Ukraine, an art gallery in Kyiv that had closed during the war reopens

In Ukraine , an art gallery that had closed at the outbreak of war has reopened its doors: the Voloshyn Gallery in Kyiv is organizing the group exhibition Camera Obscura from April 14 to May 21 to give a sign of normalcy. The exhibition is in fact an attempt to show light in the darkness that obscures Ukraine, refracted through the prism of works by artists who explore the media of photography and emphasize its importance in the context of war. Participating in the exhibition are artists Krasimira Butseva, Nikita Kadan, Lesia Khomenko, Brilant Milazimi, Mila Panic, Vlada Ralko and Yevgen Samborsky, and the Open Group collective.

For owners Max and Julia Voloshyn, who founded the gallery in October 2016 and succeeded in establishing it as one of the leading galleries in Ukraine within a short period of time, reopening also means giving support to the Ukrainian art scene during the war, as well as marking a small step toward a normalcy that has yet to return. In the capital Kyiv, however, the situation is now more stable, and the two young gallery owners felt it was time to open. Of course, over the past year they have not been sitting on their hands: they have been hosted by several other galleries, mainly in the United States, so they have been able to continue working, albeit off-site, and have made Ukraine’s artistic reality known outside the country’s borders. They also participated in important fairs, such as Arco in Madrid and Art Brussels in Brussels. And during the war year the gallery, located in the Shevchenko district of the capital (the scene of some fierce Russian bombings), was also used as a shelter. And now it is finally returning to what it was meant to be: an exhibition space.

The exhibition transforms the interior of the Voloshyn Gallery into a dark room, with the artists’ works representing rays of light. Their dialogue aims to create a nonlinear connection between the intuitive and the exploratory and produces associations that far exceed the visible perspective. The exhibition also seeks to highlight the personal fears that war arouses in each of us. It examines feelings of humanity and dignity in light of the ever-present existential conflict between the personal need for security and the commitment to freedom. Camera Obscura therefore invites the viewer to plunge into the darkness that lies somewhere between the past and the present, at once forced and hidden, corporeal and sensual, private and political, combining real life and the process of conceptual reasoning.

Ukraine, an art gallery in Kyiv that had closed during the war reopens

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