(s): Taras Shevchenko National Museum
Liudmyla Yastreb (1945–1980) was a painter and graphic artist, a prominent member of the group of Odessa non-conformists and international exhibitions from 1969. Until 1964, she studied at the Odessa Art School named after Grekov. Her first solo exhibition opened in 1982 in Odessa.
The exhibition will present Yastreb's works, which show a connection with Early Renaissance art, icon painting, folk embroidery, and painting. The key image of her practice was light, associated with the philosophy of the "new order," where there are no boundaries between "beginning" and "end."
The exhibition will present Yastreb's works, which show a connection with Early Renaissance art, icon painting, folk embroidery, and painting. The key image of her practice was light, associated with the philosophy of the "new order," where there are no boundaries between "beginning" and "end."
"Foretypes" exhibition by Anatoly Kryvolap
Dates: April 11, 2024 — June 9, 2024
Address: Kyiv, Antonovycha Street, 102-104 (M17 CAC)
Operating Hours: Tue–Sun, 11:00–20:00
Ticket Price: 70/100 UAH
Organizer(s): M17 Contemporary Art Center
Co-organizer(s): Supported by Art Support Fund
Curator: Valeriy Sakharuk
The exhibition brings together abstract works characterizing Anatoly Kryvolap's creativity from the 1990s to the early 2000s, as well as icons created in 2023. The artist has undergone a long journey of experiments with form. Departing from the naturalistic school of his teacher Viktor Puzyrkov occurred around 1986 when Kryvolap "found his technique" while being part of the "Painting Reserve" art group, which focused on the idea of pure painting. Later, he delved even deeper into new techniques and methods, using building materials for texture and disrupting the composition of the painting. The idea of visual foretype — light — was explored by the artist in 2007. This led him to paint the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2014–2022. Curator of the exhibition Valeriy Sakharuk describes this experience as a fusion of the "metaphysics of color" with the metaphysics of spirit, which Kryvolap pursued throughout his life.
Opening: April 11 at 18:00. Admission by registration.
Opening: April 11 at 18:00. Admission by registration.
"Farewell of Slavianka" photo exhibition by Oleksandr Glyadelov
Dates: April 16, 2024 — May 19, 2024
Address: Kyiv, 62B Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street (White Space)
Operating Hours: Tue-Sun, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Ticket Price: Free admission
Organizer(s): Stedley Art Foundation
Curator: Oleg Sosnov
The project's title "Farewell of Slavianka" refers to the eponymous march of 1912, which quickly became the soundtrack of the imperial ambitions of the Russian army. From the early 1970s to the mid-2000s, trains to Moscow departed to this music from various cities of the post-Soviet space. In the occupied Simferopol and Sevastopol, this tradition remains relevant, just as it does in the Russian Federation, from where echelons of Russian soldiers depart daily for war.
For the award-winning photographer Oleksandr Glyadelov (born in 1956), this song has fundamentally changed its meaning: from a victory march in the Second World War, it has become the accompaniment to modern aggression, genocide, and destruction carried out by Russia. The exhibition "Farewell of Slavianka" is part of his struggle with internal contradictions and the acceptance of a new reality. The exhibition features documentary photos taken in Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, in the Donbas region, and during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
For the award-winning photographer Oleksandr Glyadelov (born in 1956), this song has fundamentally changed its meaning: from a victory march in the Second World War, it has become the accompaniment to modern aggression, genocide, and destruction carried out by Russia. The exhibition "Farewell of Slavianka" is part of his struggle with internal contradictions and the acceptance of a new reality. The exhibition features documentary photos taken in Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, in the Donbas region, and during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"Baroque Code 2.0" concert at the Khanenko Museum
Dates: April 18, 2024
Address: Kyiv, 15 Tereshchenkivska St. (Khanenko Museum)
Time: 18:00
Ticket Price: 200/300 UAH
Organizer(s): Khanenko Museum
As part of the "Through Secret Doors" program at the Khanenko Museum, a concert of Baroque music will take place. In addition to the opportunity to listen to the harpsichord within the museum walls, visitors will receive answers to questions about how musicians of the XVI–XVII centuries pursued diplomatic careers, how musical trends traveled through Europe, and what court scandals took place under the influence of music. In the "Baroque Code 2.0" program, harpsichordist Olena Zhukova will perform works by Scarlatti, Bortnyansky, Bach, Forqueray, and others.
