Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto (Vhils) is one of 28 artists from ten countries participating in an exhibition to be inaugurated in Kiev on Friday, in a temporary cultural space, consisting of 27 modules, set up on Kontraktova Square.
The “Module of Temporality” (MOT), a temporary cultural space managed by the Ukrainian publication DTF (“Don’t Take Fake”), was created with the aim of “to show the world that Ukrainians, even in times of war and constant threat, not only rethink their past, fight for the present, but also think about the future, especially the cultural future of the country”.
In a statement to Lusa, the publication explains that that space consists of “27 modules, creating one open space and others closed, as well as several terraces”.
“The main material is metal, in its different variations. In particular, steel from the Azovstal metallurgical and steel complex in Mariupol”is in the statement.
The main space of the MOT will host an exhibition by French curator and art critic Fabrice Bousteau, featuring works by 28 artists from countries such as Ukraine, France, the United States, Switzerland, South Korea, Portugal and India.
In addition to the Portuguese Vhils, the guest artists include the Frenchman JR, the North American Mark Jenkins, the Ukrainian Waone, from the duo Interesnikazki, the Frenchman Prune Nourry and the Spaniard Pablo Valbuena.
The exhibition will remain open until May and will include film screenings and lectures.
For the exhibition in Kiev, Vhils made portraits, of the overlay of posters, representing “exceptionally important figures from the recent history of Ukraine, expressing fundamental values of peace, freedom, equality and human rights”.
According to the artist, in a publication shared on the social network Instagram, one of the figures portrayed is Serhiy Nigoyan, the first activist of the Euromaidan movement to be killed during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, on January 22 of that year in the Hrushevskoho -street. in the center of Kyiv.
The artist recalls that in 2015 he already engraved Serhiy Nigoyan’s face on a building in Kiev, “in honor of all the protesters who sacrificed their lives in the name of equality and freedom”.
A photo of that mural was presented last week by Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, to Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Council meeting.
With the “Module of Temporality”, the DTF wants to “help renew cultural objects damaged by war”.
A fund is being created for this purpose, to which funds will be allocated, according to the magazine, from the sale of tickets, objects for sale in the space’s shop and the result of an auction of works by artists.
“The money raised will be transferred to the restoration of cultural institutions and monuments, including museums, which will be selected by the MOT team and specialists at the end of the project,” the publication explains.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries – according to the most recent data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Source: DN
