Statement by the organizers of Ukraine’s Venice Biennale

28 February 2022

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Pavlo Makov next to The Fountain of Exhaustion mounted on the Oleh Mitasov’s house in Kharkiv, 1996 © Pavlo Makov. Courtesy of the artist

The Organizers of Ukraine’s Venice Biennale Pavilion Say They May Not Be Able to Stage the Event ‘Due to the Danger to Our Lives’

We call for the international artistic community to use all our impact in order to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Guns may hurt our bodies, but culture changes our minds. This war is a clash of civilizations—a free and civilized world is attacked by the barbarian and aggressive one. If we continue being passive observers of the situation, we will lose everything we work for and all the heritage of our predecessors—art, love, freedom of expression and the ability to create.

Stand with Ukraine in this challenging time. With hope,

Pavlo Makov, Lizaveta German, Maira Lanko, Borys Filonenko

Read the full statement here: Statement by the Organizers of Ukraine’s Venice Biennale Pavilion.pdf