Aequo Supports the First Independent National Competition for Young Ukrainian Artists – MUHi 2015

29 Вересня 2015

Aequo is proud to support MUHi (Young Ukrainian Artists) – the first independent national competition for young Ukrainian artists under the age of 35. MUHi project was created in 2009 on the initiative of Marina Shcherbenko, the founder and curator of Bottega Gallery and Shcherbenko Art Centre.

Today Ukraine is to a large extent re-inventing itself. We strongly believe that giving the best talents a chance to develop will ensure the long-term success of our country. We support a number of initiatives aimed to empower the artistic and creative talent inherent in our people, and promote Ukraine as a modern nation that is brave enough to embrace change”, comments Denis Lysenko, Managing Partner, Aequo.

We share the idea of this project to discover new names in Ukrainian contemporary art. Marina Shcherbenko’s initiative is a great opportunity for young artists who seek to develop and produce their own original ideas and design according to the latest world tendencies. In fact, the best thing you could give someone is a chance”, says Anna Babych, partner, Aequo.

MUHi 2015 shortlist has been announced this week. 10 nominees were selected from 350 applications by the international commission of experts specialized in the field of contemporary art.

The names of the finalists MUHi 2015:

Bogdan Volynskiy (Kharkiv)

Daria Koltsova (Kyiv)

Dana Kosmina (Kyiv)

Oksana Pyzh (Kharkiv)

Anton Saienko (Kyiv)

Andrew Sakun (Kyiv)

Boris Slazhnyev (Kyiv)

Supovoy Nabor group (Pyotr Vladimirov, Kyiv, Yevgeniy Koroletov, Dnipropetrovsk region)

Oma Shu (Kharkiv)

Yaryna Shumska (Lviv)

Marina Shcherbenko: "Before a contemporary young artist opens the whole world, he or she just gets his place at the beginning, the opportunities to experiment, trying, destroying the old to create their own, to create something brand new. He or she sees a boundless space, to complete it and win, with idealism and ambition inherent in youth. I see this position as a great prospect for contemporary art for the whole environment. But we hope that this artist is based on the cultural archive already received at school and academy, during self-education, which will enable to fill their work and avoid storeys. Topics of the young Ukrainian artists’ concern are often the main themes of the country - war, aggression, political failure... These topics chosen also because they work for the audience, which is quite simply to imagine and understand, but there is a big risk: to reflect consumer’s wishes in their practice, not to create anything new and unique".

International expert commission

Tatiana Tumasyan - curator, gallery owner, Kharkiv Municipal Gallery director

Oksana Barshynova - art historian, senior researcher at the research department of art of the XX - the beginning of XXI century at the National Art Museum of Ukraine, curator

Kateryna Taylor - cultural project manager, co-founder of Platform for Contemporary Art

Nadim Samman - curator, co-founder of Import-Projects, the Near East Magazine editor

Janusz Baldyga - artist, performer, teacher, "Days of performance art in Lviv" curator

The exhibition of the MUHі 2015 short-list will contain the educational program that includes a series of lectures, workshops and performances. Details and schedule of activities for the educational program MUHі 2015 will be available on the website http://bottega-gallery.com/muxi.

The works of 10 nominees selected by the experts committee will be presented at the final exhibition, which will be held in Kiev, at Modern Art Research Institute (Schors 18D str.) from November 25 till December 5 2015. The award ceremony will be held on December 2 2015. The winner of the contest receives the award of 40 000 UAH. Also two special prizes (15 000 UAH) will be awarded.

The winners will receive half of the reward in cash and the second half as the production fund for the realization of personal projects in 2016 in Shcherbenko Art Centre space.