VELYCHKO.GALLERY represents the unit of the well known Ukrainian artists Anna Zvyagintseva, Bohdan Bunchak, Olga Stein, Inga Levi, and the curator Halyna Hleba. Group exhibition “What lasts longer than Hope?” is based on the 2 months of collective discussions about the nature of Hope from the Ukrainian perspective and live experience of war during more than two years of full scale invasion and 10 years of war russia against Ukraine. This exhibition and artworks made on residency is the important outcome of the CARV_24 that has been launched every year by VELYCHKO.GALLERY.

General partner of the project: Investment agency “SPM” and Serge Polivar. With the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Cyprus.

Release

“Exhibition “What Lasts Longer than Hope?” combines the experiences of military and civilians, a view of the war in Ukraine and beyond, a search for hope in simple everyday practices, in confession, in belief, in the power of individual and collective action. The continuity of daily practice and documentation of the flow of war in the diary of the Double Exposure is the path of the artist Inga Levi. Awareness of the cycle of life where abundance and lack coexist at the same time, and acceptance of oneself as an integral part of it, is in the works of Anna Zvyagintseva. Guilt and a metaphorical entrance to the “spooktacular” forest of self-reproach for the death of a comrade-in-arms in the video essay by artist and veteran of russian – Ukrainian war Bohdan Bunchak.
And finally, the image of the collective body as the society in the work of Olga Stein creates a pearl of faith out of the experience of defending her people, which combined with a large scale painting with the iconography of Pieta.
Hope in general is the belief that the future is possible and has options for development, that it can be influenced and can be changed from the state in which a person is now. In Ukrainian, the word “hope” literally includes the word “action” – nadiya / diya. With understanding of the meaning of words, their semantic content and the life programs encoded in them makes it much easier to understand what Ukrainians’ resistance to Russian aggression in 2022 and ongoing is based on. This hope has empowered us to act responsibly, to be resilient, and to understand that collective and social change does not happen without individual decisions.
The works of the exhibition provoke dialogue and help viewers to understand the artworks in a deeper way, promoting deeper immersion and intellectual stimulation that leaves a lasting impression on the viewers’ memory. ‘What Lasts Longer Than Hope?’ invited visitors to witness the convergence of different artistic visions, each offering a distinctive experience and narrative.”

— Halyna Hleba , The Curator

art historian| curator| researcher of photography| scholar of memory culture| editor-in-chief of The Wartime Art Archive (run by UMCA/MOCA NGO)

Installation views