"Pro memoria" project from the "Sorry No Rooms Available" residency
Dates: April 19, 2024
Address: Uzhhorod, 33a Kapitulna St. (Zakarpattia Regional Museum of Architecture and Lifestyle)
Time: 16:00
Ticket Price: Free admission
Organizer(s): "Sorry No Rooms Available" residency
Co-organizer(s): Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Uzhhorod, supported within the (re)connection UA 2023/24 program, implemented by the NGO "Museum of Contemporary Art" and Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund (UEAF) in partnership with UNESCO and financed through the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund
Curator: Petro Ryaska
The project of the "Sorry No Rooms Available" residency, curated by Petro Ryaska for many years, focuses on the role of culture and architecture in the situation of total existential war and the centuries-old imperial policy of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The one-day exhibition is an attempt to comprehend the contradictory aspects of Ukrainian heritage policy, such as the significance of Soviet cultural heritage and monuments of that era (are they evidence of the past or living conduits of ideology?). The project seeks to preserve the value of critical memory and rid the heritage of the USSR of its colonial imperial past.
"Sociology and Art: Forgotten Dialogue" acoustic seminar
Dates: April 24, 2024
Address: Kyiv, Volodymyrska Street, 60 (Red Building, Taras Shevchenko National University)
Time: 17:30
Ticket Price: Admission by registration
Organizer(s): Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
The seminar focuses on the connection between sociological and artistic thinking and imagination. As claimed by the lecturer, sociologist Volodymyr Sheliukhin, they have been linked since the inception of sociology as a science, for which art is like a "childbirth trauma left by Romanticism." The key focus of the event is the Ukrainian Sociological Institute (USI) in Prague, which existed from 1924 to 1939. Here, some of the first specialists of the young science worked, particularly on dialogue with art. Throughout history, they inspired and mutually transformed each other, which can be traced through two figures — sociologist, director of USI Mykyta Shapoval and composer, USI member Fedir Yakymenko.
The acoustic part of the seminar will be provided by pianist Pavlo Lysyi, who has been studying Yakymenko's heritage in recent years. The performer will play piano pieces by Fedir Yakymenko from the "Prague period." The event is held on the occasion of the 190th anniversary of Kyiv University (1834) and the centenary of the Ukrainian Sociological Institute in Prague (1924).
"Boryfest. Inspired by Alla Horska" festival
Dates: April 24, 2024 — April 28, 2024
Address: Kyiv, 2 Khreshchatyk St. (National Center "Ukrainian House")
Operating hours: 16:00–19:00
Organizer(s): National Center "Ukrainian House", "Dukat" art foundation
Co-organizer(s): in cooperation with the Alla Horska and Viktor Zaretsky Foundation. Project partners and the annual program of the Ukrainian House: JSC "Oschadbank", Visa
"Boryfest" is the result of the success of the exhibition "Boryviter. Alla Horska," which introduced the figure of the Ukrainian artist to tens of thousands of people. The festival, born from ideas and initiatives of exhibition visitors, will present works of reflection, dedications, historical evaluations, and family memories of Alla Horska.
The program includes tours, a chamber opera by DakhTrio and GogolFest, a performance by choreographer Khrystyna Shyshkarova, a performance by the "Kyiv" chamber choir (conductor Mykola Hobdych), a piano concert by composer and sound artist Oleksiy Shmurak, public interviews with writer Oksana Zabuzhko and artist Olena Zaretska (head of the Alla Horska and Viktor Zaretsky Foundation, granddaughter of Alla Horska). Events will take place every evening from Wednesday, April 24, to Sunday, April 28, from 16:00 to 19:00. The detailed program will be announced later.
Ukrainian Projects Abroad
"Net Making": Ukrainian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
Dates: April 20, 2024 — November 24, 2024
Address: Italy, Venice, Arsenale, Sale d'Armi, building A, 1st floor
Operating hours: daily, 11:00–19:00 (from April 20 to September 30), 10:00–18:00 (from October 1 to November 24)
Ticket price: Entrance with festival ticket (10/15/20/30/40 EUR)
Organizer(s): Ukrainian Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale
Curators: Victoria Bavykina, Max Gorbatskiy
The title "Net Making" refers to the practice of creating camouflage nets to protect against enemy reconnaissance systems. For the Ukrainian Pavilion, this is a symbol of our society, which develops self-organized networks of mutual support to assist the Ukrainian army. There will be no actual nets in the pavilion. Instead, four art projects by six artists, related to different communities, will be presented. They will all work as facilitators of the artistic process, collecting diverse experiences of Ukrainians both at home and abroad.
