Curated by Svitlana Biedarieva in collaboration with Hanna Deikun
At the Front Line. Ukrainian Art, 2013–2019 explored how visual artists and contemporary filmmakers interpreted and influenced the turbulent political and cultural situation in Ukraine between 2013 and 2019: from the civic protests in Kyiv (2013–2014) to the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and the war of Russia against Ukraine in the east of the country (2014–today).
The goal of this interdisciplinary program of events was to showcase Ukrainian contemporary art and to organize documentary screenings and debates, giving voice to artists, filmmakers, and historians. It was the first large-scale project in Mexico that focused on contemporary Ukrainian art and documentary and featured the first exhibition of prominent Ukrainian artists in Latin America. The satellite program of talks, performances, and screenings aimed at establishing an intercontinental connection and developing new transatlantic artistic and academic collaborations.
At the Front Line. Ukrainian Art, 2013–2019 took place between September 2019 and February 2020 in Mexico City. It involved three important cultural venues: the National Museum of Cultures, the Museum of Memory and Tolerance, and the National Cinematheque (with the support of the International “Renaissance” Foundation, Mironova Foundation, Samsung Mexico, and Goethe-Institut Mexiko). Further, the exhibition was shown at the “Oseredok” Ukrainian Cultural Center in Winnipeg, Canada (with the support of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies).
The aim of the exhibition and documentary and discussion programs was to foster an intercultural dialogue about the place and agency of contemporary art in the context of a turbulent and violent situation and to help establish stronger connections between the two countries, Mexico and Ukraine by exploring how art can demonstrate similar social concerns in different cultural conditions.
Yevgenia Belorusets, Victories of the Defeated, 2014-2018. Image courtesy Norbert K. Iwan.
Zhanna Kadyrova, Behind the Fence, 2014, Image courtesy Victor Farías.
The National Museum of Cultures hosted an exhibition of leading Ukrainian artists from 25 September 2019 to 2 February 2020. The participants included Yevgen Nikiforov, Piotr Armianovski, Olia Mykhailiuk, Roman Minin, Yevgenia Belorusets, Kristina Norman, Lada Nakonechna, Mykola Ridnyi, Yuri Koval, Anton Popernyak, Roman Mikhailov, Svitlana Biedarieva, and the documentation of works from the “Izolyatsia” Platform for Cultural Initiatives (Daniel Buren, Pascale Marthine Tayou, and Leandro Erlich).
The exhibition featured performances by two Mexican artists, César Martínez Silva and Paola Paz Yee, responding to the topics of trauma, armed violence, and economic inequality on the geopolitical map.
The Museum of Memory and Tolerance provided the space for both Ukrainian and Mexican academics and artists who in four roundtables discussed the recent political and cultural situation in Ukraine. These discussions took place 5, 12, 19, and 26 October 2019.
On 8–14 November 2019, 10 documentaries by Ukrainian and international filmmakers were presented at the National Cinematheque. The participating filmmakers were Serhii Loznytsia, Tania Khodakivska, Kateryna Gornostai, Maria Stoianova, Piotr Armianovski, Oleksandr Techinskyi, Sashko Protyah, Olena Gorlova, and Mykola Ridnyi.
Exhibitions reviews
Curatorial text
Світлана Бєдарєва. Лінія фронту: між Мексикою та Канадою. Prostory. 13 вересня 2020.
Svitlana Biedarieva, The Morphology of War, 2017. Image courtesy Victor Farías
Olia Mykhailiuk, Just Went Away, 2015.
Lada Nakonechna, The So-Called, 2015. Image courtesy Victor Farías
For further information about the project, please visit its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lalineadelfrente2019/
Svitlana Biedarieva 