Festival of Art in Public Spaces

Grupa R.E.P.

R.E.P. Group (Revolutionary Experimental Space) Kiev, Ukraine

R.E.P. group was founded in Ukraine during the Orange Revolution. It consists of graduates of different artistic schools: Ołesia Chomenko, Ksenia Hnyłycka, Mykyta Kadan, Zanna Kadyrowa, Wołodymir Kuznecow, Łada Nakoneczna. Members of the group work as a collective, R.E.P. does not have a leader. Work on certain projects is based on communication, very personal relations and joint effort in search for possible ways of presenting the discourse taking place within the group.

The collective, founded in a revolutionary atmosphere, has strong ideological features; the artists fight for the freedom of artistic statement, independent institutional structures and place for the emerging art in the cultural politics of the state. Their artistic and curatorial activities aim at dialogue with the audience and research in the language of public communication in the 'post-orange' Ukraine, the language of 'street democracy', thanks to which people unite. The subjects of the group's projects are public representations of the community, problems in building a transit society between the East and West, between the socialism and liberalism.

The first exhibition of the group was prepared in 2004 in cooperation with the Kiev Centre of Contemporary Art. Members of R.E.P. have repeatedly showcased performance: 'the Intervention', 'Lirnyk', 'the Smuggle', 'West-East' in the public space of Ukraine; they have taken part in numerous international artistic events and exhibitions in western European art institutions (Venice, Berlin, the Athens, Stockholm, Prato), including some Polish (Cracow, Gdansk, Lublin, Warsaw) and American ones (Chicago, New York). The founders of R.E.P. wish to be the voice of their generation and want to make contemporary Ukrainian art visible on an international level.

One of their most important projects 'Patriotism' in progress since 2006, established on the Esperanto rules. Its main principle is talking about the differences in a universal way. The project constitutes of a multistructured dictionary of black and white characters created on the basis of international stereotypes and popular associations. It serves the aim of constructing simple metaphors on the topic of relations between Ukraine and European Union to make the problem more comprehensible for the audience and the group themselves. As part of the project enormous spatial projects were displayed in galleries, museums and urban space of Centro Luigi Perci in Prato, Italy. The group will present their next 'patriotic' episode in Lublin.

Ołesia Chomenko (born 1980)

Graduated from National Academy of Architecture and Fine Art at the department of stenography. She uses different media in her work, amongst others monumental figurative painting, artistic actions, performance, video.

Zanna Kadrowa (born 1981)

Uses various media such as photography, video, painting, graphics and sculpture. Recently she has been creating installations using ceramic tiles. Her works recreate existing objects such as diamonds, crumpled pack of cigarettes, a STOP sign. An important part of creating her object pieces is playing with size and materials of the objects.

Łada Nakoneczna (born 1981)

Graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk National Theatre and Art College at the department of design. She uses the minimalist graphic technique, video and photography in her artistic activities and perceives her installations as space for meditation and observation. She also experiments with graphic techniques.

Wołodymyr Kuznecow (born 1976)

Graduated from the Lviv Academy of Arts, where he obtained a degree in artistic textiles. She uses various media such as video, painting, installation, performance and textile. Reaching a maximum possible tension in calmness, statics and monumentality is of her highest concert in arts.

Mykyta Kadan (born 1982)

Studied at the National Academy of Art and Architecture at the department of painting. Easel painting and photography are the domains of her artistic activity. She is also a curator, author of manifests and of projects staged in public space.