KYLYM. CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN ARTISTS 2015-2016

KYLYM

A NATIONAL ART PROJECT KYLYM. CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN ARTISTS

It is extremely difficult to predict the future, especially in our country. For some fields, it is simply impossible.

However, making forecasts for contemporary art is more or less realistic.

To find out how Ukrainian art will look tomorrow, it is enough to study the works created by young artists today.

This is what Igor Abramovych and Oleksandr Soloviov, project curators, tried to do in “The Carpet. Contemporary Ukrainian Artists”.

The idea of the project turned out to be both simpler and harder than the participants thought in the beginning. The artists were to use ethnical motives to reflect on contemporary issues.

And their works ended up confirming the belief which has always been on the surface: the value of contemporary art is in reflecting the situation we live in every day; this art demonstrates what is happening here and now. However,

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“The Carpet” made both participants and viewers go deeper and look closer to understand that one has to know one’s past to build the future.

Because only then it will be possible not just to follow the history and traditions but to interpret them.

And this is something that contemporary art can do best — due to its changeable and flexible nature as well as the ability to look both in the past and in the future.

ZENKO AFTANAZIV Founder of Zenko Foundation

Traditionally, weaved fabric and ornaments in carpets had various meanings associated with the general world outlook and important life events.

Similarly to the carpet which always has two sides, face and back, contemporary art interprets diferent components of the reality ­— aesthetics and ideology, the positive and the negative, the front and the reverse.

In The Carpet project, the statements of young Ukrainian artists are joined in a single concept. They are different in content and nature but still form one weaved fabric filled with symbols; it contains authentic features along with present-day reality, constituting the picture of the contemporary natural culture in its historic continuity.

IGOR ABRAMOVYCH co-curator

The eternally relevant topics of life and death, changeability of human fate coded in carpet ornaments become even acuter today in the current extremely dramatic and stormy existence of our country. Ukrainian contemporary art is now also in a permanent transitional period. The new young artists who appeared on the Ukrainian art scene are searching for their voices in a paradoxical manner, i.e., by openly stating the ideas of aesthetic autonomy. The refusal from publicity becomes all the more apparent; it has been substituted with self-immersion when direct political reference mutates into biological policy, which means that existential issues are pertinent yet again.

Such torn-up mind disrupts and confuses the stable state of things causing an almost disastrous convergence, which allows to reflect different times and outlook models on the same surface, in their extremely compressed and speedy historic interaction.

Artistic statements form a multi-dimensional “carpet” full of symbols: an organism brimming with life, changeable in its continuous movement but perfectly self-sufficient.

OLEKSANDR SOLOVIOV c0-сurator

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PARTICIPANTS

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Apl315 Kateryna Berlova Nazar Bilyk Daria Koltsova Anton Logov Tetiana Malinovska Roman Minin Anna Mironova Roman Mykhailov Zoia Orlova Sergii Petliuk Yurii Pikul Stepan Riabchenko Oleksii Sai Anna Sorokovaya Andrii Sydorenko Myroslav Vaida Artem Volokitin Oleksii Yalovega Oleksii Zolotariov 06

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APL315 Series of paintings devoted to the classic motives in the old school graffiti style of the post-Soviet art.

6 Born 1986 in Krasnodar. Graffiti artist, “writer”, painter.

Working as a street artist since late 1990s, as a painter since 2006. Mostly lives and works in Odesa, travels the world.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “ART WORK”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Galeria Dworcowa, Wroclaw; “Bad Taste”, Port creative hub, Kyiv.

2016 “#StandBy”, Kyiv National Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv; “From the Common Root”, Clementovitse / Small Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2015 “Enfant Terrible. Conceptual Art of Odesa”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Odesa, Odesa / National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv; “TOP 10 Young Artists of Odesa”, HudPromo Art Gallery, Odesa.

2014 “Fake Hikers”, Changdong National Art Studio, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; “No Idea”, V9 Gallery, Warsaw.

2013 “The Power of IT and Life of Genius”, Museum “Spiritual Treasures of Ukraine”, Kyiv; “Hype”, Kicik QalArt Gallery, Baku.

2012 “On the Road”, Changdong National Art Studio, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; “The Gold Exhibition”, Austrian Kultur Forum, Warsaw.

2011 “NEZALEZHNIndependent 1991-2011”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Edition II”, Another Vacant Space, Berlin; “Space Odyssey”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2010 “Black Stars On A White Sky”, Chateau de Sacy, Paris.

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HIP-HOP series acrylic on canvas, 2016

KATERYNA BERLOVA / AFTER THE LANDSCAPE / In my memory, the carpet is an object of luxury, a way to decorate your environment. Discarding its purely utilitarian function, the carpet has moved from the floor to the wall, becoming an object of décor instead of a household item. The carpet becomes a square on the wall, a color spot, transforms into an object of leisure, like a painting. I bring expressive methods to a minimum, using open colors and simple shapes in my works. This is how I purify my paintings from any imagery and, quite possibly, from a “picturesque feel” in general. However, absolute liberation is impossible, and it seems that these abstract maps are about to transform into a regular landscape. The series of objects continues this topic: abstract forms remind the audience of something, but their role remains unpronounced.

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Born 1986 in Dnipropetrovsk. Painter, video and installation artist, sculptor.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “We Hope For an Understanding on Your Part”, Closer Art Center, Kyiv; “Babe”,

Dymchuk Gallery, Kyiv; “SWAP: UK/Ukraine”, Small Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2016 “Horizon of Events”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “De Ne De”, State Scientific and Technical

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2014 2013

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Library of Ukraine, Kyiv.

“We Always Talk About Some Topic”, in collaboration with Atshushi Yamamoto (Japan), Small Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Cell”, Struve Municipal Museum, Struve; “The Directory. Volume 1”, Art Center “Ongoing”, Tokyo; “Another theory”, Kaleidoskop haz, Esztergom; “DIALOGIA”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Kateryna Bilokur. I Want to Be an Artist!”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

“War/SHE”, Magellan shopping mall, Kharkiv.

