The founding of the 1st independent art gallery in Slavutych. The project is the result of a residency at the 86 Film and Urbanism Festival Urbanism residency cureated by METASITU, which took place in the town of Slavutych in Ukraine in May 2018. The primary aim of the gallery is to both highlight local talent as well as showcase artists from Ukraine and abroad. The secondary aim of the gallery is to be a vehicle for intermediate use for empty spaces in the town. The tertiary aim of the gallery is to be a platform for the collective of local curators to create meaningful experiences for the inhabitants of Slavutych. In order to achieve these goals a memorandum was signed with the Slavutych municipal government and a curator group was founded which consisted of locals with varying degrees of experience in the arts.
The first incarnation of the gallery physically consists of 10-12 easels that can be used to place work in a variety of contexts - both indoors and in public space. The selection of work is delegated to the local curators with the help of external advisors. Exhibitions aim to showcase a wide variety of work that would otherwise not have an outlet in Slavutych - either the work of undiscovered locals or established outsiders. By curating a steady selection of work the gallery has potential to become an active agent in the local social life. The exhibition spaces granted by the council for intermediate use by the gallery are temporary hubs for the exhibitions and possible public programmes and workshops that accompany the exhibitions. These hubs will also serve to invigorate the public imagination and create novel experiences for the inhabitants who already know their city all too well.
Created as part of 86 Film and Urbanism Festival, Urbanism residency curated by METASITU