Under the Book Arsenal programme, the PinchukArtCentre will present its first book, “Parcommune, Place. Community.Phenomenon”, devoted to the famous Paris Commune squat in Kyiv. The Research Platform aims at creating a live archive of the Ukrainian contemporary art since early 1980s until now. The book will be available for sale on the stand of the Resident store (location В 2.12) during the Book Arsenal from 30 May through 3 June, and at the Resident store at the PinchukArtCentre since 23 June, 2018.
The book includes articles that reveal the squat’s history, analyse exhibition activities of its members and explore the importance of Parcommune as a phenomenon in whole. All the information is presented in the historic context of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and supported with archival materials collected by the Research Platform team from the Ukrainian art scene figures.
The book "Parcommune. Place. Community. Phenomenon" has been based on the research that preceded an eponymous exhibition that was held in October 2016. The goal of the exhibition was to comprehend the phenomenon of a squat that was active in Kyiv between 1990 and 1994 on Paris Commune street (Mykhailivska st. today). The exhibition featured works, photographs, videos and archival materials relating to life and oeuvre of artists such as Illya Chichkan, Dmytro Dulfan, Oleg Golosiy, Oleksandr Hnylytskyi, Dmytro Kavsan, Oleksandr Klymenko, Yuri Solomko, Valeria Troubina, Vasyl Tsagolov, Leonid Vartyvanov and many others.
Publication of books and holding research exhibitions is a strategic activity of the art centre to explore the local artistic context, foster professional debate and invest in the intellectual product. An important element to this process is creation and development of a library at the art centre that allows experts and public access to materials, including archival items the work of the Research Platform is based upon.
