The interdisciplinary programme of the Ukrainian Institute to showcase Ukraine’s contribution to the world culture via online projects.

Goal of the programme

The goal of the programme is to present to foreign audiences in lay language Ukrainian phenomena, names and contexts that have left their mark on the world culture but are not always known abroad as Ukrainian.

We strive to cover global topics and challenges of our time through Ukrainian culture and art.

Ukraine Everywhere is an attempt to manifest and systematise the presence of Ukraine in the histories and cultures of different countries and communities, to return the proper attribution of ‘Made in Ukraine’ to those individuals, things and phenomena that were not perceived as Ukrainian due to the absence of Ukrainian subjectivity for a long time.

A total of 27 projects applied for the competition. According to the decision of the tender commission, the following projects became winners. Projects are expected to be implemented by 2020.

Ukraine Everywhere
 
An online platform that will introduce the Kharkiv School of Photography – a phenomenon of Ukrainian art from the 1970s to the present. The project will offer a foreign reader a new view on Ukraine and its artistic context, reveal the history of the struggle against the Soviet “aesthetic monopoly”, and show the role of art for society to go beyond the totalitarian way of thinking. The resource will be interesting both for the professional audience and a wide range of people keen on the topics of totalitarian heritage, the search for new visual forms of expression, rethinking the perception of beauty, etc. The portal consists of a photo gallery and curatorial texts.

Project organisers: Bagels & Letters PR Agency, VASA Project.
Photo: Boris Mikhailov, Red series
 
Through animation and an interactive game, the project will tell about five Ukrainian female artists of the sixties – Alla Gorska, Lyubov Panchenko, Lyudmyla Semykina, Halyna Sevruk and Halyna Zubchenko, who played a significant role in the development of not only Ukrainian but also world culture. The Sixtiers are often portrayed as heroes-martyrs. Instead “60. Lost Treasures” seeks to show them from the other side – not only heroes but also hooligans in art, who did not conform to boring stereotypical Soviet images of art. They were young, educated, stylish, and creative people with their own worldview and taste. They contributed to Ukraine’s independence as they continued to create, despite constant fears of punishment and struggle with the system. In order to convey true facts not only of the artists’ lives but also of the history of Ukraine, the work on the project will be carried out in close cooperation with scientists.

Project organiser: Public Union “Ukrainian Animation Association” Author of the image: Lisa Senkova
Ukraine Everywhere
Ukraine Everywhere
 

An online exhibition in the format of a game, in which each user will choose their own way of interacting with algorithm and form their own vision of the development of Ukrainian art. The spectator plays the role of an artist who transforms social phenomena and political events into works of art. The exhibition will present Ukrainian artists whose works construct alternative, fantastic, speculative realities: of past, present, or future. The works of art presented at the exhibition were created since the 1920s to the present days.

Project organiser: Curatorial association OK
Projects Curators: Ksenia Malykh, Valeria Schiller
Software development: Photinus Studio
Illustrator: Daniil Revkovsky
Communications: BILESUHE
Digital Promotion Department Image author: Daniil Revkovsky.

 

An interactive map of Ukrainian culture that is not limited to the country’s borders. The project will reveal the artistic trace left by Ukrainian artists on the world map. Through archival photos, videos, images of art works itwill tell stories related to the specific locations. The user will start his or her journey from the real-time position and follow Ukrainian artists’ pathes around the world. UA View will help you to find out which places in Paris visited Olexandr Arkhypenko, what subjects he taught at his own School of Arts in Berlin, and what kind of heritage he left in Chicago. Justclick on the button to learn what the works of art of famous Ukrainians tell about these places.

Project organiser: NGO “Museum of Contemporary Art”
Project team: Lydia Apollonova, Olga Balashova, Valentina Klimenko, Ilya Zabolotny

Image: Maria Bashkirtseva. In the studio (Julian Academy). 1881. Canvas, oil. Dnipropetrovsk Art Museum (Probably a workshop at 51 Vivien Street, Paris)

Ukraine Everywhere
 
About the programme
 

Ukraine Everywhere provides for several areas of implementation:

→ Creating a web page ui.org.ua/ukraine_everywhere to host thematic projects online;
→ Cooperation with international media to create special projects dedicated to the Ukrainian culture;
→ Collaborations with other online platforms to create thematic projects.