“Introversion”, Center of Modern Art М17, Kyiv; “Roads”, Experimental Center for ContemporaryArt “Tea Factory”, Odesa; “Distance”, Small gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

“Yin”, Contemporary Art Center, Kyiv.

After the Landscape 1

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acrylic on canvas, 2016

After the Landscape 2 acrylic on canvas, 2016

NAZAR BILYK / MEMORY CONSTRUCTOR / This is a project of a monument: a four-meter cube made of dark metal. It is an augmented copy of children’s constructor kit for modeling prototypes of military equipment and soldier figures. The constructor allows making your own army.

The project of the monument is a way to document, store and transmit information about the historic path we are on right now. We look at the world through computer monitors and TV screens where a certain angle on events is broadcast to us.

We have learned to treat information critically but still cannot distance ourselves from it. By enclosing a certain territory in a cube guarded by the usual weaponry I propose to independently construct our reality and the memories of it.

Every one of us has to come to their own solution: either to make this constructor kit into something or to 10 leave it in the form the monument demonstrates.

Born 1979 in Lviv. Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine since 2005.

Sculptor, author of artworks in public space. Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Show Promise”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv; “OPEN AIR Contemporary Art Exhibition”,

Galerie d’Anières, Geneva.

2016 “Transformation”, Kunst und Film Biennale Worpswede, Worpswede; “Modern Classics.

Artworks from Zenko Foundation collection”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv;

“Spirit of Time”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2015 “Ukraine. Transformation of the Modern”, Österreichisches Museum für Volkskunde, Vienna;

“Ukrainian contemporary art. From Private Collections”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv;

“Museum collection. Ukrainian contemporary art 1985–2015. From private collections”,

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2014 “Ukrainian Landscape”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Freedom Square”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv;

“Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now”, Saatchi Gallery, London.

2013 “Sculpture PRO sculpture”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Ukraine Today”, Czech Cultura Center, Prague.

2012 “Counterforms”, Bottegа Gallery, Kyiv.

2011 “Spaces”, Black Square Gallery, Miami.

2010 “Dream Catcher”, Festival of Contemporary Art, Miami.

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Memory Constructor polymer materials, acrylic, 2016

DARIA KOLTSOVA / EXILE FROM HEAVEN / “Take only the most important things. Take the letters. Take only the things you can carry yourself.

Take towels and icons, silver knives, wooden crucifixes and gilded replicas.

Take bread and vegetables from your garden, then go. We won’t ever come back here.

We won’t ever see our cities. Take the letters. All of them.

Down to the last angry letter.”

Sergiy Zhadan, 2014

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Born 1987 in Kharkiv. Artist, performer, curator, works in installation, media art, interactive projects. Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “ART WORK”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Galeria Dworcowa, Wroclaw; “NO NEWS, BUT I DON’T BELIEVE”, Sofiivska square, Kyiv; “Love. сontemporary”, Kyiv history museum, Kyiv Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2016 “Horizon of Events”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “What is Your Name?”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Tale of Tales”, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv; “10�YOUNG”, Voloshyn Gallery, Kyiv.

2015 “DIALOGIA”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Coefficient of Independence”, America House Kyiv, Kyiv; “Decompression”, The Church of Saint-Merri, Paris / Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Art for Life”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2014 “IX Art Kyiv Contemporary”, project “Elements of Reality”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “War/SHE”, Magelan shopping mall, Kharkiv; “Long Way to Freedom”, Ukrainian Institute of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

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Exile from Heaven mixed media, 2016

ANTON LOGOV / MATCH POINT /

I really like playing table tennis. That is why I used this game as a metaphor for everything happening now.

This is the deciding round, and the time has stopped. It exists only in written letters and objects; it is reflected in the mirrors.

Whether the past or the future is reflected is a good question.

The red color is the border point of tension and at the same time a symbol of protest. Against all and possibly even against one’s own actions.

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Born 1984, Rozdilna, Odesa region. Works in painting, installation, collage.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Show Promise”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv; “Mold”, Ya Gallery, Kyiv.

2016 “Spirit of Time”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv; “Recipe for Utopia”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv.

2015 “Fest-I-Nova”, National Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi; “UK/raine”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “DIALOGIA”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Coefficient of Independence”, American House Kyiv, Kyiv.

2014 “Climate Control”, Ya Gallery, Kyiv; “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “Rebranding /Dome Crosses”, Ukrainian Catholic University Gallery of Contemporary Art, Lviv.

2013 “Industrial Eden”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Great Retrospective of Young Artist”, Zhovti Velykany Gallery, Odesa.

2012 “Geo”, Ya Gallery, Dnipropetrovsk; “Synchronicity”, Ya Gallery, Kyiv.

2011 “Space Odyssey 2011”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Genofond. Pinakothek”, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Vilnius.

2010 “Distances”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv.

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Match Point mixed media, 2016

TETIANA MALINOVSKA / TRADITIONAL SOLUTION / The beginning and the end of the rhythm form a labyrinth of sorts. The human gaze travels in jerks, revealing new and new details, moving away from the goal and approaching it again.

This is a game. Nobody knows whose the rules are and where this trace will lead. This is a travel into the subconscious creating a beautiful parallel reality enabling one to reconsider and start everything from scratch. The carpet is presented as a tradition.

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Born 1980 in Odesa. Works in painting, installation and textile art.

Lives and works in Kharkiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “LOVE.contemporary”, Kyiv history museum, Kyiv; “Land as Non / Subject”, Contemporary Art Center M17, Kyiv; “New Perspectives: 8 Contemporary Artist from Ukraine”, Voloshyn Gallery, Kyiv.

2016 “Circle of Communication”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Principles and Feelings”, Underground Art Gallery, Odesa; “Unknown”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv / Yermilov Center, Kharkiv.

2015 “New Perspectives: 8 Contemporary Artist from Ukraine”, Ukrainian Institute in America, New York; “Coefficient of Independence”, American House Kyiv, Kyiv; “TOY STORY”, Voloshyn Gallery, Kyiv.

