Lots of Ukrainian art at the Biennale, protest at the Russian pavilion

“People keep calling us heroes here in Venice. But we are not heroes, we just do what we can and we can make exhibitions.’ At the Venice Biennale, curator Lizaveta German addresses a packed auditorium during the press conference about the Ukrainian pavilion.

Yet it is a heroic story how the work of the Ukrainian artist Pavlo Makov (63) ended up at the Biennale. When the threat of war began to take hold in late February, German’s colleague Maria Lanko had packed the dismantled fountain, consisting of 78 bronze funnels, into three boxes and loaded it into her car. Immediately on the evening of February 24, the day of the Russian invasion, Lanko was able to drive from Kyiv and reached the border six days later. Two weeks later, she arrived in Vienna with the boxes full of art, from where they could be sent to Venice. In Milan she found a company that could assemble the bronze funnels.

The Fountain of Exhaustion’ (‘fountain of exhaustion’) it does, to the visible relief of the curators. But can there really be room for art in wartime? Indeed, they believe, it is now of the utmost importance that the world learns more about Ukrainian culture. And especially how it differs from the Russian one. Moreover, they say: in a war you live from day to day, art is made for eternity.

Here in Venice you can also turn the question around: can there be room for war in an art exhibition? There is no other way at the Biennale. A large part consists of country pavilions, so the war is automatically present. The artists who were to exhibit in the Russian pavilion decided not to come. So the large building, in the middle of the exhibition garden, is almost empty. Photos are taken, selfies too. There is a scaffold with a can of latex paint and a security guard is walking back and forth.

On Wednesday, a protest took place here by the Russian artist Vadim Zakharov (63). In 2013, he represented Russia at the Biennale in this pavilion, now he stood in front of it with a protest sign: ‘I protest against the propaganda of Russia and the Russian invasion that led to the war in Ukraine. The killing of women, children, the Ukrainian people is a disgrace to Russia.’ His brave protest was interrupted by the Italian police.

Less than a hundred meters from the Russian pavilion, protests against the war are allowed in a ‘Piazza Ucraina’ specially furnished by the curators of the Ukrainian pavilion. A collection of posters shows current works of art by various artists from Ukraine. A smart solution, because it does not require complicated logistics.

There are confrontational paintings and drawings, for example of a bomb shelter, or a soldier who has taken his position in a playground. In the center of the Piazza Ucraina is a high mountain of sandbags. It’s a reference to the way Ukrainian statues are wrapped, how Ukraine tries to protect its heritage.

Of course that doesn’t always work. In late February, it was revealed that a museum in Ivankiv, north of Kyiv, had been set on fire by Russian troops. The museum included 25 paintings by the Ukrainian folk artist Maria Prymachenko (1909-1997). The Italian curator Cecilia Alemani hastily added a work of art by Prymachenko to the main exhibition of the Biennale, ‘out of solidarity with Ukrainian culture’.

Also beyond the Biennale grounds, Ukrainian art has come to Venice, on a large scale. Giant posters in the colors of the Ukrainian flag hang on a large building in the Venetian quarter of Cannaregio. Here is the exhibition This Is Ukraine: Defending Freedom which was conceived only four weeks ago.

In fact, this location is supposed to host an exhibition of the Future Generation Art Prize, a biennial prize awarded by the art foundation of the wealthy Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk. Such an exhibition of prizes would be inappropriate, so Ukrainian and international anti-war art was quickly gathered together.

Just before the press opening, a sculpture of British superstar Damien Hirst was installed: Wretched War, from 2004. Hirst also made a special work of art in yellow and blue, just like the equally well-known Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. These big names (Marina Abramovic is also present, as is the French street artist JR) are mainly the ‘lurers’ on the poster here, the exhibition revolves around Ukrainian art, which responds directly to the war.

The gigantic paintings that Lesia Chomenko (42) made of civilians who have taken up arms to defend their country immediately catch the eye. It started with a portrait of her own husband, Max, the room text states, which she made after she and her daughter Kyiv fled and he went into a fight.

Artworks by folk artist Maria Prymachenko will also be on display here, but they had not yet arrived in Venice during the press opening. It concerns two gouaches that were rescued from the burning museum by a man who lived nearby, according to the hall text. They will be there on Thursday at the festive opening, where President Zelensky addresses the invitees via video link.

Photographer Yevgenia Belorusets (40), who lives in Kyiv, kept a diary for the German magazine from the beginning of the war of the mirror† Her texts and photos are in This Is Ukraine on display. She herself also came to Venice from Kyiv via Berlin. That feels unreal, she says: ‘It’s strange, the beauty of the city doesn’t touch me like during previous visits. My whole picture of reality has been changed by the war.’

In 2015, Belorusets was one of the artists who participated in the Ukrainian group exhibition at the Biennale HOPE† She showed in her photos how Ukrainians in areas occupied by Russia tried to continue their everyday lives. Hope is still there, she says: “The idea of ​​hope is very powerful. Ukraine will survive and we will rebuild our country. The fact that the war is felt even here at the Biennale is a sign that the war concerns us all.’