In the context of the growing popularity of decolonial approaches across various disciplines, the critique of Eurocentrism is gaining momentum. Yet, an essential aspect often remains overlooked—the inherent diversity within the concept of “Europe” itself. Today’s map of Eurasia displays regions such as Western, Central, Northern, Eastern, and Southern Europe, but the boundaries and relations within this seemingly homogeneous space have always been fluid and complex.

Historically and politically, Eastern Europe has been subject to varying definitions and interpretations. For the purposes of this project, we adhere to the broad division established post-1945, where Europe was split into the "Western World" and the "Eastern Bloc." The division left lasting marks on cultural, political, and artistic landscapes, encapsulated by the unique experience of Berlin—a city symbolizing both separation and convergence.

Inspired by the enduring relevance of theorists like Slavoj Žižek, who described Eastern Europe as the West’s idealized Other, this project seeks to revisit and reactivate discussions on the intersections and divergences between the two Europes. Over the decades, cultural integration efforts following the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc have often been marked by a wave of Westomania. This imposed homogeneity overshadowed the nuanced and multifaceted visual cultures of Eastern Europe. The historian Karl Schlögel calls for constant critical self-reflection if we want to adequately understand the conflicts and thus the foreignness of the present. "The East is a kind of Pompeii", which should be excavated with great curiosity and zeal.

Through the Matrix-Ost project, we aim to recontextualize contemporary Eastern European visual art within this historic and political framework, fostering dialogue and reflection on the shared and distinct artistic experiences of Eastern and Western Europe.

"The self-evident nature of the intact discourse has finally been called into question."

- Karl Schlögel

Curator:

• Anna Petrova (Odesa - Ukraine)
• Heinz-Hermann Jurczek (Bochum - Germany)
• Peter Ameis (Berlin - Germany)

On the shelves of the Lost&Found Bureau, the most unexpected things coexist. Insignificant to others, they nevertheless hold immense value for the one who lost them.

As part of his first solo exhibition, Alex takes on the role of an officer of this bureau - with his attention to everyday objects, he returns to the viewer what they have lost, namely the value of the objects surrounding us.

The artistic approach of the author to photography lies in the fact that his object photography teeters on the brink of a deeply personal portrait. The objects in his frames have their own history, personality, and individuality. They hurry, deteriorate, assemble into new forms, intertwine into visual novellas. However, in this approach, the human loses its function as well. Through visual depersonalization and objectification, Alex subjugates the human to all these numerous objects. He does the same with himself, perceiving his creativity as an act of service, as an act of translating the transience of the moment into a timeless object - a photography.

Curator:

• Anna Petrova

Management and delivery logistics:

• Vladislav Makeiev

Technical support:

• Peter Bogatyrev

Special thanks to:

• Johan Lorbeer
• Osman Özel
• Sofiia Holubeva
• Aglaia Nogina
• Igor Zaidel

• Alex Dyak

Nach Angaben des Statistischen Bundesamtes leben heute 23,8 Millionen Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland. Infolge des Angriffs der Russischen Föderation auf das Territorium der Ukraine sind etwa 1,5 Millionen Ukrainer:innen Teil dieser Zahl geworden. In den langen zwei Jahren seit der Ankunft der ersten Flüchtlinge haben es viele Menschen geschafft, sich in die deutsche Gesellschaft zu integrieren. Infolgedessen kommt es unvermeidlich zu einem Prozess der gegenseitigen kulturellen Bereicherung. Jeden Tag lernen ukrainische Umsiedler:innen die deutsche Geschichte und Kultur kennen und lüften im Gegenzug den Schleier des ukrainischen Kulturerbes. Der Status der „Terra incognita“, den die Ukraine im globalen Kunstsystem hatte, gehört langsam der Vergangenheit an.

Schon jetzt zeichnet sich ab, dass die tektonische Verschiebung, die sich seit dem Beginn des russisch-ukrainischen Krieges in der europäischen Welt vollzogen hat, nicht spurlos vorübergehen wird – wir stehen vor turbulenten Jahren des Wandels. Und wie in jeder historischen Umbruchphase wird die bildende Kunst zu einem wichtigen Spiegel und Archivar der Ereignisse, zu einer Grundlage für die Diskussion über die Perspektiven der Zukunft.