2014 “New Ukrainian Dream”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Freedom Square”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Motherland”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Art Center of O. Korobchinsky, Odesa.

2013 “Fluctuation”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Traditional Decision”, Union of Artists of Ukraine, Kharkiv.

2012 “Landscape”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Station Kharkiv”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2011 “Collective Dreams”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

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“Painted”, Maestro Gallery, Kharkiv; “Distances”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv.

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Traditional Solution oil on canvas, 2016

ROMAN MININ / CARPET OF PROMISES / The carpet of promises is a search for sacral motivators and their plastic structuring via the common method of weaving a carpet. This is the creation of common material which unites and not divides us. By “common material” I mean the awareness that all people in the world are the same, and their aspirations and cultures are similar in many aspects. The ornaments of our nations are interweaved in a single temporal space.

We are creating one carpet together; our lives become woven into a single process, and we depend on each other.

18 Born 1981 in Dymytriv. Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine since 2009.

Painter, graphic artist, street artist, photographer, author of objects and installations in public space.

Member and organizer of street art festivals. Lives and works in Kharkiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Show Promise”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv; “ART WORK”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Galeria

Dworcowa, Wroclaw; “Ukrainian Contemporary Art. From Private Collections”, Modern Art

Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2016 “Spirit of Time”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv; “Miner’s Folklore, in Memorial”,

Contemporary Art Center М17, Kyiv; “Identity. Over the Veil of Uncertainty”,

National Art Museumof Ukraine, Kyiv.

2015 “Museum Collection. Ukrainian Contemporary Art 1985-2015 from private collections”,

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Just Art”, ARTVERA’S ART GALLERY, Geneva.

2014 “Slovenia/ART scanning”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Through the Maidan and Beyond”,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna.

2013 “Contemporary Ukrainian Artists”, Saatchi Gallery, London;

“Plan to Escape From the Donetsk Region”, Small project gallery, Tromso.

2012 “Plan to Escape From the Donetsk Region”, Gallery SINNERGI art, Rome / Palazzo Cantagalli,

Foligno; “Construction. From Constructivism to Contemporary. Kharkiv ХХ – ХХІ”, Yermilov

Center, Kharkiv.

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“Plan to Escape From the Donetsk Region”, Kharkiv Municipal Gallery, Kharkiv.

“Distances”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv.

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Carpet of Promises mixed media, 2016

ANNA MIRONOVA / THE PASTORAL / Each of the one-meter squares in my work consists of the fragments of my early oil paintings. From the very beginning, they are landscapes. Having cut them into equal 20�20 cm parts and arranged in a certain order, I compiled color tables of sorts.

By losing their initial real component, the works acquire an abstract meaning and convey a sense of regularity, the fluidity of existence in the natural environment. If you find the initial position of each fragment, like in a puzzle, the abstract square will live its former real life again.

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Born 1977 in Kyiv. Member of the Union of Designers of Ukraine since 2007, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine since 2008. Works in painting, graphics, objects, photography.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Fixation of Imaginary”, National Museum of Taras Shevchenko, Kyiv; “Between Strokes”,

Ya Gallery, Kyiv.

2016 “Abstraction: Beyond the Obvious”, Kyiv National Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv;

“Transformation”, Kunst und Film Biennale Worpswede, Worpswede; “Graphite”,

Henry Bowman Art Gallery, Lviv; “Horizon of Events”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2015 “Green Life”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv;

“DIALOGIA”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “The Coefficient of Independence”, America House Kyiv,

Kyiv; “Silent Project”, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv; “Abstraction VS Reality”, Art Center

“Gallery Ilko”, Uzhgorod.

2014 “In Our Paradise”, Ya Gallery, Dnipropetrovsk; “Elements of Reality”,

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Art Center “Gallery Ilko”, Uzhgorod; “Ukrainian Landscape.

On the Other Side of Despair”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Blinded by Beauty”,

Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2013 2012

“Disorientations”, Ya Gallery, Kyiv.

“Shadow of the Grass”, Ya Gallery, Dnipropetrovsk / Kyiv.

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Pastoral mixed media, 2016

ROMAN MYKHAILOV / STOLEN FLIGHT / Birds that don’t fly. Those who lost their sense of route, kin, and ability to soar to heights. Brought down by their own weight and helplessness, some of them frozen in immovable postures, others still trying to fly; another lonely bird is screaming with despair. Can there be something worse than being a bird and not flying?

A bird without a flight is a symbol of lost hopes, movement without a predetermined destination, a metaphor of post-traumatic state of the contemporary society.

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Born 1989 in Kharkiv. Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine since 2010.

Works in installation, collage, photo and video art, painter. Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “ART WORK”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Galeria Dworcowa, Wroclaw; “Ukrainian contemporary

art. From Private Collections”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of

Ukraine, Kyiv; “Show Promise”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv; “Beyond the Myth. Amazons”,

with the project “Burns of Reality”, “LEM station” Tram Depot, Lviv.

2016 “Horizon of Events”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Recipe for Utopia”, Modern Art Research Institute

of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Clouded Lands”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv;

“Stolen Flight”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2015 “UK/raine”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “DIALOGIA”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Decompression”,

Church of Saint-Merri, Paris; “Philosophy of Migration”, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv.

2014 “I am a Drop in the Ocean”, Kunstlerhaus, Vienna; “Reliability Theory”, Modern Art Research

Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Civic Mysticism”, Modern Art

Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2013

“Self-management”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Odesa.

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Stolen Flight watercolour on paper, 2016

ZOIA ORLOVA / POMEGRANATES / Partial or full suspension of external impact on the five senses causes the decrease in the flow of impulses to central nervous system and brings human beings into a state of sensory deprivation, leaving them alone with their thoughts and feelings.