 
 
Application deadline 2020 (closed)

 

In 2020, the Ukrainian Institute announces a competition to create the first online project in the field of visual art, that will be posted on the page of the programme Ukraine Everywhere.
Project proposals submitted for consideration must contain the following:

→ curatorial approach;
→ format of technical implementation of the project (web development);
→ communication strategy.

The maximum amount of the project budget is UAH 900,000.00 including all mandatory taxes and fees that must be paid in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine.

A project be like:
→ online exhibition;
→ online reconstruction;
→ online project in social networks (if you create a landing page and archive the results);
→ curatorial statement in the field of visual art of Ukraine structured in a different way, created for the web environment, available for viewing via a browser from any device (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.).
 
A project can’t be like:
→ database without a narrative;
→ an advertising campaign, without a curatorial concept and preliminary studies;
→ digitised work that was not originally created for web environment (printed publications that were converted to an online format without adaptation; existing physical exhibitions that were digitized in 3D, etc.);
→ mobile applications that can’t be opened from an Internet browser;
→ a project that requires additional equipment to view (VR glasses, etc.).
 
Suggested projects topics:
→ Ukrainian artists in world art;
→ Ukrainian artists abroad;
→ Ukrainian modern;
→ Ukrainian avant-garde;
→ Art of the Ukrainian Sixties;
→ Ukrainian sculpture;
→ Ukrainian architecture.

The list of topics is not exhaustive. Applicants can propose projects on other topics that will be considered on a general basis.
 
Qualification criteria:
→ Applicant represents not only the curatorial intent but also the institutional/organisational partners who will be responsible for the technical development and implementation of the project, as well as the communication strategy. Advantage will be given to the projects that involve the collaboration of the curator/curators with a creative/advertising/digital agency.

→ Project should be based on the existing research and/or publications.

→ Project has an up-to-date format and theme; corresponds to global trends, requests of a certain target audience; encourages dialogue and discussion about the challenges of the past, present and future; and/or is associated with important and relevant phenomena not only of the Ukrainian culture, but also of the global agenda.

→ Project represents modern Ukrainian culture and/or works with an up-to-date and professional interpretation of cultural heritage. It is desirable to involve modern Ukrainian artists in the project.

→ Curator and the project’s institutional partners have proven previous experience working with online projects.

→ Project concept corresponds to the strategy, principles and values of the Ukrainian Institute and does not violate the current legislation of Ukraine.

Winning project must be implemented by 1 December 2020.

Proposals are reviewed by the Ukrainian Institute. After determining the winning project, the Ukrainian Institute can finalise its concept together with the winner of the competition.

To ensure project financing, a service agreement is concluded with the winner of the competition. Payment for services will be made after they are rendered. The possibility of partial prepayment is agreed individually with the winner in accordance with the needs of a specific project.
 
How to apply:
Legal entities of all forms of ownership and individual entrepreneurs registered in Ukraine can submit project proposals.

To apply, you must send a completed electronic form (find a sample here) an e-mail no later than 3 August 2020, 11:59 p.m. (Kyiv time) on the address [email protected].
It is necessary to attach the following to the e-mail:

→ Portfolio of organisers/curators of the submitted project proposal (pdf file no more than 10 MB);
→ (Preferably) project visualisation (pdf file no more than 10 MB).

Not eligible to apply:

→ natural persons (individuals);

→ legal entities registered abroad;

→ legal entities registered both in Ukraine and abroad that are related to the aggressor state, the Russian Federation, that is recognised in accordance with the Law of Ukraine On the specifics of state policy to ensure state sovereignty of Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions No. 2268-VIII dated 18 January 2018, namely:
  • beneficiaries of which are individuals, citizens of the Russian Federation, or legal entities associated with the Russian Federation;
  • legal entities or individuals – beneficiaries, founders and/or participants of such entities or individuals who are subject to personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) in accordance with the Law of Ukraine On sanctions and decisions of the National Security and Defence Council.

All applicants will receive a confirmation letter and, if necessary, a request for additional documents or clarifying information.

The announcement of the winning project will take place no later than on 31 August 2020.