From Ukraine: Dare To Dream

PinchukArtCentre and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation
Art Project Depot - Art In Focus - From Ukraine: Dare To Dream
20.04 - 01.08.2024

Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Sestiere

A Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia.

From Ukraine: Dare to Dream asks: "Can we imagine tomorrow? Do we have the courage to dream?" The world has reached an inflection point: storms and climate change ravage lands far and wide, political extremes are seizing momentum. Russia's war in Ukraine unveiled an ongoing global power struggle that has brought war back to Europe. We are at a crucial moment where the future is hidden while fundamental changes are on the horizon. The exhibition is a continuation of PinchukArtCentre’s proactive engagement with Ukrainian art on a global and national stage since the outbreak of war in 2022. The exhibition weaves a tapestry of stories and hopes grown within the shadows of global conflicts, including 22 artists and collectives: Kateryna Aliinyk (Ukraine), Allora & Calzadilla (the USA & Cuba), Alex Baczyński-Jenkins (Poland/the UK), Fatma Bucak (Turkey), David Claerbout (Belgium), Shilpa Gupta (India), Oleg Holosiy (Ukraine), Nikita Kadan (Ukraine), Zhanna Kadyrova (Ukraine), Nikolay Karabinovych (Ukraine), Dana Kavelina (Ukraine), Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk (Ukraine), Lesia Khomenko (Ukraine/the USA), Yana Kononova (Ukraine), Kateryna Lysovenko (Ukraine/Austria), Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria/Belgium), Wilfredo Prieto (Cuba), Daniil Revkovskiy and Andriy Rachinskiy (Ukraine), Anton Saenko (Ukraine), Oleksiy Sai (Ukraine), Fedir Tetianych (Ukraine), Anna Zvyagintseva (Ukraine)

Departing from Ukrainian lands and its history of forced migration, the exhibition provides a platform for subdued voices worldwide, offering songs of resistance and resilience. It addresses Earth’s ecological disasters while imagining a new utopia, where mythology merges into an alternative garden of Eden. Exhausted landscapes bear witness to human violence—from extractive economies to the harsh realities of war—while carrying seeds of a new beginning. Amidst these overwhelming circumstances, the fragility of the individual is blossoming yet at risk. Its shadow is cast by touches, movement of nuanced lines as a part of unspoken verse, scenes of normality that question reality. They all converge into a possibility of acceptance. Can many struggles become the joint creation of a better future? After liberation, can former victims co-exist with former aggressors? Can empathy offer ways of common being in a space of conflicting memories? As the first centre for contemporary art in Ukraine, the PinchukArtCentre is a leading voice in developing the Ukrainian art scene; since the outbreak of war in 2022, it has played a vital role in protecting and promoting Ukrainian art and culture. The exhibition will be accompanied by a dedicated audio guide created in collaboration with the artists.

Curated by Bjorn Geldhof, artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre; Ksenia Malykh, head of the research platform of the PinchukArtCentre; Oleksandra Pogrebnyak, junior curator of the PinchukArtCentre; Oksana Chornobrova, assistant curator.

Press release courtesy Palazzo Contarini Polignac

Photo credits: Irina Batkova