“Ukrainian Cross-Section”
Art works that presented Ukrainian contemporary art at a triennial in Poland returned to Lviv
Triennial (an exhibition that takes place once every three years) “Ukrainian Cross-Section. Lyman” was hosted in five galleries of the Polish city Lublin. The event took place within the framework of the Congress of Eastern European Initiatives.
According to the curator of the exhibition art director of the art gallery “Dzyha” Volodymyr Kaufman, more than 100 art works of 40 artists were presented abroad and “it was the first large-scale exhibition of contemporary Ukrainian art outside the country in many years.”
“Dzyha” staff note that the triennial “Ukrainian Cross-Section” is one of the few projects that presents contemporary Ukrainian art abroad and through which the world can learn about what is currently happening in the Ukrainian culture, while Ukrainian audience can take a detached look at themselves. According to Kaufman, “Ukrainian Cross-Section. Lyman” became a major presentation event of contemporary art of Ukraine and Poland held this year.
The website of the Art Organization “Dzyha” reports that “Ukrainian Cross-Section. Lyman” represented the Ukrainian contemporary art abroad for the second time already. The first exhibition “Ukrainian Cross-Section 2010” was an attempt at self-identification.
“In the present triennial we focus on the process of introspection,” reads the statement. “In this context the choice of this year’s topic of the Cross-Section, which is rather constructive than ideological, is interesting. In our opinion, Lyman is a present symbolic space of contemporary Ukrainian art. We are moving from one stage to another. We are in a delta of crossroads, in a situation of broadening. Lyman is an unsteady phenomenon, transitional stage, and, at the same time, a separate world. Lyman means unlimited and unpredictable opportunities: flow, unrest, preservation, congestion, new growth, transformations, fluidity, and mutations… Lyman is river mouths, straits, dead-ends, and estuaries…”
In Lviv “Ukrainian Cross-Section” will be presented by two exhibition projects in art gallery “Dzyha.” The exhibition featuring art works by Andrii Sahaidakovsky, Ruslan Tremba, Robert Saller, and Oleksa Furdiiak has already opened.
Exhibition of the Kharkiv-based artist Larysa Stadnyk “My Grandmother” is planned for October 31. After the opening of the exhibition there will be held a roundtable discussion on the project, export of modern Ukrainian art, perspectives for cultural cooperation with Polish organizations, and opportunities for Lviv artistic community that will appear due to the fact that Wroclaw has been declared the European Capital of Culture 2016. The organizers invite art critics, culture experts, artists, and all those involved in the creation of culture to debate.
