Under its comprehensive educational programme, the PinchukArtCentre started screening a documentary dedicated to Damien Hirst’s “Requiem” exhibition that is open for viewing at the art-centre till 20 September 2009. The core element of the 20-minutes-long film is a guided tour of the exposition by Damien Hirst himself, as well as his reflections on art and its role in life; stories behind creation of some of his works; themes that inspire the artist; his philanthropic activity; and the reasons why his major retrospective along with the first time showing of his new paintings are presented in Kyiv, Ukraine. The English language documentary subtitled in Ukrainian is shown on a daily basis at the Information Centre located on the first floor and also at the video-lounge on the sixth floor of the PinchukArtCentre.
The documentary also includes footage taken in London and Kyiv before and during “Requiem” exhibition presentation, and at the “Cradles of Hope” newborn centre opening ceremony at the national Children’s Hospital in Kyiv. The film presents views and opinions regarding Hirst’s work and influence on development of contemporary art, comments on the artist’s new painting shown for the first time and a story about his philanthropic activity. Among people who share their views with the public are British artist and Damien Hirst’s professor at the Goldsmith College Michael Craig-Martin, famous BBC TV presenter, art historian and exhibition director of the White Cube gallery network Tim Marlow, Damien Hirst’s manager Frank Danphy and a number of other artists and gallery owners who worked with Damien Hirst for many years.
Making of this documentary is one of the steps under the educational initiatives implemented by the PinchukArtCentre. These initiatives include free exhibition tours at 14:00, 17:00 and 19:00 guided by specially trained guides; computerized Information Centre that offers visitors a variety of materials on “Requiem” exhibition; and library with a collection of the leading international and Ukrainian art-editions such as Artforum, Art Review, Frieze, Art Flash International, Artkhronika and other.
Dennis Kazvan, PR Director of the PinchukArtCentre: “We have noticed that the Information Centre is just as popular with our visitors as the exhibition itself. Creation of this documentary dedicated to “Requiem” is our pilot project realized in collaboration with Novy Chanel. From now on, we intend to accompany all our exhibition projects with this sort of educational documentaries. At the moment we are making a short film on the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale and soon we’ll commence working on the documentary about 20 nominees for the PinchukArtCentre Prize, whose works of art will be showcased at the art-centre this coming autumn.”
For the moment, the number of people who visited “Requiem” exhibition exceeds 150 000. The overall number of the PinchukArtCentre visitors, from the day the art centre was opened in September 2006, totals over 700 000. Since its opening, the art-centre exhibition space increased by 1200 sq.m. and now equals 3600 sq.m. A new Information Centre, library and reception area has opened this year on the first floor. Additionally, the art-centre visitors have an opportunity to purchase “Requiem” exhibition catalogue and special souvenir T-shirts with a skull on it – an imprint of the Floating skull from the new series of paintings by Damien Hirst.
