Comparing Imperialisms. Ukraine's pavilion at the Malta Biennale.

Ukrainian artist Alevtina Kakhidze is representing her country at the first edition of maltabiennale.art, the Malta Biennale opening this year, March 14 to May 31, 2024. The National Pavilion of Ukraine opens Thursday, March 14, with From South to North, a project by artist Alevtina Kakhidze that explores the imperial past shared between Malta and Ukraine, interweaving biography and history. The exhibition is housed at Villa Portelli, a British colonial residence in Kalkara, one of the three Biennale sites, and from here suggests reflections on the complex dynamics involving Ukraine and the Mediterranean.

Kakhidze proposes a reversal of geographical perspective, positioning Odessa north of the Mediterranean rather than south of the Russian Empire, to explore the paradox of human destinies in imperial contexts. The Pavilion’s site-specific installation focuses on images from the new film All Good, which spreads across the exhibition environment through signs and drawings. The artist’s personal narrative is intertwined with her own family history, setting it in an international context of war and dichotomy between empire and colony. Thus surprising connections emerge between generations and the history of European countries, Malta and Ukraine. Alevtina Kakhidze’s exhibition, curated by Kateryna Semenyuk and Oksana Dovgopolova, co-founders of the culture of memory platform Past / Future / Art, thus explores decolonization and shared imperial pasts between Ukraine and Malta for the Ukrainian Pavilion.

The Ukrainian Pavilion From South to North at the maltabiennale.art 2024 is realized by the NGO Cultural Practices with support from the IZOLYATSIA Foundation, Trans Europe Halles and Malý Berlín, co-funded by the ZMINA: Rebuilding program, created with the support of the European Union to support displaced Ukrainians and the Ukrainian cultural and creative sectors. Special partner of the Pavilion is Aromateque.

On the opening day, the happening “From Malta to Yalta” will come to life in the public space, specifically on the water routes that the island imposes, completing the project. As part of the Pavilion’s public program, a discussion on museum practices for dealing with the imperial past will be held in April in collaboration with Ukrainian Institute and ICOM UK.

Comparing Imperialisms. Ukraine's pavilion at the Malta Biennale.

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