From Black Square to chanson art

Ukraine is home to many Poles, whose work is rightfully considered to be part of global cultural heritage. Those include writers Joseph Konrad-Korzeniowski and Stanislaw Lem, the brilliant ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, and composer Karol Szymanowski. A lot of these artists are associated with neither Ukraine, nor even Poland. Kazimir Malevich Award presents an opportunity to remind about our compatriots’ contribution to the process of formation of domestic and global cultural heritage.

Kazimir Malevich is a great artist and educationalist. He was born into a Polish family in Kyiv, where he spent a big part of his life. He lived and worked in Russia for a long time, but he never forgot about his Ukrainian origin. Malevich became one of the founders of abstract art, and in 1915 he founded a new avant-garde genre, suprematism. His painting Black Square is iconic in the world art.

The Kazimir Malevich Award was founded in 2008 and initiated by the Polish Institute jointly with Center for Contemporary Art foundation. The award’s goals are of both cultural and public importance: to remind about and emphasize the significance of Malevich as a symbol of global cultural heritage; draw the attention of Ukrainian elite to the Ukrainian background of the Poles who achieved worldwide recognition; show the special role of Poland as a country that honors artistic achievements of modern Ukrainian artists in the context of common Polish and Ukrainian cultural heritage; promote and increase the prestige of modern Ukraine-born artists; and promote international cooperation of cultural institutions.

The award is conferred once every two years to an artist, who is under 40 years old and was born in Ukraine, despite the current country of residence. There are no restrictions as to education and sphere of activity, and the candidates can be submitted both by Ukrainian and foreign cultural institutions, research centers, artistic communities, galleries, and museums.

Judging from the previous award ceremonies, the jury members do not use the work of Malevich and his contemporaries as an only example. Perhaps, due to the fact that Malevich was one of the most radical artists of his time, one of the dominant criteria seems to be the candidate’s radicalism. Thus, in 2008 the award was given to Alevtyna Kakhidze (Kyiv), famous for her performances, and in 2010 – to Stas Voiazlovsky, author of a vulgar and controversial genre known as chanson art.

At the moment, Voiazlovsky is a rightful member of jury, which also includes director of the Polish Institute in Kyiv Jaroslaw Godun (head of the jury), founder of the educational organization “Cultural Project” Natalia Zhevaho (Ukraine), director of the center of modern art “Ujazdow Castle” Fabio Cavallucci (Poland), director of the Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok Monika Szewczyk (Poland), chairperson of the board of Center for Contemporary Art foundation, curator Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, deputy director general and chief curator of the Mystetsky Arsenal Oleksandr Soloviov, art critic Vita Susak (all of them from Ukraine). The jury will pick three finalists out of the nominees, whose names will be announced on December 1, 2012. And the winner will be chosen by a simple majority of votes in a secret ballot.

The winner will receive a cash prize of 3,000 euros from the Polish Institute in Kyiv, an equal cash prize from the “Cultural Project” foundation for the realization of residency in Ujazdow Castle, and the residency itself, that is, a right to reside and work in Ujazdow Castle in 2013. And as an additional stimulus, the winner’s works will be exhibited at the Small Gallery of Mystetsky Arsenal next year. The rest of the finalists will be entitled to a study trip to Poland.

We will be able to learn the name of the winner on December 14. The formal award ceremony will take place at Mystetsky Arsenal.

And here is some information for those willing to participate in this contest. Application, motivation (up to 500 words), and a set of 10 photos (up to 10 Mb) with project description (up to 200 words) have to be sent by October 31, 2012, to the address of the Polish Institute in Kyiv: olena.zoc(at)instytutpolski.org, indicating the subject as MALEWICZ 2012. Application forms can be found at the Polish Institute’s website www.polinst.kiev.ua and at the Center of Contemporary Art foundation’s website www.csmart.org.ua.