Everybody belonging to the world of the arts strives to get to the Venice Biennale, which has been held for over a century. Some crave world fame, other do not want to miss new stars appearing on the arena of the prestigious European art forum. According to Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry for Culture and the Arts Vasyl Romanchyshyn, from over ten Ukrainian projects presented for the Fiftieth Venice Biennale the jury selected one best reflecting the creative trends in our country. Among the project organizers was the National Artists Union of Ukraine. Thus, from June 13 to November 2, 2003, Venice can enjoy the project by renowned Ukrainian artist Viktor Sydorenko under a philosophical title, Temporal Milestones. However, in spite of a Cabinet of Ministers’ special decision On Participation in the Fiftieth Venice Biennale, the trip was almost disrupted, for the funds channeled from the budget were insufficient, while there are not too many sponsors eager to donate money for developing Ukrainian art around the world.
The Temporal Milestones belong to neo-Classicist style: the project represents a multidimensional multimedia visual system. According to the project’s curator Volodymyr Soloviov, this system combines, on the one hand, painting, where time is compressed and concentrated, and, on the other, cinema, where time is expanded. It also includes anonymous documentary photographs, a reflecting smooth surface, and phosphoric crystal object. The project’s main theme is time, which impinges on people, involving them into exhausting circle of leaving and returning. The author tries to show the fleetingness and destructive effect of time. In addition, there are many ideological strata in the project: details of an old fresco as a symbol of national tradition and reflections about the twentieth century as an epoch of violence and conflict.
The project, which got to the festival only by surmounting many obstacles, has already received some positive feedback from respected critics and curators. Viktor Sydorenko told the first press conference after the festival’s opening that, since Ukraine doesn’t have its own pavilion, the author and curators saw some parts of the projects only in Venice, and the last version of the video was ready only the night before the flight to Italy. However, the author hopes that after the festival ends, Kyiv will have a chance to appreciate his work. According to Mr. Sydorenko, this could happen as soon as December.