"Work" by Oleksandr Burlaka is a traditional embroidered homespun fabric that serves as a background for personal stories about war. Katya Buchatska's project "Best Wishes," based on collaboration with 15 neurodiverse artists, explores the transformation of language in life-threatening conditions through a reimagining of clichéd greetings and wishes, which often are empty conventions rather than genuine necessities. The duo of Daniil Revkovskyi and Andrii Rachynskyi will present the project "Civilians. Invasion" — an archive of found videos shot by ordinary citizens before and after the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories. Lia Dostlieva and Andrii Dostliev will showcase an ironic exploration of stereotypes and expectations from refugees titled "Comfort Work," for which the duo engaged Ukrainian communities across Europe. The curatorial team emphasizes that all these works reinforce each other and are less about being artworks themselves. Rather, they are manifestations of the reality that speaks for itself.
"Work" by Oleksandr Burlaka is a traditional embroidered homespun fabric that serves as a background for personal stories about war. Katya Buchatska's project "Best Wishes," based on collaboration with 15 neurodiverse artists, explores the transformation of language in life-threatening conditions through a reimagining of clichéd greetings and wishes, which often are empty conventions rather than genuine necessities. The duo of Daniil Revkovskyi and Andrii Rachynskyi will present the project "Civilians. Invasion" — an archive of found videos shot by ordinary citizens before and after the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories. Lia Dostlieva and Andrii Dostliev will showcase an ironic exploration of stereotypes and expectations from refugees titled "Comfort Work," for which the duo engaged Ukrainian communities across Europe. The curatorial team emphasizes that all these works reinforce each other and are less about being artworks themselves. Rather, they are manifestations of the reality that speaks for itself.
"Repeat After Me II": Polish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
Dates: April 20, 2024 — November 24, 2024
Address: Italy, Venice, Giardini della Biennale Sestiere Castello, 30122
Operating hours: daily, 11:00–19:00 (from April 20 to September 30), 10:00–18:00 (from October 1 to November 24)
Ticket price: Entrance with festival ticket (10/15/20/30/40 EUR)
Organizer(s): Polish Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale
Curator: Marta Czyż
Artists from Ukraine — Open Group — will represent Poland at the 60th Venice Biennale. They will present the project "Repeat After Me II," depicting a collective portrait of witnesses of the Russian war against Ukraine. The work of Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, and Anton Varga is an audiovisual installation based on studying interactions between people affected by Russian aggression. In it, the group creates so-called "open situations": witnesses recount their war experience, vocalizing the sounds of rocket explosions, gunfire, artillery shelling, and screams — and invite others to repeat after them. "Repeat after Me" was filmed in 2022 and 2024 — in a refugee camp near Lviv and beyond Ukraine. However, these sounds remain part of the trauma even outside the territory of immediate danger. The Open Group aims to convey this shared experience to an international audience, regardless of age, background, professional and social status, etc.
"From Ukraine: Brave to Dream" exhibition within the Venice Biennale
Dates: April 20, 2024 — August 1, 2024
Address: Italy, Venice, Sestiere Dorsoduro, 874, 30123 (Palazzo Contarini Polignac)
Operating Hours: Tue–Sun, 10:00–18:00
Ticket Price: Admission with festival ticket
Organizer(s): Victor Pinchuk Foundation and PinchukArtCentre
Curators: Bjorn Geldhof, Ksenia Malykh, Oleksandra Pohrebniak
The exhibition "From Ukraine: Brave to Dream," which is part of the parallel program of the 2024 Venice Biennale, tells the story of a glimmer of hope for a better future after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The exhibition presents a narrative about the "blossoming of fragile human personality" despite the horrors of the world. The works of Ukrainian and international artists here "attest to the harsh realities of war, preserving seeds of hope."
Preview days for the exhibition are on April 17 and 19, from 10:00 to 18:00.
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