The “Kherson: NOT/Stolen” exhibition opens
Contemporary Ukrainian artists created studies and homages to works the occupiers stole from the Kherson Art Museum. The exhibition marks the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion and the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol.
In November 2022, just before Kherson was liberated, the invaders removed artworks from the Oleksii Shovkunenko Kherson Regional Art Museum. Of the almost 14,000 works the collection held before the full-scale war, about 11,000 of the most valuable pieces were stolen.
The project “Kherson: NOT/Stolen. Studies and Homages” brings attention back to the lost collection. A study is an exploration and a sketch; an homage is a work of gratitude to an artist. Not a copy or a replica, but a tribute to those who made the world better. Artists from all over Ukraine created their own works dedicated to the stolen paintings.
Kherson is alive. We honour and support it.
From the exhibition text
When the Kherson museum reopens, visitors will be able to see these contemporary works next to the originals that, we hope, Ukraine will bring back after Victory.
Femida joined the project together with the NGO UkrArta and Femida Legal Association: our members helped pack and deliver the paintings so the works reached the exhibition safely.
Project team
Curators: Olena Balaba, Oleksii Baula. Coordinator: Roza Tapanova. Supported by Sense Bank.
Partners: the War Museum, the Oleksii Shovkunenko Kherson Regional Art Museum, Inshyi Kyiv, OKIB Group, Lysenko Solicitors, Femida Legal Association, NGO UkrArta.