Ukrainian presentation in Mexico: Almost 30,000 people attend exhibition of contemporary Ukrainian artists – photo

The exhibition of contemporary Ukrainian art entitled Home Beyond the Star in Guadalajara, Mexico, has brought together 27,500 visitors. The show was part of the European Union's Artistic Expressions in Contemporary Europe project, which was an honorary guest at the Guadalajara Book Fair (FIL Guadalajara).

Nataliia Matsenko, the project's coordinator and art historian, told Ukrainska Pravda.Kultura (Culture) about the event.

The exhibition will be presented in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, after it ends on 24 February, the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU delegation is considering placing the exhibition in one of the city's museums.

Exhibition attendees in Guadalajara. Photo: MUSA, FIL Guadalajara, Nataliia Matsenko.

The title Home Beyond the Star refers to the poem of the same name by Ukrainian poet Bohdan-Ihor Antonych. The exhibition's creators described the central theme as follows: "Home is a place of memory, a hiding place for the past, a place of recovery and a starting point for the future. A familiar landscape, the perception of which changes forever. The people around us. We walk through the darkness to the desired dawn to find or rebuild our home – cosy and safe again – in the first [sun]rays of the first peaceful day."

Nataliia Matsenko said the exhibition at the book fair attracted cultural figures and a handful of journalists. Since the European Union was the guest of honour at FIL, many diplomats, ambassadors from the US and EU, and members of the European Parliament could also see the exhibition. It was a reminder to other countries about the war and the support Ukraine needs, as well as a chance to show how art is connected to this war.

"For the European Union, it is also an important message of developing links with Mexico, and Ukraine is seen here as part of this European family. Although we are still a candidate for accession, the EU emphasises that it sees us as part of the Union," Matsenko said.

Nataliia Matsenko's guided tour during the exhibition opening. Photo: MUSA, FIL Guadalajara, Nataliia Matsenko.

The Home Beyond the Star exhibition occupies three halls of the Museum of Art of the University of Guadalajara (MUSA). With free admission, this exhibition attracted many visitors, including locals, students of the University of Guadalajara, and tourists.

"In my experience of communication, the exhibition evokes a powerful response and empathy. Mexican viewers are a very open-minded audience that empathises with Ukrainians. It is often their acquaintance with Ukraine from scratch and the breaking of a huge distance. After viewing it, they often had a question: 'How can we help or support you?'," the coordinator added.

The exhibition is dedicated to changes in the landscape and its perception and transformations of the concepts of place and home in the context of war. The artists' works, including paintings, drawings, installations, photographs, and jewellery, depict the loss, preservation, and recovery of their own lives.

The exhibition's visitors at the exposition. Photo: MUSA, FIL Guadalajara, Nataliia Matsenko

A range of artists joined the exhibition, including Katia Buchatska, one of the participants of the Venice Biennale; photographer Sasha Maslov; sculptor Zhanna Kadyrova; artists Roman Minin, Yehor Antsyhin, Yurii Yefanov; audio artists Bohdan Bunchak, Timur Dzhafarov (John Object), En Rozen, Heorhii Potopalskyi (Ujif_notfound); artists Kseniia Hnylytska, Anna Zviahintseva, Liusia Ivanova, Katia Libkind and Sofiia Pomohaibo.

Other participants included artists Oleksandr Hnylytskyi & Oleh Holosii; designer Taras Kovach; land artist Vitalii Kokhan; artists Yurii Pikul, Viacheslav Poliakov, Vasyl Sai, Oleksii Sai and Serhii Sviatchenko, filmmaker Ivan Sautkin and photographer Olena Subach.

Vasyl Sai. Safe House. Interactive game, 2023. Photo: MUSA

Zhanna Kadyrova. Part of the series Air Raid. Photo: MUSA

Earlier, the coordinator also joined the project Our Years, Our Words, Our Losses, Our Search, Ourselves, which is taking place at the Jam Factory in the city of Lviv, Ukraine. She says the themes of both exhibitions share common ideas of transformation of art and society, and some artists are involved in both exhibitions.

"It was also important for me not only to show Ukrainian contemporary art in Mexico and raise awareness about the war in our country but also to explain that active cultural life in Ukraine is still going on and that in the midst of a full-scale war, not only exhibitions are opened here, but also entire institutions, and I am involved in this process, an example of which is Jam Factory," said Nataliia Matsenko.

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