Ukrainian artists linked to the local art scene
Ukrainian artists linked to the local art scene
Nastia Khlestova
Over the past year, I have had the privilege of working with Office Ukraine in Graz as well as had a chance to work on several projects as curator.
In Graz, there is an incredible community of artists who have relocated here following the onset of the invasion. I find it immensely gratifying to work closely with this aspect — organizing exhibitions with these artists and helping to promote Ukrainian art here in Austria. For me, it was extremely important to be able to collaborate with them and with local institutions, organizations, and individuals building a strong joint community.
One of the core projects that I want to highlight is the exhibition titled “Додому – nachhause – home,” which explores the concept of home and the experience of losing it. The exhibition brings together works by Ukrainian and Austrian artists, created before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. These works speak to the different facets of life before the war and the shared experiences of navigating the new reality. Ukrainian artists delve into the emotions and memories associated with home, while Austrian artists explore the processes that can strip one of their homes or force them to leave. By placing these works in the context of wartime, we aim to shed light on how the lives of artists have transformed in the wake of the conflict. The proposition to work on this exhibition came from the Graz based artist Helene Thümmel as an attempt to support the Ukrainian community and work together.
Another project that holds great significance is “KUNSTTASCHE | МИСТЕЦТВО У ТОРБІ | UMETNOST V TORBI,” which involved collaborating with Ukrainian artists and the Austrian cultural initiative UNIKUM. Through this project, we aimed to express solidarity with those affected by war, violence, and displacement. We distributed art in specially designed newspaper take-out bags called “Silent Vendors” at various locations, such as the University of Klagenfurt, Lendkanal, and cultural initiatives across Austria. The voluntary donations received from this project have been directed toward the Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund, which provides support to independent artists, curators, and cultural workers in Ukraine.
In addition to exhibitions, we have also organized temporary installations, public space projects, and interdisciplinary collaborations. For example, the “Witnesses” installation in the Styrian Armoury. In July 2022, there I curated the installation “Witnesses” featuring works by Eduard Balula and Margo Sarkisova. This collaboration with the Institute for Art in Public Space Styria provided a platform for Ukrainian artists to showcase their works and share their experiences of fleeing their homeland due to the ongoing war at the central street of Graz.
Working with Ukrainian artists in Europe is of immense importance. It not only provides a platform for them to showcase their point of view and their unique experience but also serves as a means to bridge cultures, foster understanding, and challenge stereotypes. These projects not only highlight the struggles faced by Ukrainian artists but also emphasize their resilience, creativity, and the power of art as a universal language.
By collaborating with Ukrainian artists and integrating their perspectives into the European art scene, we hope to challenge preconceived notions, foster empathy, and create meaningful connections. Art has the power to transcend boundaries and bring people together, and our work as curators and facilitators is to create spaces that enable these connections to thrive.
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with these talented artists and contribute to their journeys as they navigate new landscapes, redefine their sense of home, and share their stories with the world. It is my belief that through these collaborations, we can not only support Ukrainian artists but also foster a more inclusive and diverse art scene.
Nastia Khlestova, staff member of Office Ukraine Graz since March 2022 (Photo: Christina Pashkina)
We asked various personalities of the Graz art scene about their experiences with projects they have involved Ukrainian artists. And why it is relevant to bring the public in Graz, Styria and Austria in touch with Ukrainian art.
Elisabeth Fiedler
In 2022, we realised the highly acclaimed project WITNESSES by the artists Eduard Balula and Margo Sarkisova, curated by Nastia Klestova in consultation and cooperation with Office Ukraine in response to the attack on Ukraine. The collaboration was marked by great respect and mutual appreciation.
On 21 May 2023, Ukrainian musicians Sofiia and Anton Baibakov performed their unique music at the 20th anniversary celebration in the Austrian Sculpture Park with hundreds of guests.
The presentation of Ukrainian artists not only broadens our intellectual and aesthetic horizons. We are enriched by each other and new valuable encounters open up. Getting to know each other, being in touch with diverse ways of living, working and thinking in an appreciative manner, is important and creates new connections based on respect in and for a hopefully peaceful future.
Elisabeth Fiedler, Head and Chief Curator of the Department of Art in Public Space at the Universalmuseum Joanneum (Photo: UMJ, J.J.Kucek)
Heinz Wittenbrink
Last summer, we gave the off_gallery to Eva Fomitskih as guest curator. She had five photographers in the exhibition *Discontinuity* who – like herself – come from Ukraine. Eva Holts, Dmytro Zaiets, Olga Chekotovska, Victoria Likholiot and Anton Malynovskyi react in their works to the war that is taking place only a few hundred kilometres away from us. Eva Fomitskih conceived and curated the exhibition independently – only the suggestion to show architectural and landscape photography in the broadest sense came from us. The response of the audience was positive, especially the Ukrainian community was pleased about the exhibition and also the opportunity to meet and network.
There is an immediate political reason to get to know and understand Ukraine better – a country that many still wrongly perceive as belonging to Russia. It is important to get away from the many clichés that hinder our perception of this country and its history. This will help us to better understand what Ukrainians are about in resisting Russian aggression. Beyond the current political situation, Ukraine and the whole Black Sea region can also be understood as a counterpart to the Balkans and the Western Adriatic — a region that is closer to us and much more closely connected to our history than we often realise. It is important to understand that the European reality is much more complex and diverse than we usually understand it – and that Eastern and South-Eastern Europe is much more than just non-Western.
Heinz Wittenbrink, Co-director of off_gallery graz (Photo: Günther Peroutka)
Edith Draxl
We have worked with two artists so far, with Nina Khyzhna and with Vlada Chentsovska. The collaboration with a third person, Nina Eba, has just started.
With Nina Khyzhna we have realised the project “Kherson Unbreakable”, a staged reading that has impressed the audience very much. She also performed another theatre project “Nobody died today” with us. With Vlada Chentsovska we realised the theatre project “On the light that conquers darkness”. It will be taken up again soon. In addition, we are now looking after Vlada as a scholarship holder of the province of Styria and started working with her on another project.
Nina Eba will be part of the International Dramatiker:innenfestival Graz. We are also working with the visual artist Yuliia Makarenko on an ongoing basis.
Edith Draxl, Artistic Director of uniT (Photo: Wolfgang Rappel)
Josef Fürpaß
In January 2023 I organised an exhibition with the artist Oleksandr Dmytrenko (in cooperation with “Gruppe 77”), and then in May 2023 an exhibition: “Struggle & Contemplation – contemporary art-prints” (in cooperation with Kulturvermittlung Steiermark), with six artists born in Ukraine, Iran and Austria. There was a fine collaboration among all the artists involved.
Austria generally has a good tradition of hospitality. Like everywhere in Europe and in the Western world, our society has been vulnerable in recent years and our democratic system has been endangered by structural changes triggered by globalisation and neoliberalism. Some political movements and economic powers are agitating against international law and human rights. Every activity of people who stand up for humanity and human rights is important: for our country and the many other nations struggling for better conditions for their people. For years I have not had high hopes, but I am still confident about awareness and justice.
Josef Fürpaß, artist and teacher at the Master School for Art and Design/Ortweinschule Graz (Photo: Pierre Pitzl)