Grenades tune the audience into concentrated observation, which can lead to a similar state. Some viewers may associate saturated colors combined with amazing ornaments with passion and love; others may see a hidden threat and a reference to weapons of war. The associations depend on the internal state of the person under the influence of the painting.

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Born 1981 in Kyiv. Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine since 2008.

Painter, works with large formats. Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Fixation of Imaginary”, National Museum of Taras Shevchenko, Kyiv.

2016 “Horizon of Events”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Recipe for Utopia”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Unknown”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv / Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Tango in a Crazy House”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2014 “The Show Within The Show”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “WAR/SHE”, Magelan shopping mall,

Kharkiv; “Blinded by Beauty”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of

Ukraine, Kyiv.

2013 “Art. Design Photography”, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv.

2012 “21 Points”, Gallery “On Institutskaya”, Kyiv; “Painting Only. The Newest Ukrainian Figurative”,

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Puzzle”, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv.

2011 “Independent”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Space Odyssey”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Sphere of

Influence”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Mary’s Dream”, Bottega Gallery, Kyiv.

2010 “Di culties of Translation”, Gallery “On Institutska”, Kyiv; “Children’s Verandas”, Small Gallery of

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Substantity and Temporality”, “Triptych” Gallery, Kyiv.

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Pomegranates oil on canvas, 2016

SERHII PETLIUK / ELEMENTARY MANIPULATION / The project consists of separate objects and video installations which have nothing in common at first glance. These works are examples of simple physical /mechanic manipulations with the found or personal objects and body: insignificant external intervention in the “life” of these objects changes their content and meaning. With the help of simple actions on simple objects, I try to understand /reveal the complicated mechanisms of managing life via human conscience. How, through the substitution of one matrix unit with the other, the content of “life” readily changes as it functions in the boundaries defined by the matrix.

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Born 1981 in Ivano-Frankivsk. Works in media art, video, installation.

Lives and works in Lviv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Show Promise”, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv; “Ecce Homo”, Center of Andrii Sheptytskyi, Lviv;

“The Gull. Reminiscence 1992-2017”, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv; “Chech ( ow). Individual Articulations”,

Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2016 “Transformation”, Kunst-und Film Biennale Worpswede, Worpswede; “Ukrainian Cross-Section:

reCREATION”, Kamienica, Rynek, Wroclaw; “Spirit of Time”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2015 “UK/RAINE”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “DIALOGIA”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Decompression”,

Church of Saint-Merri, Paris / Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of

Ukraine, Kyiv.

2014 “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Today”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “Stand by”, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv.

2013 “Live Landscape”, Kordegarda Gallery, Warsaw.

2012 “Empty city”, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton.

2011 “Just So Stories”, as a part of “Revolutionary Art of Tbilisi”, Tbilisi.

2010 “Those Who Came In 2000”, Contemporary Art Center М17, Kyiv; “Breathing”,

Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv.

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Elementary Manipulation mixed media, 2016

YURII PIKUL / DEAD BEES DON’T BUZZ / This series of works is first of all a landscape and about a landscape, more exactly about its uselessness, impossibility and at the same time about an attempt to make it possible.

This is an attempt to reanimate old medium, painting, the language of which cannot be a part of pertinent arts anymore. This is also an attempt to give a “new body” to a landscape as a genre. In this case, it is the body of minimalism and LeWitt’s conceptualism.

Geometric structures built according to the principle of juxtaposing pairs of opposites demonstrate that the landscape is devoid of the function of bringing aesthetic pleasure or emotional outbursts; instead, it is an expression of elementary math “formulas”, i.e., ideas. In this work, I totally reject the skills of a painter but still create a painting or, more precisely, a statement about a painting.

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Born 1983 in Kyiv. Painter.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Forest Strip 92 km. Borders of the Landscape”, “Dukat” Gallery, Kyiv.

2016 “Botanics”, Kyiv Municipal Gallery “Lavra”, Kyiv.

2015 “Museum Collection. Ukrainian Contemporary Art 1985-2015 From Private Collections”,

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “UK/RAINE”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “Ukrainian Contemporary Art.

From Private Collections”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv; “Searching For the Equator”,

ІМВ Hall Art Gallery, Kyiv.

2014 “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Today”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “OURS”, Yermilov Center,

Kharkiv / Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2013 “For the Sad Inhabitants of the Earth”, Small Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

“Plates”, Karas Gallery, Kyiv; “NeoUSSR”, 8bit Gallery, Kyiv; “Dialogue”, “Lvivarna” art space, Lviv.

2012 “Unnoticed People”, Gallery “On Institutska”, Kyiv; “Route Taxists”, Gallery “On Institutska”, Kyiv.

2011 “The Word”, Ya Gallery, Kyiv.

2010 “Torn Necklace”, Ya Gallery, Kyiv; “Things”, Karas Gallery, Kyiv.

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Dead beez don’t buzz oil on canvas, 2016

STEPAN RIABCHENKO / VIRTUAL FLOWERS CYCLE / Artists are weavers of their own worlds, with their own images and characters. The character of my new work “Honey Plant” is a plant that insects collect nectar from to transform it into sweet honey. Everyone looks for this source in their lives; everyone defines it independently, and to everyone, this source gives what they need.

30 Born 1987 in Odesa. Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine since 2010.

Works in digital painting, installation, sculpture. Lives and works in Odesa.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Sounds of Silence”, Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, Odesa;

“Virtual Garden”, DOne, Baku; “Computer Viruses”, L.A.B.S., Dnipropetrovsk; “Private Collection.

Ukrainian Contemporary Artists”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts

of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2016 “Virtual Mythology”, Art Ukraine Gallery, Kyiv; “Modern Classics. Artworks from

Zenko Foundation collection”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2015 “Enfant Terrible. Conceptual Art of Odessa”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Odesa, Odesa /

National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Museum collection. Ukrainian contemporary art

1985-2015. From Private Collections”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “3rd Danube Biennale”,

Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava.

2014 “Long Path to Freedom”, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago; “Ukraine. Archetype

of Freedom”, Novomatic Forum, Vienna.

