Ukrainian ecologies exhibition opening
The Ukrainian Environmental Humanities Network and the IZOLYATSIA Foundation are hosting an exhibition Ukrainian Ecologies. The exhibition follows the eponymous art residency and features works by its participants: Karina Synytsia, Daryna Mamaisur, and Yana Kononova.
The exhibition will run from 25th to 29th October, 2024, at 21 Reitarska Street.
The exhibition is the result of the artists' collaboration with scientific institutions and independent researchers in the field of ecology. The project explores how art reflects the state of the environment in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Artists delve into the dynamic nature of the landscape, memory, ecological grief, and the interaction between human and other-than-human worlds. Both the exhibition and the residency support contemporary artists working in various media (painting, photography, video) across specific locations: the city of Kharkiv, the Ros River basin in the Kyiv region, and between Kherson/Ivano-Frankivsk.
Daryna Mamaisur works with a collection of herbarium specimens from Kherson State University, which was relocated to Ivano-Frankivsk due to the war. Her video tells the story of what it takes to preserve natural heritage in challenging wartime conditions.
Yana Kononova presents a series of photographs of the Ros River, which is shrinking due to climate change. Her works show how technology and nature interact in weird ways in the modern world of the Anthropocene.
Karina Synytsia creates paintings and collages dedicated to the Kharkiv Institute of Plant Production, which continues its work despite constant shelling.
The exhibition will be open daily from 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The exhibition will run from October 25 to 29, 2024, at 21 Reitarska Street. The opening will take place on October 25 at 6:00 PM.
Karina Synytsia is an artist born in Sivirskodonetsk, currently living in Kyiv. She studied painting at the Kharkiv Art College and monumental and easel painting at the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture. In 2024, she held solo exhibitions titled “I Hope the Sky Won’t Fall into the Sea” in Uzhhorod and “Restoring Cracks in the Dried Layer is Impossible” in Lublin. She works with painting, collage, and animation. In her works, she depicts belligerent landscapes, architectural structures, and empty spaces, manifesting human feelings, emotional states, and social aspects of life.
Daryna Mamaisur is an artist and filmmaker from Kyiv. In her artistic practice, she combines photography, moving images, and theoretical research. The focus of her works is on landscape transformations in the context of visual culture, memory, and political ecology. Her last two films are personal stories about migration, home, and the vulnerability of language in the context of war. In 2022, she completed the international Master’s program in documentary filmmaking, DocNomads. Her works have been exhibited at art exhibitions and have participated in festivals such as Visions du Réel, FIDMarseille, Kassel Dokfest, DOK Leipzig, and RIDM.
Yana Kononova is an artist and photographer born on Pirallahi Island, Azerbaijan. During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, her family emigrated to Ukraine. She has an academic background in engineering and social sciences, as well as a PhD in sociology. In 2019, she received the Bird in Flight Prize for contemporary photography, and in 2022, she was awarded the Hariban Award from Benrido. In 2023, she was nominated to participate in the FUTURES platform by the Dutch institution FOTODOK. She is currently continuing her education in the Art & Curatorial Practice program at the New Center for Research & Practice (USA). Kononova's artistic practice includes ecocritical studies that explore techno-graphic imagination and the idea of landscape as an actor.
The Ukrainian Environmental Humanities Network (UEHN) was established as a platform for discussions and collaborations aimed at highlighting issues of ecology, the environment, art, and culture in Ukraine. Its founders are Dr. Jonathon Turnbull, Dr. Eva Sulek, Oleksandra Pohrebniak, Dmytro Chepurnyi, and Karolina Uskakovych.
Public discourse on environmental topics has become particularly relevant since the beginning of the full-scale war as well as the catastrophe at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. The UEHN organises educational programs, curates art residencies, and compiles and participates in special publications dedicated to the environment.
The project is funded by the New Democracy Fund and implemented in partnership with Solomiya Magazine.
Details of the exhibition
The Naked Room Gallery
21 Reitarska St., Kyiv
October 25-29, 2024
Opening: October 25 at 6:00 PM
Gallery hours: 12:00 PM - 9:00 PM