Artist talks, Lectures and Discussions

Artist Talk with Variable Name / Назва змінна (Valerie Karpan and Maryna Marynychenko) collective

On Wednesday, 11 June, at 18:30, we invite you to an Artist talk with Variable Name / Назва змінна (Valerie Karpan and Maryna Marynychenko) collective, shortlisted for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025.
The event will take place on the 2nd floor, near the reception of the PinchukArtCentre.Participation is free of charge, with prior registration: https://forms.gle/4mHrdrmCSPawUad88
During the talk, Daryna Pyrogova will speak with the Variable Name / Назва змінна collective about their research in multisensory anthropology and their work on the representation of memory and loss, including the project So Close You Can Almost Touch, presented in the exhibition.
The installation Proximity of Touch consists of two parts and explores the relationship between memory, the body, and landscape. The project focuses on the somatic experience of space as it transforms under social, political, and environmental shifts, currently intensified by the full-scale war.
Variable Name / Назва змінна is a collective of Ukrainian artists and curators Valerie Karpan and Maryna Marynychenko, nominated for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025. Maryna and Valerie have collaborated with cultural institutions in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Portugal. Their work Trust Room was included in the artistic programme of the Brave Factory 2021festival, and the installation Stay in Touch was presented at WRO Biennale: Human Aspect in 2023.
Moderator: Daryna Pyrogova is an independent sociologist and consultant in strategic and spatial community development. Her individual research focuses on decision-making related to forced migration and the environmental impacts of war. She is a co-author of the 30% project on ecological restoration during wartime, presented at the Ukrainian Pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Artist Talk with Maksym Khodak

On Friday, 13 June, at 18:30, we invite you to an Artist talk with Maksym Khodak, a nominee for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025.
The event will take place on the 4th floor, in the hall featuring Maksym Khodak’s artworks.Participation is free, with prior registration: https://forms.gle/FPUvckpmrjjJ29fKA
During the talk, Aliona Penzii will speak with Maksym Khodak about his previous projects and the subjects he explores in his artistic practice, particularly through cinema. Special attention will be given to the work “Dear Jafar,” which is on display in the exhibition.
In “Dear Jafar,” Maksym Khodak seeks to establish a connection with Iranian opposition filmmaker Jafar Panahi, proposing the idea of a film about the experience of war in Ukraine and the role of Iranian Shahed-136 drones in Russian attacks. An embossed marble poster in the hall presents imagery that suggests a possible narrative. The silence is broken by the sound of engines revving, accompanied by scenes excerpted from Iranian films showing people riding mopeds.
Maksym Khodak is an artist nominated for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025. His work seeks to foster dialogue with his generation – those born in the 21st century – as part of an attempt to invent a new political language that resonates with young people. He is a member of the 4th generation of WHW Akademija. His films have been screened at the 52nd Molodist Film Festival and the 15th Wiz-Art Short Film Festival. His works have been exhibited at the Kyiv Biennale, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Voloshyn Gallery, and PinchukArtCentre.
Moderator: Aliona Penzii is Head of the Dovzhenko Centre’s Film Archive, a film critic and curator of film and exhibition projects. She has organised retrospectives of Ukrainian animation at both national and international venues, including ANIMATOR, The Cinémathèque Française, StopTrik, and LINOLEUM. From 2022 to 2024, she co-curated film programmes at the Dnipro Centre for Contemporary Culture (DCCC). In 2023, she also co-curated the exhibition The River Screamed and Howled Like a Wounded Animal at the Kyiv Biennale.

Artist Talk with Kateryna Lysovenko

On Wednesday, 18 June, at 17:30, we invite you to an Artist talk with Kateryna Lysovenko, a nominee for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025.
The event will take place on the 4th floor, in the space dedicated to Kateryna Lysovenko’s artwork.Participation is free of charge, with prior registration: https://forms.gle/Yxbs9Y2e1siPV4jg9
During the conversation, Tetiana Zhmurko will speak with Kateryna Lysovenko about her previous projects and her research into the relationship between ideology and painting. The discussion will also explore the meaning of her work Little Rights, presented in the exhibition.
In her paintings Little Rights, Kateryna Lysovenko focuses on the inalienable and universal "rights" of bodies. She reflects on the rights to life, reproduction, vision, absorption (of food or other beings), and protection — at a time when war and the global rise of far-right political forces have made killing, violence, and bodily control a persistent threat to all living beings.
Kateryna Lysovenko is a nominee for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025. She works with monumental painting, graphics, and text. Among her recent exhibitions are Kaleidoscope of Histories in Dresden and Zwolle; a solo exhibition at Kunstverein Hannover; presentations of the Ludwig Stiftung Collection; and exhibitions at the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, as well as participation in the Venice and Prague Biennales.
Moderator: Tetiana Zhmurko is an art historian, curator, and Head of the Research Department of 20th- and early 21st-century Art at the National Art Museum of Ukraine. She is also a researcher at the Research Platform of the PinchukArtCentre.