2013 “The Odesa School. Tradition and Currency”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2012 “The Myth. Ukrainian Baroque”, National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2011 “Space Odyssey”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2010 “Abstract Art of Odesa”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Odesa, Odesa.

2009 “Restart”, Marine Art Terminal, Odesa.

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Greenwalking Dendriform from the series “Virtual Flowers�, 2012-2016 / chromogenic print, plastification

OLEKSII SAI / LANDSCAPE WITH TRACES OF EXPLOSIONS / I created this series of three works during Ilovaysk and Debaltseve events when I couldn’t do anything else.

I took old works, scratched maps of these locations on them and drilled holes where shells exploded.

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Born 1975 in Kyiv. Works in genres of digital painting, installation, photography.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Lost or found“, Bunsen Goertz Gallery, Nuremberg; “Trading Illusions”,

National Taras Shevchenko Museum, Kyiv.

2016 “Ukrainian Cross-Section: reCREATION”, Chorna Kamyanytsia, Wroclaw; “Spirit of Time”,

Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2015 “Excel-Art. Kalkulierte Kunst”, Bunsen Goetz Galerie, Nuremberg; “Excel-Аrt. Calculative Art ”,

the Microsoft company office, Berlin; “Ukrainian Contemporary Art. From Private Collections”,

Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2014 “Maidan. Ukraine. The Road to Freedom”, Ukrainian Institute in America, New York;

“Motherland”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Art center of O. Korobchinsky, Odesa.

2013 “Matrix/Collective Memory”, Black Square Gallery, Miami; “Terrain Targeting”, National Art

Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2012 “Excel-Аrt”, Black Square Gallery, Miami.

2011 “NEZALEZHNIndependent 1991-2011”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2010 “All Colors of Our Monitor”, Small Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Picture’s Manager”,

Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2009 “Without Brain Or 200 Terabits and 11 USBs”, “Arka” gallery, Vilnius.

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Landscape With Traces of Explosions mixed media, 2015

ANNA SOROKOVAYA / REWARD / Internal décor of cases is the main object, which looks seductive but also somewhat pathological at the same time.

It fills the whole internal space, even “borrowing” from it.

The form becomes the essence, and the content is an attractive emptiness.

34

Born 1980 in Simferopol. Author of objects and installations.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 «Soshenko � Tokonoma», documenta 14, Kassel.

2016 «Slavkeramproduct. Working With Material», the Local History Museum, Slovyansk;

«De Ne De», Institute of Scientific, Technical and Economic Information («UFO» building), Kyiv.

2015 «Common Frontier», Kyiv Biennial, Soshenko 33 Art Studios, Kyiv; «UK/RAINE», Saatchi Gallery,

London; «DIALOGIA», Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2014 «Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now», Saatchi Gallery, London;

«Awareness of the Opportunities», Small Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2013 «Habitat», Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv.

2012 «Illusory Body», Bottegа Gallery, Kyiv.

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Reward installation, wood, velvet, satin, 2016

ANDRII SYDORENKO / DEFENDER OF CULTURAL PHOBIA / What is modernity? The mind suggests visual associations with technological development. The associations with ethnical traditions can be just as selective. The more these images strengthen widespread stereotypes, the better fit they are for inferior pride or ungrounded phobias. In keeping their stereotypes safe from destruction, people are often divided, similarly to sports teams, by available cultural contexts and symbols. Few of them ask themselves, however: how do sociocultural changes actually influence thinking?

How could the people in the past do without a mobile phone and why did they need all these ornaments on carpets, clothes, and furniture?

36 Born 1983 in Kharkiv. Works in painting, video art. Curator and contemporary art researcher.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Private Collection. Contemporary Ukrainian Artists”, Modern Art Research Institute of the

National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Show Promise”, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv.

2016 “What If Fest”, National Dovzhenko Film Studio, Kyiv; “Spirit of Time”,

Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2015 “R-Evolution”, Beulas Foundation, Huesca; “Images From Ukraine’s Maidan, 2013–2014”,

Wilson Center, Washington / The Ukrainian Museum, New York / Ukrainian Cultural Center,

Baltimore; “Ukrainian Contemporary Art. From Private Collections”,

Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2014 “Long Path To Freedom”, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago; “I am a Drop in the Ocean”,

Kunstlerhaus, Vienna; “Civil Mysticism”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy

of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2013 “Industrial Eden”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine,

Kyiv; “Habitat”, Bottega Gallery, Kyiv.

2012 “Social Euphoria”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy

of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

2011 “Space Odyssey”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2010 “Illumination”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv.

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Defender of Cultural Phobia acrylic on canvas, 2016

MYROSLAV VAIDA / SURFACES / My series of abstract works titled “Surfaces” consists of colored composed structures — crystals growing on the surface of the canvas. To some extent these are landscapes, but very conditional ones. This is something like a process forming the surface of the Earth: tectonic shifts and faults which have stopped for a moment regardless of perpetual “infernal” processes. Despite anxious presentiments, one enjoys the incredible beauty of the congealed surface.

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Born 1977 in Transcarpathia.

Painter, author of installations, performances, land art.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2016 “From the Common Root”, Klementowice / Small gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Ukrainian Cross-Section: reCREATION”, Kamienica, Rynek, Wroclaw.

2015 “Shredding Maps. Internal Territories”, Giesinger Bahnhof, Munich; “DIALOGIA”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Moved On!”, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kyiv.

2014 “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “The Show Within the Show”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Postcards from Maidan”, Center for Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw; “Reliability Theory”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “I’m a Drop In the Ocean”, Kunstlerhaus, Vienna.

2013 “Spaces: Architecture of Common”, with special project “House”, factory “Youth”, Kyiv.

2012 “Forest”, Small gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Home”, Kharkiv Municipal Gallery, Kharkiv.

2011

“NEZALEZHNIndependent 1991-2011”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “Space Odyssey”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “SoundIsolation”, IZOLYATSIA foundation, Donetsk.

