KYIV – VENICE: Ito Barrada in dialogue with Anastasia Podervianska

Living Canvas

https://www.artbasel.com/stories/yto-barrada-french-pavilion-venice-biennale-2026

https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2026/france

In the French Pavilion, Yto Barrada transforms fabric into a space of continuous transformation. Using the dévoré technique, the artist literally alters the material, allowing time, light, and air to become its co-authors. Textile ceases to be a decorative surface and emerges as a living structure, in which destruction becomes a necessary condition for a new state.

A similar understanding of material can be found in the work of Anastasiia Podervianska. Her dress is not conceived as a finished work; instead, it gradually accumulates new layers of handwork, evolving into a collective process of creation. In the Ukrainian tradition, ornament carried not only an aesthetic but also a symbolic function: embroidery embodied wishes for well-being, protection, health, and the continuation of family lineage. Here, embroidery – which traditionally served as a bearer of protective and life-affirming symbols – emerges as a contemporary practice that brings individual gestures together into a shared canvas.