„Erinnerungen an die Zukunft“ ist eine visuelle Sammlung und Studie künstlerischer Reflexionen, Vorahnungen und Enthüllungen, die darauf abzielt, die aktuelle Geschichte der Massenmigration zu vermitteln und die Frage zu stellen: „Welche gemeinsame Zukunft erwartet uns?“

Zur Organisation der Ausstellung wurde ein Open Call durchgeführt, da das Kurator:innenteam es für sehr wichtig hält, allen Künstler:innen die Möglichkeit zur Teilnahme zu geben. Das Auswahlkriterium war die Qualität der Ausführung der eingereichten Arbeiten sowie der Grad der Übereinstimmung mit dem Konzept des Ausstellungsprojekts.

Kuratorin der Ausstellung:

• Anna Petrova, SPSG

Kuratorische Betreuung:

• Dr. Ulrike Schmiegel-Rietig, SPSG

Kuratorische Assistenz:

• Björn Ahlhelm, SPSG
• Antje Lange, SPSG

• Philipp Boshart
• Oksana Pyzh
• Baharak Batvand
• Sofiia Holubeva
• Leyla Toprak
• Sojeong Park
• Ae Hee, Lee
• Igor Zaidel
• Mariya Petrenko
• Osina Valeria
• Oleksii Zolotar
• Artem Volokitin
• Tetiana Malinovska
• Aglaya Nogina
• Yurii Koval
• Vitalii Shupliak
• Maryna Semenkova
• Anton Laiko

Project curators:

• Igor Zaidel
• Anna Petrova

• Luca Morgantini (Luke)
• Victor Chakravarty
• Maria Pavlova
• Sofiia Holubeva
• Maria Arendt
• Yulia Katan
• Gleb Kalinin
• Misha Shenbrot
• Patrick Jambon Turbojambon
• Lee, Ae Hee
• Paz Castellano

An archipelago is a group of islands that lie at a short distance from each other and are united into a common system. 

This is the metaphor used by Ukrainian artist Aglaya Nogina to describe the essence of the connection between her and her close friends. In the last 2 years, the war, like tectonic movements, has divided them into different parts of the world, but their inner unity has remained unshakable. The series of large-format portraits reflects on femininity, female strength, inner and outer beauty, and the powerful force of friendship.

Aglaya works with her author's texts and the xerolithography printing technique. 

This project involves participation: 

The photo references embodied in the finished works were created directly by the models themselves. The image of their "island" emerged through a sincere dialogue about the nature of the depicted. 

Aglaya comments on the project saying:

“ For me, female friendship is something exceptional and very energetic. It is with women whom I consider to be close to me in spirit that I gain strength and renew my resources. By saying this, I am in no way diminishing the role and importance of men in a woman's life, but as George Santayana said: "The loneliest woman in the universe is not the one who has no man, but the one who has no best friend."

Every time we manage to see each other, whether I visit them or host them, I am enveloped in a sense of calm and home. 

Braiding each other's hair, sharing stories about different experiences with men, careers, family, internal conflicts and dreams, falling asleep in the same bed, holding hands. You can be emotional and natural around them. A part of me lives in each of these women, and so when we are together, I seem to become more complete. 

Metaphorically, I call each of them an island, and I work on the visual and textual presentation of the context of each of my islands.

If she were an island, what kind of flowers would she grow, what kind of trees? Would it be deserted and quiet, or would it be crowded with people? What kind of soil would it have, what kind of weather, what kind of birds would build nests in its forests?   

I like to fantasise and come up with metaphorical epithets and comparisons for how I see my friends, and look for the necessary visual elements for this. Sand, earth, rocks, sky, roses and conifers, rivers. 

I like to dive into the details and combine the features of the real places I've visited, what I've seen, with my girlfriends. It's as if every rhythm corresponds to a particular characteristic of her soul or visual features: hair, the curve of her neck, the shape of her fingers. 