Surface 1 acrylic on canvas, 2016

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Attempt to Balance acrylic on canvas, 2016

ARTEM VOLOKITIN / ALLEGORY / The utilitarian function of the carpet has lost its significance: something that used to have practical functions transformed into a décor element, an excessive one at that. Its ornaments become codes and messages, e.g. a leopard ornament, a spectacular peacock tail, or bright parrot feathers.

A carpet is an embodiment of kitsch in its non-functionality.

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Born 1981 in Chuguyev. Works in painting, photography, video art.

Lives and works in Kharkiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Love.сontemporary”, Kyiv history museum, Kyiv / Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv; “New Perspectives: 8 Contemporary Artist from Ukraine”, Voloshyn Gallery, Kyiv.

2016 “Photosynthesis”, Voloshyn Gallery, Kyiv; “Transformation”, Kunst und Film Biennale Worpswede, Worpswede; “Heritage”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine / Voloshyn Gallery, Kyiv.

2015 “HOPE!”, 56 Venice Biennale, Venice; “Museum Collection. Ukrainian Contemporary Art

1985–2015. From Private Collections”,

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “New Perspectives: 8 Contemporary Artist from Ukraine”,

Ukrainian Institute of America, New York.

2014 “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Today”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “Freedom Square”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv.

2013 “The Future Generation Art Prize Venice 2013”, 55 Venice Biennale, Venice.

2012 “Construction. From Constructivism to Contemporary. Kharkiv XX- XXI”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv.

2011 “New Old Masters”, Dnipropetrovsk Art Museum, Dnipropetrovsk / Lviv National Art Gallery, Lviv.

2010 “Houses”, Kharkiv Municipal Gallery, Kharkiv.

Allegory 1 oil on canvas, 2016

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Allegory 2 oil on canvas, 2016

OLEKSII YALOVEGA / REALITY OF REFLECTIONS / Reality can be taken apart into fragments to understand which factors influence the formation of our life. The least significant actions from our perspective form our reality and influence further actions, intertwining amongst themselves and creating new situations. Each little work in my composition is one life situation; all together they create an impression of an integral canvas, a carpet.

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Born 1980 in Poltava. Works in painting, video art, photography, meme art.

Lives and works in Kharkiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 “Color And Mood”, in collaboration with Yuriy Vatkin, VovaTanya Gallery, Kharkiv;

“ART WORK”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv / Galeria Dworcowa, Wroclaw.

2016 “Circle of Communication”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv.

2015 “Ukraine: Transformation of the Present”, Museum of Ethnology, Vienna;

“The Limit of Trust”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Mnemonica”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “

Unpacking”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv; “Dysmorphobia”, Kharkiv Municipal Gallery, Kharkiv.

2014 “Slovenia / ART scanning”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv;

“IAMTHAT”, Kharkiv Municipal Gallery, Kharkiv.

2013 “The Power of IT and Life of Genius”, Museum “Spiritual Treasures of Ukraine”, Kyiv.

2012

“Non Stop Media”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv.

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Reality of Reflections mixed media, 2016

OLEKSII ZOLOTARIOV / TIME TO RUN / A carpet is like a picture of many fragments telling a story.

A carpet is a container of symbols and concentrated senses.

A carpet is a puzzle. The plot for my “carpet” is an image very familiar to any human being. A dog is a symbol of tamed nature — dedicated, sincere, and trustful. The dog is very emotional, expressive, and close. It used to help the man to survive, served as a guard, was sometimes admired and became an embodiment of mystical power, but always accompanied and observed its master keeping him safe. And here it screams — divided, disconnected, and confused on the crossroads.

It wants to run. I want the audience to “hear” this howling and stop for a moment to think.

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Born 1985 in Kyiv. Since 2013 co-works with Vasyl Grubliak (GAZ group), along with solo career.

Sculptor, author of the objects in public places and installations. Lives and works in Kyiv.

Selected Exhibitions: 2017 SUMPTION, in collaboration with Daniil Shumikhin, Dzyga gallery, Lviv; “Trading Illusions” within the International project “Art and Film Biennale”, Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv.

2016 “Point of View. From the West to the East”, Sofia Kyivska National Reserve, Kyiv; “Transformation”, Kunst und Film Biennale Worpswede, Worpswede; “Recipe for Utopia”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Modern Classics. Artworks from Zenko Foundation collection”, Zenko Foundation art space, Tatariv.

2015 “By Circle, By Circle”, Sudost Europa Kultur e.V, Berlin; “Loose Borders”, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin.

2014 “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “Blinded by Beauty”, Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv; “Project / ‘‘‘‘. APL315 and Oleksii Zolotariov”, G13 Space, Kyiv.

2013 “Contemporary Ukrainian Artists”, Saatchi Gallery, London; “The Power of IT and Life of Genius”, Museum “Spiritual Treasures of Ukraine”, Kyiv; “Tralfamador or Journey to Three Oranges”, at the Embassy of Ukraine in Germany, Berlin / Mystetskyi Arsenal, Art Kyiv, Kyiv; “Sculpture PRO Sculpture”, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv.

45

Time to Run metal, wood, sand, paint, 2016

LOCATIONS

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Zenko Foundation Art Space /Tatariv / Lviv Palace of Arts /Lviv/ YermilovCenter /Kharkiv/ Museum of Kyiv History /Kyiv/

Zenko Foundation art space

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TATARIV

18.04 — 15.06.16

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Lviv Palace of Arts

26.06 — 24.07.16

LVIV

KHARKIV YermilovCenter

27.10 — 23.11.16

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Museum of Kyiv History 50

KYIV

6.12.16 — 15.01.17

TEXTS

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WHICH MEANINGS WERE VESTED INTO THE CARPET. CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN ARTISTS.

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project by curators Igor Abramovych and Oleksandr Soloviov

AN INTERVIEW FOR THE AZ CULTURAL MAGAZINE, SPECIAL EDITION BY EUGENIA KALYNOVSKA Traditional Ukrainian culture is not just Cossack trousers, embroidered shirts, and snowball tree. To understand how relevant ethnical theme is, it is worth looking at “The Carpet.

