Taras Bychko, Pavlo Kovach, Garry Krayevets
In Search of Light. Ukrainian Art in Anticipation of the War
Also streamed Live via Zoom (register here)
In Search of Light is the title of an exhibition of photographs by the Lviv photographer Taras Bychko that has been on display at the Einstein Forum since May. Curated by Lviv-based artist Pavlo Kovach, the exhibition shows works made between 2016 and 2020.
In this closing event, Odesa-born artist, curator, and psychoanalyst Garry Krayevets talks about the context in which Ukrainian artists were working after 2014, when Russia first attacked Ukraine, but before the large-scale invasion of 2022. Taras Bychko and Pavlo Kovach join us on Zoom to discuss the realities of art in times of war.
Taras Bychko is a photographer from Lviv. He is a member of the international Little Box Collective that specializes in street photography, and co-founder of the Ukrainian Street Photography group, which aims to develop and popularize street and documentary photography in Ukraine. Taras Bychko has been the winner or a finalist in international competitions including Ukrainian Photographer of the Year 2016, Leica Street Photo, the Miami Street Photo Festival, and the Documentary Family Awards. His work has been published in Leica Fotografie International, Burn Magazine, National Geographic, Lens Culture, Bird in Flight, Reporters, The Village Ukraine, and others.
Pavlo Kovach is a Lviv-based artist. He studied at the Adalbert Erdeli Uzhhorod Art College and at the Lviv National Academy of Arts, where he received his BA and MA degrees. He co-founded the artist-run Detenpyla and Еfremova26 galleries. Since 2009 Pavlo Kovach has been actively exhibiting both in Ukraine (Dzyga, Bottega, and Detenpyla galleries) and abroad. He was a co-author of all the works of the Open Group collective. The group won the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2015 and participated in the Venice Biennale in 2015–2017 and in 2019 as curators of the Ukrainian pavilions. Since 2020 he has been a curator at the Lviv Art Center.
Garry Krayevets is an artist, writer, performer, and curator. Born in Odesa, Ukraine, he lives and works in Kyiv. His work develops around the creation of new forms that transform psychoanalytic thought by changing its optics, mode of interaction, and linguistic apparatus. He works in various media including video, performance, radio plays, text, poetry, and theater mysteries. He explores new ways to deconstruct concepts such as identity, nationality, religion, and memory.