Since childhood, I liked to play a game: if you were a tree, what kind of tree would it be? If you were a house, which one? What colour are you, what taste are you, what weather are you and what material are you? What element, what figure, what car, what song, what book, what island are you?"

Curator

• Anna Petrova

Curatorial assistance

• Alex Dyak

• Nogina Aglaia, Ukraine, 1996

The leitmotif for the exhibition project " GOLDNARBEN" is a traditional Japanese method for repairing ceramics and porcelain, Kintsugi. This technique involves restoring objects with gold, silver or platinum mixtures, creating a kind of precious "scar" on the surface. The philosophical basis of Kintsugi lies in accepting injuries and imperfections, in analysing the concept of loss, synthesis and improvement through destruction and subsequent restoration.In contrast to the "invisible" restoration to which we are accustomed today and which conceals the damage to objects, Kintsugi aims to emphasise the traces of breakage rather than hide them. Today's Ukrainian art scene works - consciously or unconsciously - with Kintsugi's aesthetic. Instead of suppressing the traumatic events of recent history and avoiding confrontation with them, the artists are realising them in their works as if with real gold. In the knowledge that a return to the pre-war state is not possible, because to do so they would have to discard the experiences they have gained.
they build a new reality piece by piece.

According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 8 million Ukrainians have crossed the western borders to seek protection since the start of the all-out Russian-Ukrainian war. More than one million of them have found refuge in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The refugees learn languages, attend schools and universities, they encounter a new world and make this world their own. At the same time, they all had to make the terrible discovery that the war does not end when they cross the national border. War lives on like a cunning virus in every person who has ever come into contact with it. The war lives on in the noise of an aeroplane taking off, in the explosion of fireworks and the siren of an ambulance racing through the city. The experience of war forever robs you of a sense of security and stability, making you a stranger wherever you go. The Goldnarben project is based on the creative practice of artists who have fled to Europe. The selected works form a narrative about the first year of emigration and reflect on the cultural, social and moral issues of this experience. The exhibition is divided into 4 chapters:

• I Arrival
• II Views
• III Time
• IV Hospitality

Each of the rooms creates a basis for open discussion of complex issues through a dialogue with the historical context of the palace.

The exhibition project Goldnarben was realised through the joint work of the team of the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten, the artists' association UCC and the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany.
The project team would like to thank the Ernst von Siemens Kunststifftung and especially its Secretary General Martin Hoernes for their diverse and active support.

Idea and concept

• Anna Petrova

Project curators

• Anna Petrova
• Dr Ulrike Schmiegelt-Rietig
• Dr Samuel Wittwer

• Berg Victoria, Charkiw, 1992
• Halkin Danylo, Dnipro, 1985
• Holubeva Sofiia, Odesa, 1997
• Kovach Danylo, Saporischschja, 1992
• Malinovska Tetiana, Odesa, 1980
• Nogina Aglaia, Charkiw, 1996
• Oshchepkova Kateryna (Koshmak), Brovary, 1988
• Palyvoda Anzhelika, Kyiw, 2000
• Pasichnyk Anastasiia, Charkiw, 1999
• Saliukhina Valentyna, Donetsk, 1994
• Scherbyna Polina, Kyiw, 1993
• Schleicher Johannes, Friedrichshafen 1985
• Shevchenko Vladyslav, Sumy, 1993
• Smolkina Daryna, Kyiw, 1996
• Volokitin Artem, Chuhuyiv, 1981

Two curators made an exhibition introducing young Ukrainian art to the Berlin art scene. The exhibition is formed by artworks of five female artists who found themselves abroad after the break-out of the full-scale Russian military invasion. Switching focus from documenting events to processing them in form of symbolism and abstraction, it explores the psychological states of people going through war. A narrow selection of represented artists is giving insights into how this theme flows through their oeuvre. 

The exhibition is held as a part of a charity cultural event Crafted in Ukraine, supported by the Embassy of Ukraine in Germany. 20% of all sales go to the Ukrainian humanitarian fund.