Contemporary Ukrainian Artists.”

Within a year, this national exhibition project was demonstrated at four locations over the country. The start was in Zenko Foundation art space located in Koruna hotel complex in the Carpathians (Tatariv, Ivano-Frankivsk region).

After that, the project was presented in Lviv Palace of Arts, which is one of the biggest exhibition spaces in Western Ukraine.

In autumn, Zenko Foundation brought the project to Kharkiv.

This city used to be Ukrainian capital and now is one of the central cities in the East of Ukraine. “The Carpet” was exhibited in YermilovCenter, a center for contemporary art.

53 And in the beginning of December, the exhibition was presented to the audience in Kyiv, in the Museum of Kyiv History. “We wanted to combine artists from different regions in one project, like threads in a carpet. We have artists from Lviv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa. We wanted to show that we have talented interesting artists in different regions — and we showed this,” the curators say.

Igor Abramovych and Oleksandr Soloviov, curators of the foundation and co-curators of “The Carpet” project, invited 20 promising Ukrainian artists to participate. Why we chose these artists, how we worked with them during project preparation, why young art is in fashion in Ukraine and around the world — all this and more the curators told in an interview published in special edition of AZ cultural magazine.

AZ: How did you choose who to invite for participation in the project?

I.A.: We chose those we already know and who would be interesting for us as curators to work with.

AZ: As the artists are from different regions, can you trace down certain local specifics of art scenes in Ukraine? О. S.: To some extent, yes. For example, Lviv artists create more works associated with media or campaigns. And this is not accidental as Lviv hosts International Week of Performance Arts. No doubt, such events reflect on the art process in the region. In other regions, there is more stress on painting — in Ukrainian art, painting has been a dominating medium for many years. Though now painting doesn’t always mean canvas and oil.

Painting evolves, interacts with other arts and even CGI can take place of a classic image created with the help of paint.

In this process in Ukraine, we note the media impact on the genre. By the way, geographic stereotypes are also changing.

54 In particular, Kharkiv normally associated with contemporary photography is mostly represented by classic paintings in this project.

AZ: “The Carpet” is a name which is easy to remember.

On the other hand, there is a risk that it will be treated literally.

Haven’t you worried about it? І. А.: No, we haven’t. On the contrary, some intrigue emerges.

Besides, we chose very different artists — and to join them together, we needed a universal idea.

AZ: And what is this idea?

I. А.: We are not talking about the carpet hanging on the wall or lying on the floor. Our carpet is rather a philosophical category.

Traditional Ukrainian weaved carpet has served as a talisman since ancient times. It is two-sided, so this means it doesn’t have a “wrong side”. This is a metaphor of opposition and at the same time unbreakable bond between fundamental categories like life and death, good and evil, beauty and deformity. О. S.: By the way, this idea of two-sided carpet, an image with

another plane of interpretation, took away the problem of literal perception for “The Carpet”: it can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically, and in both cases, the interpretation won’t be wrong.

AZ: The project has mostly involved young authors. Why? І.А.: It was on purpose that we gathered representatives of the new generation. We wanted to show how young artists search for their identities and develop their creativity. What is relevant for them, what they think about, what they can and are able to do, what they see and feel. О.S.: The first project of Zenko Foundation was a big exhibition of works from private collections, it encompassed the whole cross-section of different generations in Ukrainian art.

Now we wanted to look at the authors who, in our opinion, define contemporary Ukrainian art to a great extent. We were first of all interested in the so-called “new young” artists.

The previous generation of artists stepped forward after the first 55 Maidan. Their art is political, associated with activist ideas. Against the background of this generation, the “new young” have arrived. They care about other issues.

We were interested in internal changes and the emergence of new features. And this is what the project shows.

AZ: Is young art now in trend over the world? І. А.: Young art is actively developing. Both at Documenta and Art Basel, I saw lots of youngsters. Same with the auctions.

Gallery dealers started investing in young artists.

AZ: Does Ukrainian art also follow this trend? І. А.: Let’s not kid ourselves — for now, we are not really in this trend. Still, among our young artists, there are names recognized in the West like Zolotariov, Petliuk, Minin, Bilyk, Apl315 and many others. They fit well in the global art context.

However, we are still at the stage of forming our public image.

TRADITIONS AND MODERNITY OF UKRAINIAN CARPET-MAKING

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Natalka Dyachenko-Zabashta, dean at Mykhaylo Boychuk Kyiv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design

All projects designed to mainstream Ukrainian cultural and artistic heritage obviously contain a supertask, which is about restoring the lost ties between generations, forming the feeling of one’s belonging to the whole diversity of artistic and cultural contributions of our nation. They aim to help understand the significance of cultural heritage.

Among many original and “sacralized” forms of decorative and applied arts, Ukrainian carpet has a special place.

Since late 19th century, it has been demonstrated in world exhibitions, become an object of systemic research and a popular item for private collections with such people involved as D. Scherbakivsky and B. Kryzhanivsky, M. Hrushevsky, V. Tarnavsky, A. Hansen, V. Krychevsky, A. Sheptytsky, V. Peschansky, etc.

The first carpet exhibitions facilitated the creation of the first museums. Private collections often became the basis of museum exhibits. With time, research appeared.

In particular, a fundamental work of prominent Ukrainian art 57 scholar Stefan Taranushenko Ukrainian Carpets (manuscript dated 1960, first published in album “Flowers and Birds in the Design of Ukrainian Carpets”, 2013) turned out to be extremely relevant for art history and ethnography.

The scholars of the new generation, e.g. archeologist Lyubov Klochko, became focused on the ornaments of Bronze Age similar to the carpets of the 18-20th centuries.

Researcher of Ukrainian carpets ordered by rich people Halyna Kohut; a connoisseur of old Ukrainian tapestries Halyna Kusko; expert and restoration artist of old tapestries and carpets Olga Yarema-Vynar — all of them made their contributions in the studies of this unique phenomenon.

