For the past month The Day has been unraveling the detective story- like events taking place on Andriivsky uzviz, where artists are being evicted from their studios. Yevhen Karas, the owner of the Karas Art Gallery, first told us about the eviction of the Union of Contemporary Art Workers. Later we reported on the picketing of the Podil Raion State Administration by a group of Kyiv artists and publicized their views of the perturbing situation on the capital’s art street.
And voila! Some pleasant news arrived: the lease agreements with artists who are renting studios on Andriivsky uzviz will be automatically renewed. This was announced to journalist by Yevhen Romanenko, the head of the Podil Raion State Administration, Interfax reports.
“Artists who are renting the premises for art studios may prolong their lease agreements,” he said, referring to an order that he signed last Tuesday. In order to extend the lease of their premises, representatives of artistic unions must submit an application and letter of recommendation from their artistic organization.
Romanenko also announced that a joint commission will be established with the Main Directorate of Culture at Kyiv’s State City Administration, which will study the situation surrounding the art studios on Andriivsky uzviz. He said that 58 cultural workers lease art studios on this street, among them artists, architects, and designers. The total area of the rented premises covers 4,000 sq. m. The Podil Raion State Administration is now completing the work to establish a single register of all tenants, according to which the lease contracts will be automatically extended.
