NEW YORK – The Ukrainian Institute of America and the Yara Arts Group presented “Home East,” an installation by Waldemart Klyuzko that covered the windows of the Ukrainian Institute of America building with red and white tape.
“Home is where the heart lives – a dream we construct all our lives. Red and white tape signals emergency and crisis because our home in the east has become a dangerous place. Many people have left due to the state of crisis caused by the war in the east of Ukraine,” said Mr. Klyuzko.
“Home East” opened on May 9 and was on exhibit through May 11 at the Ukrainian Institute of America at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.
The covering of the UIA’s windows with the international sign of warning drew the attention of New Yorkers to the continuing escalation of the crisis and war in the east of Ukraine.
From the outside during the day, New Yorkers saw the windows as they were covered with red and white tapes that were taped together into patterns by the artist. The industrial material was re-imagined as folk pattern and defense.
Nikita Yurenev
Yara Arts Group presents a performance of poems by Serhiy Zhadan on the opening night of “Home East.”
Every night at 9-11 p.m. the lights were turned on inside the Ukrainian Institute. The lights in the rooms backlit the red and white sheets in the windows, creating a stained-glass effect. This light symbolized the ray of hope that the war will end and people will be able to return to their homes.
May 8 is celebrated as the end of World War II in Europe. This year it was also the opening date of the Venice Biennale, one of the most important events in the art world. By opening on this day, the Ukrainian Institute announced its support for Ukraine, Ukrainian art and the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Biennale. The opening night of “Home East” included a performance by Yara Arts Group of poems by Serhiy Zhadan, which are part of one of the art pieces included in the Venice Biennale this year.
Yara artists performed translations by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps. The performers included: Marina Celander, Sean Eden, Chris Ignacio and Maria Pleshkevich, as well as Julia Dobner-Pereira and Masha Pruss. They were accompanied by Julian Kytasty. One of the Zhadan poems they sang was set to music by Mariana Sadovska.
Mr. Klyuzko is an artist, photographer and videographer from Kyiv and a resident designer with Yara Arts Group in New York. He designed Yara’s “Underground Dreams,” which was performed in Donetsk (2013) and Kyiv (2014). Last summer, his “We Are All Ukraine,” an exhibit of protest posters in support of the demonstrations in Kyiv and photographic art inspired by the events in Ukraine, was shown at The Ukrainian Museum in New York. Last September his architectural installation with red and white tape, “Dim” (Home), was presented at GogolFest International Contemporary Arts Festival in Kyiv.