10.09.2023

While the initial occasion for the conversation was the release of the book contributed to Yuriy Komelkov's project "Ukraine. The Best: Cultural Space from A to Z" (2016, a collection of 123 biographies of famous Ukrainian artists), the conversation encompassed the determination of the role of the Academy of Arts in the life of society, the importance of the results of scientific work, as well as exhibition and project activities of two research institutes of the NAA of Ukraine - the Modern Art Research Institute and the Institute for Cultural Research, training of highly qualified researchers (PhDs and Doctors of Philosophy), issues and challenges faced by the art and art history community since the full-scale invasion, and ways of "restarting" academic life and other aspects of the academic life the NAA of Ukraine is actively involved in.
Besides, the conversation focused on the influence of Borys Kosarev's conversation in shaping Victor Sydorenko's artistic method, the Shevchenko Committee and Shevchenko Prize winners, Ukraine's long-term participation in the Venice Biennale, the large-scale author's project "All Colours of the Spectrum Are White Light", which took place at three exhibition locations in Kyiv in the winter of 2021-2022, and the new project "Black Earth Flashes".
The conversation about Victor Sydorenko's projects "Millstones of Time" at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, multimedia projects "Authentication" and "Beach and Shore" (2014) provoked reflections on the differences between fine and visual art, on the difference between positive and negative in art, on joy and confidence in the future.

Recognition of the Academy as a member of the Alliance of European Academies, support from the Royal Academy of Arts (UK), the possibility of opening a department of literature and fine arts, and contribution and assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine outline the Academy's reputation in the international establishment and its role in approaching our victory.
"Our Academy is not for academics, it is an Academy for everyone - first and foremost, for young people, for the implementation of youth projects that we willingly accept and are ready to implement," the President of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine emphasised.
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