Combining useful and pleasant
An art gallery opened in one of Kyiv’s wine markets
Ukraine’s capital provides many occasions to enjoy art. Now there is one more, as the chain of wine markets Poliana decided to open the art galley Art-Poliana in the central store of this chain.
As Iryna Shautidze, the head of the project, points out, Shevchenko boulevard now has a place where sophisticated customers can both buy wine and see the world of Ukrainian art.
The practice of combining the useful and the pleasant has become somewhat of a trend for Ukrainian companies.
“Banks, insurance companies, stores and supermarkets quite often hang pictures on the walls of their offices. This way they offer the customers standing in line or waiting while their issues are being dealt with to spend time looking at something beautiful,” points out the art critic Tetiana Rzhavska. “Exhibit halls in public places are a very good and needed practice. Since the rhythm of modern life mostly makes people choose things that are not artistic. Being busy with their daily routines and problems, people may lack the chance or time to visit a gallery. And here, as they say, everything is at hand: one can both buy something and get acquainted with modern Ukrainian painting.”
From now on the wealth of a Georgian table, the exquisiteness of French boulevards, the warmth and sensuality of Italian streets, and the freshness of the sunny Crimea will be closer to Kyiv residents. Because one can see all this by just visiting the store. For example, the pictures by the famous Ukrainian painters Volodymyr Kryvenko and Yurii Vintaiev will show the visitors original sea landscapes. The works by the young painter Olha Hryhorieva-Klimova (through still life) will acquaint them with a cordial party. And the paintings by Serhii Poliakov and other famous Ukrainian painters — with the variety of cultures of cities and even countries.
“Still life on wine topics, like a grape and a bottle of beverage, is boring,” says Rzhavska. “Therefore we decided to choose paintings on the topic of traveling. The pictures by Ukrainian painters represented here depict classic cities and countries where wine making is developed: Georgia, France, Italy, Austria, and Argentina. Our separate hall is dedicated to the development of wine making in Ukraine. Pictures reflecting Crimean landscapes are located there.”
However, the reaction of Kyiv residents to this art-project is ambiguous. The cashier Inna Diatel told The Day that mainly foreigners like the walls decorated with pictures: “Sometimes they ask me where and how one can buy works, promise to come back to get a closer look. Kyiv residents do not understand that these are not just copies, but originals by famous painters.”
However, perhaps Art-Poliana will become a good marketing move. An art critic currently works in the exhibit hall. So the customers interested in more detailed information about the represented pictures or the possibility to buy them can consult the expert.
