[Ukraine] Pratiques d'Ukraine - FOCUS ON MIKHAIL REVA AND HIS ART VOICE by Olena Pidopryhora – executive director of Shampanka in Odesa

Since the start of the war and the Russian invasion, the Relais Culture Europe has continued to create, maintain and pursue areas of cooperation and conversations with Ukrainian actors and actresses.
We wanted to share their practices here, which testify to the vibrancy and diversity of artistic and cultural initiatives in Ukraine.

Mikhail Reva, a prominent Ukrainian sculptor, and his art voice were significant until February 2022. Feeling the impact of the wartime reality, Reva reinterprets his art, creating sculptures embodying the absolute evil of the Russian army. Using fragments and remnants of Russian military equipment, he encapsulates the suffering and losses of Ukrainians in his works, turning art into a testimony of the existence of evil in the contemporary world.

Site Reva Studios

Olena Pidopryhora est la directrice exécutive d'un centre d'art contemporain et de culture à Odessa, "Shampanka". Ce centre de culture contemporaine a été conçu dans une ancienne usine de champagne et devait ouvrir ses portes en mai 2022. L'invasion russe à grande échelle a détruit non seulement ces projets, mais aussi de nombreuses vies. À partir de mars 2022, toutes les activités se sont déroulées à l'extérieur des murs de Shampanka, tous les bâtiments municipaux ayant été fermés.

Olena Pidopryhora: "So we changed our focus on heritage: we covered marble sculptures in the city centre, scanned monuments, managed the process of writing an UNESCO dossier. Our focus now is on the development of young curators and promoting Ukrainian artists abroad."

Photo: © Yakiv Hanzelmann