Steppes of Dreamers at the 53nd Venice Biennale
The PinchukArtCentre and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine are pleased to present artists Illya Chichkan (Ukraine) and Mihara Yasuhiro (Japan) in the exhibition Steppes of Dreamers – a major contribution to the 53rd Venice Biennale entitled, Making Worlds. The project emphasises the process of creation and expands the boundaries of art and collaboration. The Commissioner is Peter Doroshenko, PinchukArtCentre’s artistic director. The curator of the Ukrainian Pavilion is Wladimir Klitschko. The partner of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 53d Venice Biennale is the international brand Nemiroff.
Life is like a film. The many things that happen and the many forms that life takes on – are of an ephemeral nature. They are all fleeting. Things, events, situations, thoughts, emotions, desires, ambitions, fears, drama…they all come, pretend to be all-important, and before you know it they are gone, dissolved into the nothingness out of which they came. Were they ever real? Were they ever more than a dream? Steppes of Dreamers, creates the opportunity for all visitors to produce their own short mental movies. Just like the title of the Biennale, Making Worlds, suggests, Steppes of Dreamers helps move all into discovering who they are in the present world.
This is the basis for the collaborative effort between Illya Chichkan and Mihara Yasuhiro. Working together in the uncharted boundary where art and fashion meet, they examine the past, present and future of the Eurasian landscape through various cinema metaphors. Their four large-scale art installations include: light, sound, performance, advertising and the Palazzo Papadopoli itself as a film-set. Additionally, two large kinetic works by Mihara Yasuhiro addressing space and movement will also add to the assembly of exhibition. The installations are located inside the palazzo and in front of the Academia Bridge. Both artists demonstrate a single, unique vision regarding travel, identity and consciousness.
Using various visual elements, Illya Chichkan and Mihara Yasuhiro put the spectator of the in the position of realizing the transitory nature of perception by emphasizing the process of consciousness. We enter these physical spaces. We recognize the elements around us. We take for granted certain situations. To awaken within the dream is our purpose now. When we are awake within the dream, life dramas come to an end and a more wondrous dream arises.
Working with the Ukrainian and Japanese artists, the PinchukArtCentre positions its commitment to bridge national identity and international challenges. Officially representing Ukraine for the second time at the Venice Biennale has been a part of the global competence and a long term strategy of the PinchukArtCentre, the young but seminal art institution which supports, develops and promotes the Ukrainian art-scene.
Official opening of the Ukrainian pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale
Exposition of the Ukrainian pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale
