“Ukraine at the Centre Pompidou”: Project presentation // M17 Art Collectors’ Forum. Day I [video available]

The four-day M17 International Art Collectors’ Forum starts on July 7 at the M17 CAC. The forum will begin with a presentation of a major cultural endeavor – “Ukraine at the Centre Pompidou”.

Long-term negotiations between the Ukrainian Club of Contemporary Art Collectors and the French Center Pompidou on the donation of works of contemporary art of Ukraine to the Pompidou Center were successfully completed in 2021. The process of transferring works is not just a form of the museumification of Ukrainian art, but also a manifestation of its acceptance in the context of global culture. Nowadays, there are 164 works by Ukrainian artists presented in Paris in the museum’s permanent collection.

During the presentation of the project Ukraine at the Centre Pompidou Forum visitors and media representatives discover:

• what works by Ukrainian artists of modern art ended up in the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou;
• how these works were transferred and why Ukrainian collectors were destined to play a leading role in the process;
• who and how will be able to further influence the establishment or transformation of the concept of representation of Ukrainian art abroad.

Discussion participants:

• Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov, curator of the National Museum of Contemporary Art at the Georges Centre Pompidou;
• Oleksandr Soloviov, art critic, curator of contemporary art projects at the Mystetskyi Arsenal and An Open Opportunity project at the M17 Contemporary Art Center;
• Nathalie Beras, Cultural Counselor at the French Embassy in Ukraine, director of the French Institute in Ukraine;
• Viktoria Bavykina, art critic, curator of the Grynyov Art Collection and An Open Opportunity project at the M17 Contemporary Art Center;
• Yuriy Kogutiak, collector, philanthropist, Chairman of the Board and co-founder of the UKKSM, founder of the Kogutiak Foundation;
• Zenko Aftanaziv, collector, philanthropist, co-founder of the UKKSM, founder of the Zenko Foundation;
• Vadym Morokhovskyy, collector, member of the UKKSM, Honored Economist of Ukraine, founder of the MSMO;
• Borys Grynyov, collector, philanthropist, member of the UKKSM, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, founder of the Grynyov Art Collection;
• Anne Durouflé, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in Ukraine in 2008-2012 and 2018;
• Natalia Shpytkovska, director of the M17 CAC, art consultant, a researcher at the Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, head of the An Open Opportunity project.

More information about the speakers can be found on the website that contains the complete schedule of the Forum’s events.

Instagram page of Ukraine at the Centre Pompidou project.

UPD: A video of the event is available for viewing on our YouTube channel!

“The history of the ‘Ukraine at the Centre Pompidou’ project began in 2015.  Russia began a large-scale expansion into the European art space in the 2010s. At that time, they became the owners of the Vienna Fair Viennacontemporary, which had been purchased by a Russian developer. Simultaneously, the Potanin Foundation, widely seen as presidential, launched a critical undertaking — a donation of Russian art to the French Centre Pompidou. Together with the Ukrainian Club of Collectors of Contemporary Art, we decided that it is extremely important to launch a kind of cultural resistance to the positioning of our artists as Russian, based on the submission of Alisa Lozhkina, who drew my attention to this project. In particular, Ukrainian artists Borys Mikhailov, Yuri Leiderman, Sergei Bratkov, Sergei Anufriev, and Vagrich Bakhchanyan were all exhibited as Russians in the Pompidou Exhibition (2017),” said Zenko Aftanaziv, the collector, co-founder of the UKKSM.

How did the project progress? How were Ukrainian artists’ works chosen for transfer to the Centre Pompidou Collection? And when will there be a Ukrainian art exhibition in France? All of this will be discussed during the opening of the M17 International Art Collectors’ Forum on July 7, 2021, at the M17 CAC.

“The diversity of works by Ukrainian artists, as well as their historical depth, impressed the Pompidou Commission. It was critical for us, as an Eastern European art collection, to receive pieces from various years in order to highlight the longevity of Ukrainian contemporary art, its beginnings, and its current status. The Pompidou Center’s involvement with Ukrainian contemporary art is only getting started”.

“The Centre Pompidou Commission was impressed by the diversity of works by Ukrainian artists, as well as their historical depth. It was critical for us and our Eastern European art collection, to receive works from various years in order to highlight the longevity of Ukrainian contemporary art, its beginnings, and its current status. The Pompidou Center’s involvement with Ukrainian contemporary art is only getting started,” said Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov, curator of the Pompidou Ukrainian Art Project and a member of the commission for the selection of works for the Centre’s permanent collection.

VIDEO OF THE EVENT:

Videographer – Natalia Neshta

PHOTO REPORT:

Photographer – Ruslan Singaevsky

M17 International Art Collectors’ Forum was organized jointly with the Ukrainian Club of Contemporary Art Collectors and the Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine within the “An Open Opportunity: Ukrainian Contemporary Art from Private Collections” project.