The first written mentions about the use of carpets in households date back to the times of Kyivan Rus’. They were found in the chronicles of the 10-13th centuries and concerned the organization of funeral ritual for Rus’ and Kyiv princes.

Peace truces were made sitting on one carpet. Carpets were traditional wedding presents and offerings to the churches.

A historic confirmation is a depiction of carpets on parsunas (this is how the portraits of Cossack officers and church officials were called). In many medieval archive documents, descriptions of carpets are very frequent. Starting from the 16th century, there are first mentions about locally made carpets and local craftsmen. In the 17-18th centuries, this becomes a widespread phenomenon. In Ukraine, the techniques of two-sided smooth weaving started to develop and became very popular.

This technique of carpet-making conditions its style and plastic solutions for ornamental motives and general composition.

Mostly the motives and approaches to ornaments are similar to and associated with the landscapes of Ternopil region, Halychyna, Carpathian region and the Carpathians.

Each carpet has its own “biography” behind it (place and circumstances of creation) as well as its own destiny.

They were made by craftsmen in village houses or even mansions, at specialized factories founded by tycoons and 58 landowners as well as in workshops founded by municipalities. They reflected aesthetic priorities of a certain age and private tastes of clients, fashion trends and authors’ preferences.

The archive documents confirm that proud owners of mansions had lots of carpets: tens and sometimes hundreds of them. Private households where carpets along with other household art objects helped to form aesthetic ideas of contemporaries and their descendants transformed into museums of sorts. This is not just about interiors of mansions or landowners’ dwellings but village houses as well — the only difference being that such “house museums” were created with the owners’ own hands, from generation to generation, refining artistic tastes of the owners and developing their sensitivity to beauty and harmony.

Ukrainian carpet arts show the live creative process and complicated synthesis of authors’ finds and interpretations of borrowed motives. Some carpet compositions obviously refer

to Renaissance and Baroque decorative textiles from the Western Europe. For centuries, the carpet accompanied Ukrainians in good and bad times, was a traditional component of important life rituals, a symbol of wealth, happiness and luck.

So the issue of preservation and popularization of national artistic heritage is relevant not just for us but for a significant self-aware portion of Ukrainian society.

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CURATORS

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OLEKSANDR SOLOVIOV

Curator, art critic. Curator of the Mystetskyi Arsenal National Culture, Arts and Museum Complex, Kyiv since 2010.

Curator of the PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv in 2006-2010.

Co-works with Zenko Foundation since 2015.

Selected projects: 2010 ART KYIV Contemporary, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, project curator.

2011 “Independent. Ukrainian Art 1991-2011”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, project curator.

2012 “Double Game”, a special project of the First Kyiv Biennale of Contemporary Art

ARSENALE 2012, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, project curator.

2013 “Monument to the Monument”, Ukrainian Pavilion at the 55th Biennale,

Venice, project curator.

2014 “New Ukrainian Dream”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv; “The Show within the Show”,

Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, project curator; “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now”,

Saatchi Gallery, London, project co-curator.

2015 “Museum collection. Ukrainian contemporary art from 1985 to 2015.

From private collections”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, project co-curator;

“Dialogia”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2016 “Horizon of Events”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2017 “Reality of Illusion. Oleksandr Gnylytsky”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

2018 “Flashback. Ukrainian Media Art of the 1990s”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.

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IGOR ABRAMOVYCH

Art dealer, curator, art consultant. Advisor to the Director of the Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine.

Co-works with the Zenko Foundation since 2015.

Selected projects: 2011 “20 Years of Presence, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Independence of

Ukraine”, Kyiv, project co-curator and commissioner.

2012 “Contemporary Art of Ukraine”, within the parallel program of the First Kyiv

International Biennale of Contemporary Art, ARSENALE 2012, Kyiv,

project commissioner.

2013 “Contemporary Ukrainian Artists”, Saatchi Gallery, London, project co-curator.

2014 “Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now”, Saatchi Gallery, London, project co-curator.

2015 “Museum collection. Ukrainian contemporary art from 1985 to 2015. From private

collections”, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, project co-curator. Author of the idea

and organizer of publication for the book by the famous Ukrainian art critic

Galyna Skliarenko “Contemporary Ukrainian Art. Portraits of the Artists”.

ZENKO FOUNDATION

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Zenko Foundation is Ukrainian foundation supporting and developing contemporary arts and culture in Ukraine.

Zenko Foundation was established in 2015 upon the initiative of Yana and Zenko Aftanaziv. Its priorities include: an exhibition program of contemporary arts in wide-scale national and international projects; raising awareness of a wide audience about Ukrainian contemporary arts at home and abroad; intercultural collaborations in culture and arts; educational activities in culture field through distribution and provision of open access to printed publications and online materials about Ukrainian artists and artistic processes in our country.

The main art space of the foundation is located on the territory of Koruna hotel complex in Tatariv. For cultural decentralization of contemporary Ukrainian artistic movement, the foundation supports art projects in different cities of Ukraine.

The work of the foundation also includes the following: a publishing program aiming to raise awareness about Ukrainian 63 art process among Ukrainian and international audiences; development of web portal where information about Zenko Foundation collection is readily available; and also a range of important reference materials about contemporary arts in Ukraine.

Zenko Foundation collection has over 400 works by Ukrainian contemporary artists. The foundation deems it necessary to ensure open access to the works in its collection.

To do this, the foundation provides paintings and art objects for exhibiting in art projects.

COLOPHON Project curators Igor Abramovych Oleksandr Soloviov Project coordinator Adrian Aftanaziv Marketing, PR and Communications Julia Kuprina Iryna Gorodetska Catalog design Aliona Solomadina Exhibition visual identity Serhiy Fedynyak Photography Maksym Bilousov Volodymyr Volchonokov Andaction Prod.

Logistics Artur Antonenko

zenkofoundation.com