The PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform announces its updated approach to archiving and understanding of Ukrainian contemporary art. In order to broaden the views on the history of Ukrainian art and deepen research methodology skills, the art centre introduces a new system of visiting curators at the Research Platform, both Ukrainian and international.
Bjorn Geldhof,artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre: “We are very proud to announce a renewed approach for the Research Platform. Through a model of affiliated curators and experts we aim to create an open model that generates space for more opinionated views while striving towards an increased discursive context about Ukrainian art. This new approach means new team members and also a goodbye to an old team member, Tatiana Kochubinska. Tatiana was a valued and important member of our team and made major contributions to the Research Platform. It was a pleasure to have her as a part of our team and I am sure that in the new ventures that she is about to embark on, she will be as successful as she was in PinchukArtCentre.”
Tatiana Kochubinska, curator of the PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform since its inception, about leaving the team: "I have been fortunate enough to work for and later curate the PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform for three years. We have held six research exhibitions, for which we collaborated with invited curators: Ksenia Malykh (current manager of the Research Platform), Valeriy Sakharuk, Stanislav Silantyev, Galina Khorunzha and Tetyana Zhmurko. In this short span of time, we have earned the trust of the artistic community and built a network of professional contacts with individual artists, researchers and institutions. I am confident that this network will grow and develop, and our research will "capture" other cities (in addition to Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv). Working for the platform and interacting within it have made it possible for all of us to become professionals: when you publish an article or a book, create an exhibition, and ultimately take responsibility for your own statements. I would like the research, exhibition and publishing components of the Research Platform to go beyond Ukraine and promote the delocalization of contemporary Ukrainian art."
As the first guest curator the team of Research Platform will be joined by Kostyantyn Doroshenko, historian, critic, curator and publicist: "The PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform is an extremely timely and necessary phenomenon. It is important that its participants not only collect information about Ukraine's contemporary art but also care to hold their own analysis - because of remoteness in time. This is exactly how the history of art is written, not from the myths and fables of contemporaries whose heads are full of the tables of ranks and whose evaluations automatically reflect their personal affections and idiosyncrasy. Thinking about Ukrainian art as a critic and journalist for 25 years, I have always tried to remain outside the groups that formed within it. I have experienced quarrels with artist friends offended by criticism, scandals by gallerists who believed that "a critic should be loyal", and even courts that set a precedent for artists suing critics and ended with the victory of the right to criticise. With this principled detachment from personal likes and dislikes and a degree in history, which have become my nature and require archival accuracy, I am ready to use my experience in cooperation with PinchukArtCentre. Turning the page, it will become even more visible and important on the Ukrainian and world art stage."
The strategic focus of the PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform continues to be on holding research exhibitions and public programme events, publishing books and articles. The art centre will continue to explore the local artistic context, support professional discussion and invest in intellectual product. An important component of this process is the development of the PinchukArtCentre’s library, which provides professionals and a broad audience with access to the materials, including archives, which underpin the work of the Research Platform.