Discussion: The Social Role of Art During Wartime

On Thursday, 19 June at 18:30, we invite you to the discussion The Social Role of Art During Wartime, as part of the public programme for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025 exhibition of shortlisted artists.
The event will take place on the 5th floor of the PinchukArtCentre, in the space featuring the work of Kateryna Aliinyk (entrance via the 4th floor).Participation is free with prior registration: https://forms.gle/ofPzAVapLZQ8SN2U6
Today’s polarised and rapidly changing reality affects not only the contexts in which artists work, but also compels them to rethink their approaches, artistic practices, and the very meaning of art.During the discussion, we will focus on issues that are particularly pressing for society and the artistic community during wartime.
In particular, we will discuss:● transformations in the social and cultural environment;● how the role of artists changes in times of war;● responsibility and ethical boundaries when addressing complex and sensitive topics.
The event will be moderated by Kateryna Botanova, a Ukrainian curator and cultural critic, and guest curator of the Research Platform.
Participants in the discussion:Alevtina Kakhidze — artist, performer, curator, educator, and gardener. Since 2013, she has been creating visual materials on the Russian-Ukrainian war and the Euromaidan in collaboration with journalists, and is the author of the project Klubnika Andriyivna.
Tymofii Brik is the Rector of the Kyiv School of Economics and the National Coordinator of the European Social Survey in Ukraine. Between 2018 and 2023, Tymofii was an affiliated lecturer at Northwestern University, New York University and Stanford University. From 2022 to 2024, he was an affiliated scholar at the London School of Economics and the University of Massachusetts.
Tetiana Pylypchuk is the Director of the Kharkiv Literary Museum and the recipient of the Vasyl Stus Prize (2024). She is a scholar of Ukrainian literature of the 1920s and 1930s, and researches current trends in museum communication and the popularisation of museum collections for the general public.

Artist Talk with Zhenia Stepanenko

On Saturday, 21 June, at 18:30, we invite you to an Artist talk with Zhenia Stepanenko, a nominee for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025.
The event will take place on the 2nd floor, at the reception of the PinchukArtCentre.Participation is free of charge, with prior registration: https://forms.gle/yirLCjUz5BgT8eqL9
During the talk, Oksana Chornobrova will speak with Zhenia Stepanenko about the artist’s previous projects and her research into fear and mysticism, explored through the prism of introspection. The conversation will also shed light on the meaning of her work Scream from a Bubble Bath, presented in the exhibition.
In the project Scream from a Bubble Bath, Zhenia Stepanenko draws on subgenres of horror, transforming eerie imagery into metaphorical, whimsical decorative elements. These reinterpreted horror narratives encourage a liberated reflection on both personal and societal issues, free from the constraints of sudden shock.
Zhenia Stepanenko is a nominee for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025. She is the co-founder of the musical and performative duo Ядовитая Собачья Слюна, and the founder of the bakery-and-sculpture project Kreepy Bakery. Her work has been featured in exhibitions across Ukraine, Europe, and the United States.
Moderator: Oksana Chornobrova is an assistant curator of the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025 exhibition of shortlisted artists, and an assistant curator of the PinchukArtCentre.

Artist Talk with Anton Saenko

On Wednesday, 25 June at 18:30, we invite you to an Artist talk with Anton Saenko, a nominee for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025.
The event will take place on the 2nd floor, in Anton Saenko’s exhibition space.Participation is free of charge, with prior registration: https://forms.gle/u2G54uQELoKLWdm97
During the talk, Natalia Matsenko will speak with Anton Saenko about his artistic practice, his work with various media, and previous art projects. The conversation will also explore the meanings behind the painting Mud Hut, featured in the exhibition.
In Mud Hut, which references the traditional Ukrainian rural dwelling, Anton Saenko explores the ‘principle of abstraction’: that every non-figurative image has a specific, material foundation. By juxtaposing abstraction and the concrete, and employing the colour white as a symbol of new beginnings, Saienko creates a nuanced space that invites contemplation and questioning.
Anton Saenko is an artist nominated for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025, working across multiple media including painting, installation, photography, performance, and land art. His solo exhibitions in Kyiv include Dirty at Dymchuk Gallery, Mirage at The Naked Room, and Dark Space at Closer. He has also participated in group exhibitions such as Point of View at Galeria Labirynt (Lublin) and Into the Dark at 32 Vozdvizhenka Arts House (Kyiv).
Moderator: Natalia Matsenko is an art historian, independent curator, art critic, and lecturer. She has curated exhibitions and residencies in Ukraine, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Mexico. Since 2013, she has collaborated as a guest curator with the international art residency BIRUCHIY Contemporary Art Project, and since 2018 — with the land art symposium Mohrytsia. Borderland Space. Since 2022, she has been implementing projects in cooperation with the European External Action Service (Brussels). In 2023–2024, she was a guest curator at the Kunstmuseum Bochum (Germany), and most recently participated in a curatorial residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris.