07.11.2022
The start of a major art tour of European countries took place in Kyiv
War is not a reason to stop life and a good opportunity to rethink it. In terms of one’s own priorities, one’s place in the world and the country in it. And also, this is a chance to put aside everything superfluous and concentrate on the most valuable: the protection of relatives, the state, its people and culture, which has always been a reliable shield in the nation’s struggle for its own survival.
It was for this purpose that a few months ago the team of the Charitable Foundation “Modern Ukraine” decided to launch a large art project “UKRAINE. THE BEST”, designed to tell the world about the unique cultural assets of Ukraine and their role in the future post-war revival.
And so, several months of preparation, incredible excitement and the long-awaited start of the above-mentioned tour did take place, and its highlight was the opening of the exhibition of the works of the geniuses of Ukrainian art within the framework of the unique project of Yuriy Komelkov – ” Big Seven 2.0 “.
On November 3, the exhibition solemnly began its work in the Taras Shevchenko National Museum in Kyiv, attracting the attention of more than one art connoisseur of the capital.
At the beginning, the President of “Modern Ukraine” Volodymyr Havrysh and the head of the Central Office of the Foundation, Tetiana Shcherbak, gave a welcome speech to those present.
According to Volodymyr Havrysh, today’s war is not for territories or spheres of influence, but, as it has been for hundreds of years, for the truth.
“We are fighting for the historical truth that Ukrainians are an independent nation. Yes, with its own problems and challenges, but with its own culture, language and history. That is why we consider it necessary to support today not only the volunteers, but also the cultural front. And the UkraineTheBest art tour is a clear testimony to that. Because through modern murals, images in the works of geniuses Shevchenko, Prymachenko, Malevich, Arkhipenko, Boychuk, Narbut and Kryvolap, we once again want to remind that Ukraine is a part of the European cultural space. That is why its support and reconstruction is so important today. After all, if you lose one, you can lose the whole”, the head of “Modern Ukraine” emotionally noted.
He also briefly described other key directions of the Foundation’s work and emphasized that the event in Kyiv will be only the starting point of the global route of the tour, the geography of which will cover 22 European countries.
In turn, the head of the Foundation’s Central Office, Tetiana Shcherbak, drew attention to the fact that the upcoming art tour pursues not only the cultural component, but also aims to help the country in the process of its post-war recovery.
“Daily shelling by the enemy adds more and more destruction to both civilian and critical infrastructure. The efforts being made to restore them are considerable, but not enough. Therefore, not only the efforts of the government, but also the public are important for the scaling of reconstruction processes. And our Foundation decided to become part of this reconstruction front, with the aim of drawing attention through culture to the urgency of increasing aid to Ukraine and our affected people. Because it is not enough to restore buildings and territories, it is important to restore life in them”, Shcherbak noted.
She also announced the launch of 3 discussion platforms as part of the tour, which in the near future will alternately gather leading Ukrainian and foreign specialists to find important solutions and mobilize resources in the field of volunteerism, reconstruction and medicine.
By the way, the direction of the latter within the framework of one of the Foundation’s projects is coordinated by a well-known doctor in Ukraine, adviser to the Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council for Preventive Medicine, Yevhen Shagov, who was also present at the event and shared with everyone his own plans for strengthening preventive medicine in Ukraine as part of his author’s health support programs.
At the same time, the ideological inspirer and author of the “Big Seven 2.0” exhibition, which will become one of the key cultural magnets of the future tour, spoke about the main philosophy of the exhibition and what served as a motive for its creation.
“The enemy does not know how to fight on the battlefield, but with particular cruelty destroys our cultural heritage with missiles and bombs. The museum of Maria Prymachenko was destroyed, the church in the village of Lypivka, Makariv district, Kyiv region, whose murals were created by Anatoly Kryvolap and Ihor Stupachenko for several years, was shot up. Monuments to Taras Shevchenko are being destroyed in all the occupied territories. In Kyiv, the Shevchenko Museum, Shevchenko Park, and Shevchenko University were damaged by rockets. That is why I decided to continue my project with the new name “BIG SEVEN 2.0″, which captures the current state. This is important for Ukrainians and the whole world. And I am sure that cultural diplomacy will defeat the diplomacy of the Kalashnikov assault rifle,” Yuriy Komelkov noted.
The director of the Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Dmytro Stus, Deputy Minister of Culture Galina Grigorenko, and Head of the Department of Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Orest Starak, also supported the relay of speeches at the opening.
By the way, they were not the only honored guests of the event. Deputy Head of the Office of the President Oleksiy Dniprov, ex-Minister of Health Vasyl Knyazevich, People’s Deputy of Ukraine Oleksandr Danutsa, First Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine Rostyslav Karandeev and many others also responded to attend such a unique event in the cultural life of military Kyiv.
The climax of the evening was the presentation of thanks on behalf of the Foundation to all those involved in the organization of the start and further realization of the tour.
In addition, everyone who wished had the opportunity to join the charity event, during which a unique wine from GoodWine, which survived the shelling of the occupiers in the Kyiv region, 2 paintings of post-war Irpen by Oleksandr Olkhov, as well as a postage stamp with a copy of the patriotic mural, which was raffled off opened in Podil. By the way, the stamp was personally signed by Major General, head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov.
After, despite the completion of the official part of the presentation, the attendees continued to enjoy the presented exhibition of paintings, communication among themselves and the absence of alarm sounds, traditional for recent times in Kyiv. After all, this evening, it seems, everything was created in order not to distract the people of Kyiv from the main thing – enjoying unique works of art and the aftertaste of the feeling of being close to him.
More details in the photo below.
We invite everyone to visit the exhibition from November 4 to 13 at the Taras Shevchenko National Museum.
