Nikita Kadan in Biennale di Venezia
Nikita Kadan presents three new paintings in the exhibition entitled From Ukraine: Dare to Dream, as a Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia. From Ukraine: Dare to Dream, when the world’s in constant fear, will be held at the Palazzo Contarini Polignac in Venice from April 20th until August 1st, 2024.
Can we imagine tomorrow? Do we have the courage to dream? The world has reached an inflection point. Storms and climate change ravage lands far and wide. Political extremes are seizing their growing momentum. Russia’s war in Ukraine unveiled an ongoing global power struggle that has brought war back to Europe. We are at a crucial moment where the future is hidden while fundamental changes are on the horizon. The exhibition weaves a tapestry of stories and dreams gathered from all over, including 22 artists and collectives: Kateryna Aliinyk (Ukraine), Allora & Calzadilla (the USA & Cuba), Alex Baczyński-Jenkins (Poland/the UK), Fatma Bucak (Turkey), David Claerbout (Belgium), Shilpa Gupta (India), Oleg Holosiy (Ukraine), Nikita Kadan (Ukraine), Zhanna Kadyrova (Ukraine), Nikolay Karabinovych (Ukraine), Dana Kavelina(Ukraine), Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk (Ukraine), Lesia Khomenko (Ukraine/the USA), Yana Kononova (Ukraine), Kateryna Lysovenko (Ukraine/Austria), Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria/Belgium), Wilfredo Prieto (Cuba), Daniil Revkovskiy and Andriy Rachinskiy(Ukraine), Anton Saenko (Ukraine), Oleksiy Sai (Ukraine), Fedir Tetianych (Ukraine), Anna Zvyagintseva (Ukraine). Departing from Ukrainian lands and its history of forced migration, the exhibition sounds subdued voices that become songs of resistance and resilience. It addresses Earth’s ecological disasters while imagining a new utopia, where mythology merges into an alternative garden of Eden. Exhausted landscapes bear witness to human violence—from extractive economies to the harsh realities of war—while carrying seeds of a new beginning. Amidst these overwhelming circumstances, the fragility of the individual is blossoming yet at risk. Its shadow is cast by touches, movement of nuanced lines as a part of unspoken verse, scenes of normality that question reality. They all converge into a possibility of acceptance. Can many struggles become the joint creation of a better future? After liberation, can former victims co-exist with former aggressors? Can empathy offer ways of common being in a space of conflicting memories?
Curators: Bjorn Geldhof, Artistic Director of the PinchukArtCentre, Ksenia Malykh, Head of the Research Platform of the PinchukArtCentre, Oleksandra Pogrebnyak, Junior Curator of the PinchukArtCentre. Assistant curator Oksana Chornobrova.
Location: Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Sestiere Dorsoduro, 874, 30123, Venice, Italy
Opening Period: 20 April – 1 August 2024
Opening hours: 10 am – 6 pm every day except Monday
Free admission