The School of Kyiv

Most of the news coming from Ukraine nowadays is focused on the latest political and military conflicts. What we hear very little about, however, is the art and culture from this country, which has suffered repeated catastrophes in its long history and is now being shaken by renewed tension and crisis. Yet this multi-ethnic country has produced numerous internationally acclaimed artists - Kazimir Malevich, Mikhail Bulgakov, Paul Celan and Bruno Schulz, to name just a few – who grew up in what is now present-day Ukraine. The artistic avant-garde of the 20^th century benefited greatly from the intellectual impulses from Ukraine. “The School of Kyiv” was an exhibition which has been staged at the 2^nd International Kyiv Biennale of Contemporary Art and at various locations in Germany. It formed a link between local and international contemporary artistic positions with a review of the historic connections in the European art scenes of the early 20^th century with artists associated with the Kiev-based avant-garde artist Alexandra Exter (1882-1949). Together with an extensive accompanying programme, the project aimed to portray a multifaceted panorama of politically motivated art beyond salient actionism which exemplified the productive penetration of various cultural regions.

Artistic directors: Hedwig Saxenhuber (A), Georg Schöllhammer (A)
Curators: Franciska Zolyom (HU), Anja Casser
Artists: Anatoliy Belov (UA), Anna Daučiková (SK), Alexandra Exter (UA), Ksenia Hnylytska (UA), Nikita Kadan (UA), Yuri Leiderman (UA), Taus Makhacheva (RU), John Miller (US), Laure Prouvost (FR), Hito Steyerl