“It’s a good challenge to make Ukrainian art better known in Austria”
Photo: Yevgen Nikiforov
Lizaveta German is the co-founder of the gallery “The Naked Room”in Kyiv and co-curated the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Venice Biennial in 2022. In this interview the renowned Ukrainian curator gives an insight into her work, her exhibition projects and her experiences in Vienna, where she has lived since April last year.
What are the most important projects you realised in the art sector after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion?
First and foremost, the national pavilion of Ukraine at 59th International Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia, with an amazing team of my co-curators Maria Lanko and Borys Filonenko along with the outstanding artist Pavlo Makov and an expanded team. The pavilion opened two months after the full-scale invasion had started, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to produce an art project in such circumstances. Hopefully “The Fountain of Exhaustion”, Makov’s work for Venice, will be presented in Vienna quite soon. It’s already in the production mode, so an announcement is coming soon.
I am also very proud about the “Death and the Maiden” exhibition in Kunstforum Wien we co-curated with Bettina M. Busse. My gallery “The Naked Room” presented a number of great group shows of Ukrainian artists in Paris, Vilnius, Vienna, Munich and Bratislava. But perhaps the biggest achievement is that we managed to stay open during the last year thanks to our colleagues from Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund who kept it running. And now we are finally reopened with our own exhibition programme — I must say that it is quite a big step to be back on track right now.
Why did you decide to choose Austria as your base?
Austria has chosen me! 🙂 But to be serious, it happened that friends of friends here gave much needed support, helped finding a place to stay and all necessary assistance that my family needed much at that point, in April 2022.
How can you describe the Austrian art scene in comparison and in regard to Ukraine?
The Ukrainian art scene is younger, a bit more fresh and vibrant in some ways, and there’s a historical reason for that, obviously. But of course there’s a tremendously important art historical background here, in Austria, through all amazing museum presentations and touring international shows. Possibilities of artists support are very highly developed here – this is something we in Ukraine have to learn from.
Did you get any support to your ideas here in Austria?
I did! A friend, Petra Stelzer, introduced me to Bettina M. Busse of Kunstforum and the team of Museumsquartier Wien, and it turned into a cooperation. Vienna Contemporary, the international art fair was and still is very supportive towards our gallery. So is Kahan Art Foundation. Hedwig Saxenhuber, who is much familiar with Ukrainian art, gives much support and is a great ambassador of Ukrainian art in general. So, yeah, in no way do I feel alone in my professional activities here.
What are the challenges for you as a curator being and working in another country?
Being away from my community is a challenge, but here I quickly established my own local network of new acquaintances and colleagues — and it’s not just people I “need” to stay in touch professionally, but simply lovely new friends to have a great conversation with and share coffee together. Ukrainian art is pretty unknown here, and this gap has to be filled, so my duty is to give an introduction in a profound but engaging way – this is a good challenge. I do hope very much that after the first wave of initiatives of immediate support the time will come to organise more deep, research based exhibitions and educational projects, and to strengthen connections between our two scenes. So it will be true curiosity, not only desire to help. That drives further collaborations.
How would you describe the Ukrainian art scene in Austria, is there one?
Many artists are moving across different countries and only a few of those I know settled here for a longer time, so I guess “the scene” is still in the process of emerging. But the more quality presentations will happen, the more elegant shape it might have.
What are the future projects you have in mind that could take place in Austria?
I am actually working on three exhibitions to open this year in Vienna, so stay tuned for the announcements to appear. I would be interested in doing something in remoter parts of Austria and dig myself deeper into local histories, so I am very open for suggestions!
Installation view Krystyna Melnyk, “In Front of Pain”, Gandy Gallery, Bratislava, courtesy Gandy Gallery
Installation view “Death and the Maiden”, tresor, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien. Photo: Simon Veres