Practical
The development of contemporary art in Ukraine has been influenced by specific geopolitical conditions, which could be defined by its uncertain position between the metropolises and the peripheries. This factor affected contemporary art strategies in their difficult path from the transgressive nature of the arts in the 1990s to the politically and socially engaged practices of the 2010s. The artistic community that emerged after the Orange Revolution has remained vigilant and active in many spheres of social life. Collectives, educational platforms, and feminist organizations are just some of the progressive initiatives that have shaped the artistic landscape of today's Ukraine.
The Russian invasion on Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022 brutally interrupted these processes.
This lecture will take place on March 23 from 17:00h until 19:00h in Aula I-0.01 located on the VUB Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus and is part of the class “Art in a Globalised World” by Prof. Dr. Hans Maria De Wolf, in which our focus is directed on all possible peripherical artworlds. The class is open for all students and staff of VUB as well as for external visitors.
Tatiana Kochubinska is an independent curator, writer, and lecturer. Her main expertise is in Ukrainian contemporary art. In 2016–2019 she curated the Research Platform of the PinchukArtCentre. She edited and co-edited the books PARCOMMUNE. Place. Community. Phenomenon and Fedir Tetianych. Frypulia. In 2020 she co-edited a special issue of Obieg titled "Euphoria and Fatigue: Ukrainian Art and Society after 2014". She conceived curatorial residencies in Dnipro, Ukraine upon the invitation of the Artsvit contemporary art gallery.
Anna Smolak is a Polish curator currently based in Brussels. She is interested in institutional discourse and the examination of alternative modes of collaboration and organization. She has investigated the notion of locality, periphery and exclusion, focusing particularly on east-European and post-Soviet context. On the invitation of Tatiana Kochubinska, within the framework of Re-considerations program, she curated the exhibition of Lada Nakonechna at PinchukArtCenter in Kyiv, 2016.