Kyiv Biennale Launches This Year, But Can Ukraine Compete in the Biennale Arms …

Jumping on the international cirtcuit, the Arsenale 2012 is Kyiv, Ukraine’s first ever biennial. Running from May 24 through July 2012, the event will be organized by commissioner Natalia Zabolotna and art-directed by British curator David Elliott, the former director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and curator of the 2010 Sydney Biennale, “The Beauty of Distance.”

The biennale will be hosted in the Mystetskyi Arsenal, a national culture and museum complex housed in a structure erected in the late 18th century. If Elliott’s success with the Mori Museum and the Sydney biennale, which was widely well received for its embrace of its local context and array of art spaces, Kyiv could be set to take on a newfound role in the contemporary art world.

Ukraine might want to rise to art eminence, but the country could be overshadowed by the dominance of Russia in the area. Heiress Dasha Zhukova and her partner Roman Abramovich have left a heavy footprint in the arts, founding the Garage art center, organizing mammoth exhibitions, and sponsoring every major art endeavor from Moscow to MoMA. Ukraine has its own art patron, though, in the inestimable  Victor Pinchuk, whose PinchukArtCentre is the largest contemporary art space in the country.

The Moscow Biennale had its last outing in 2011, and was curated by media theorist and designer Peter Weibel. One would expect Russia to be doing a lot better with their international exhibitions, but maybe the country is faltering in the biennial arms races. Elliott is certainly a bigger name than Weibel, and a well-executed show could put Kyiv alongside Korea’s critically acclaimed Gwangju exhibition.

The other question is, who cares? At a certain point, the world won’t be able to handle any more biennials, and the continental plates will crack under the weight of so much contemporary art gathered at key points around the globe. Who wins the biennial arms race? The answer is, whoever attracts the best curator, the biggest names, and the hippest artists. That’s about it. (Top left: Mystetskyi Arsenal)

— Kyle Chayka

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