- Main
- Artists' works
- Diary
Rai Mykhailo
On February 24th of last year, the war began, and along with it, a journal that I kept throughout the entire occupation. It was one of the hardest days of my life and the start of the deepest inner transformation. From the depths of my consciousness, all the dormant fears that had been blocking my path and that I had not dared to confront in everyday life surfaced.
For all nine months I spent under occupation, I saw people around me just like myself, fighting for their freedom from the aggressor, but primarily from their own fear. Waking up this day, a year later, I feel the same emotions and feelings as I did then. I feel this way because the body remembers all the events experienced. My entire life (and not just mine) keeps its own journal and regularly revisits it, reminding me each morning of all the upheavals that occurred on this day, whether a year, five, ten, thirty, or three hundred years ago.
And if specific memories of an event do not reach my consciousness, I must come to terms with the fact that, for reasons unknown to me, I woke up in a bad mood, with feelings of anxiety or sadness, and I need to do something about it. This will continue until the emotional charge associated with that event remains in my memory. Until I recognize the cyclical nature of this emotional labyrinth, put aside all the “urgent” matters, and experience these emotions to the last drop. With close people, with a psychologist who temporarily plays their role, or in meditation, alone with the person closest to me—myself.
Mykhailo Rai was born in 1984 in Kherson, in a family of former ship’s cooks.
He graduated from the Maritime College and served at sea as a Deck Officer. In search of satisfaction, he started to engage in photography.
At first, it was nothing more than a hobby until he saw realistic digital photo collages. The ability to synthesize his own images instead of reflecting through the surrounding reality quickly captured his full attention. He finally got the right tools to recreate his inner world and transform it; thus, his interest in traditional photographic practice was finally lost. He began to discover hidden facets of his own consciousness, and this pushed him to find answers in psychology and religions.
Shortly before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, he gave up his maritime career, which he had been building for over 20 years, and intended to live a life creating art that could awaken people. On February 24, 2022, life began to challenge him. He decided to stay in Kherson, his native city, which was occupied by Russian forces, and fight for freedom with the power of his art. This decision unexpectedly brought him to the answers he was looking for: to prove that Paradise (Ray in Ukrainian) is not a place but a state of consciousness. During the occupation of Kherson, he gave interviews to BBC and a number of Ukrainian, US, and Taiwanese journalists about his art and the situation in the city, and he took part in numerous exhibitions in Ukraine, Europe, the USA, and Asia. His artworks are held in private collections in the USA, Netherlands, and Ukraine.
2024
Group exhibition “The Light Will Win” at Le Salon D’automne, Paris, project of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, curated by Natalia Shpytkovska
Group exhibition “One Day” at the Ukrainian Culture Center in Stockholm, Sweden, curated by MYPH
Group exhibition “After Shock” at Vriej Paleis Gallery, Amsterdam, curated by Vladimir Shalamov
Group exhibition “24” at ICEBERG/MiCT Gallery, Berlin, curated by Vladimir Shalamov
Solo Exhibition “Kherson Island” at Sklad N5 gallery, Cherkasy
Publication in Princeton University Library website “Collection of Contemporary Ukrainian Art in Times of War”
Group Exhibition “ARTISTS AGAINST THE KREMLIN” at de Balie, Amsterdam, curated by Vladimir Shalamov and Sjeng Scheijen
2023
Group Exhibition “UKRAINIAN ART IN ITALY – HUMAN RIGHTS | Padova-Kherson” at Centro Culturale Altinate San Gaetano, Padova, curated by Liudmila Olenovych
Group Exhibition “ART WINS the WAR” at Polytechnic National University, Lviv, curated by Giorgio Grasso
Lecture “Kherson. Failure Of Terror” at Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
Group Exhibition “Concentration Of Will” at M17 Contemporary Art Center, Kyiv, curated by Andriy Sydorenko & Iryna Iatsyk
Artistic residence “Post Truth? Countering Disinformation Narratives” in Kyiv, Ukraine
Group exhibition “Post Truth? Countering Disinformation Narratives” in Art Space “Vezha”, Kyiv Polytechnic University, curated by Seila Fernandez Arconada
Honorable Mention at International Photo Awards Deeper Perspective
Exclusive Interview in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
Honorable Mention and Jury Top 5 Selection at International Photo Awards
Group exhibition “Post Truth? Countering Disinformation Narratives” in Kunstleben Kreuzberg art space, Berlin, curated by Seila Fernandez Arconada
Group Exhibition “Ukrainian Art in EU. Childhood Reconstruction” at the House of European Parliament, Bruxelles, curated by Giorgio Grasso
Group exhibition “Knocking from the depths.” at ICEBERG/MiCT Gallery, Berlin, curated by Vladimir Shalamov and Olga Dudygina
2022
Group exhibition at Invogue_Art Gallery, Odessa, curated by ISPA
Group online exhibition “Mental Health” at Tebbs Contemporary Art Gallery, London, curated by Kirstie Tebbs
Group exhibition “Stand With Ukraine” at OneArtSpace Gallery, New York, curated by UART & NYCArtMovement
Publication in Bird In Flight Ukraine
Publication in Holod Magazine
Group Exhibition “The Captured House” at Alte Münze, Berlin, curated by Port Agency
Rotterdam Photo fair solo exhibition “The Point”
Group Exhibition “The Captured House” at WEGIL, Rome, curated by Port Agency
Group Exhibition “The Captured House” at DOOR OPEN SPACE, Amsterdam, curated by Port Agency
Group Exhibition “The Captured House” at Espace Vanderborght, Bruxelles, curated by Port Agency
Group Exhibition “Ukrainian Art In Italy” at Bovisa Super Studio, Milan
Group Exhibition “#social 2022” at CICA Musem, Korea
Solo Exhibition “Kherson Diary” in Cinema House, Kyiv, curated by Kyivphotos-Hall 2012
Artworks Rai Mykhailo