Project curators

• Anna Petrova
• Valentyna Saliukhina

• Valentyna Saliukhina
• Lera Osina
• Aglaia Nogina
• Sofiia Holubeva
• Anna Anufrieva

The exhibition project "I am a Curator" was the result of a six-week museum camp. During the summer, young museum-goers learned about the history and intricacies of art, immersing themselves in the multi-layered maze of cultural history and representation.

"I am a Curator" invites the viewer not only to reflect on the stable image of museum exhibits through a child's perception, but also to recall his own childhood experience in the boldness of its quest and the idealism of its convictions. In it, sensuality and imagination, unshackled by the chains of norms, find leakage in a pure creative manifestation.

The exhibited works are a mirror of the culture of childhood of the 21st century -  a still unexplored territory.

Project curator

• Anna Petrova

Curatorial group

• Petra Tymoshchuk
• Margarita Vlasova
• Alisa Vlasova
• Alisa Murchyna
• Emilia Lashyna
• Yulia Ostapova
• Sara Hlynarska
• Bella Hlynarska
• Polina Muzychenko
• Eva Livitska
• Rita Krukovska
• Safira Vornyk
• Stanislav Zubko
• Polina Yarmoshkina
• Sofia Melnyk

• Petra Tymoshchuk
• Margarita Vlasova
• Alisa Vlasova
• Alisa Murchyna
• Emilia Lashyna
• Yulia Ostapova
• Sara Hlynarska
• Bella Hlynarska
• Polina Muzychenko
• Eva Livitska
• Rita Krukovska
• Safira Vornyk
• Stanislav Zubko
• Polina Yarmoshkina
• Sofia Melnyk

The exhibition of works by Mykola Hlushchenko (1901-1977) "The Last Freedom" gives Odesa viewers the opportunity to finally get acquainted with the legacy of one of the most prominent Ukrainian artists of the last century. The exhibition focuses on the late period of his work, covering the last 20 years of his life.

At the end of his career, Hlushchenko moved further and further away from socialist realism, filling his works with his unique colouristic vision. In numerous sketches of this period, Hlushchenko comes back to us as a bold colourist. In his later works, one can feel the motifs of French painting - Pierre Bonnard, Felix Vallotton, Georges Rouault, Henri Matisse. He paints with almost open colours - spectral or even bright aniline. His palette combines the incongruous: aggressive green with pink, active blue with lemon yellow and purple. The free, broad brushstroke sometimes turns into thick textured mixtures. The tone and construction are completely subordinated to the logic of the free existence of colour.

The figure of Mykola Hlushchenko in the history of Ukrainian art is still controversial. After the KGB archives were made public in the late 1980s, the artist's close connection with Soviet intelligence came to light: in 1926, Hlushchenko was recruited under the pseudonym "Yarema". In this role, he was active while living in France and Germany. In particular, in 1940, during a business trip to Berlin, Hlushchenko obtained and passed on to the centre information about Germany's preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union 5 months earlier than Richard Sorge.

Upon his return from Europe to the USSR in 1936, Mykola Hlushchenko was severely criticised by the official leadership of the Union of Artists for his so-called "formalism". This provoked a gradual suppression of the artist's creative freedom: his new works retained their quality, but became banal in their pictorial qualities. Within the framework of this self-restriction, Hlushchenko existed for many decades. Only in the early 60s did a new freedom come to his painting, the artist got rid of socialist realism.

His privileged status, due to his loyalty to the authorities, gave Hlushchenko certain advantages over his colleagues. The boundaries of what was permissible were wider for him: the artist was able to travel abroad, which most of his colleagues could only dream of. He returned from each trip with numerous sketches.

In recent years, Hlushchenko has been painting quickly: he puts the paint directly on the canvas, moulding the texture with a firm hand. The world he creates is colourful, bright, lively and dreamy. As, in fact, he himself taught his students: "Do not look, but feel and paint what you have felt with your soul."

Project curators

• Anna Petrova
• Volodymyr Damaskin

Project supervision

• Olenksandr Roytburd

• Mykola Hlushchenko