Before
the
Future
Ukrainian Pavilion

Location I ▪ Arsenale, Sale d’Armi, building A, 1st floor

Location II ▪ Open air space at the Giardini della Biennale

18th International
Architecture
Exhibition
of La Biennale
di Venezia 2023
18th
International Architecture Exhibition of
La Biennale di Venezia
2023

Preview 18/05/23

Open to the public from 20/05/23 to 26/11/23

Generous support by La Biennale di Venezia

had made the Ukrainian Pavilion possible

Program participants
Nikita Bielokopytov
Nikita Bielokopytov

born in 1994, Kyiv, Ukraine. He has been working as an architect since 2014, in 2021 he founded the architectural practice New Office of Vital Architecture (NOVA) together with his partners. Engaged in urban planning and architectural design, landscape and interior design. He participated in many Ukrainian and international competitions, in some of them he received an award or won prizes as part of the author's team, namely: "Europan 14" (Munich, 2017), "Port Of Cultures" (Mariupol, 2020), "Drukarnia Zmin" (Kam'yanets'-Podil's'kyi, 2023), “Young Architects Competition for Social Housing” (Mariupol, 2018).

Daria Borovyk
Daria Borovyk

born 1994, Odesa, Ukraine. As an architect, urban planner and researcher, Daria works in strategic urban development with a focus on community engagement, training and capacity building. Her research interests are in global migration, post-disaster response and systemic change

Oleksandr Burlaka
Oleksandr Burlaka

born 1982 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Works in a field of spatial design. Artistic practice includes photography, research, installation. Lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine. He examines history, architecture, urban planning and its transformations in Ukraine. He was a member of the Melnychuk-Burlaka Group (2007-2011), the Grupa Predmetiv (2011-2016) and a co-founder and member of the curatorial and activist interdisciplinary group Khudrada. As a researcher participated in the following projects: Soviet Modernism 1955-1991. Unknown Stories (2012, AzW, Vienna), A Parallel Modernity. Soviet Architecture 1956-1991, The Empire Strikes Back?


Alex Bykov
Alex Bykov

is an architect exploring the legacy of Ukrainian urban planning of the second half of the 20’th century. Alex's field of interest also includes studying and researching Ukrainian sacred architecture and its transformation from old times till our days. Alex approach include publication projects. Alex Bykov is co-author of the books «Soviet Modernism, Brutalism, Postmodernism. Buildings and Structures in Ukraine 1955-1991» in collaboration with Eugenia Gubkina (Osnovy Publishing and DOM Publishers) and «Orthodox Chic» in collaboration with Oleksandr Burlaka and Sasha Kurmaz (Osnovy Publishing). He also curated and edited “5.6” magazine issue «Architecture. Community. Time» (Viktor Marushchenko School of Photography) dedicated to the topic of uncontrolled urban development in Ukraine.

Anna Dobrova
Anna Dobrova

has an architectural background, which she gained in the National Academy of Fine Arts in Kyiv, Technical University of Vienna, and in multiple architectural and urban planning bureaus like ФОРМА, Feld72, bogner-cc. While living in Vienna, Anna became more interested in socially oriented architecture, which she is practicing through curatorial practice, educational workshops, art and urban interventions, and participatory action research. Anna has co-funded NGO MistoDiya for urban interventions, research, and curatorial practices. And in 2018 co-founded and curated Metalab.if – an urban laboratory in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. From 2022 Anna has been living in Basel and is an active member of „Swiss Network with Ukraine“ in ETH and NGO „Re-Win“.

Oksana Dovgopolova
Oksana Dovgopolova

co-founder and co-curator of the memory culture platform Past / Future / Art. She holds a PhD, working also as professor at the philosophy department at the Odesa Mechnikov National University. Oksana is a member of the Memory Studies Association, the administrative and executive committee of the Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies, as well as the author of scientific and educational publications. In 2018–2019, she developed the Memory Lab experimental unit at the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. Oksana is based in Odesa continuing her work in Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Nina Dyrenko
Nina Dyrenko

is a researcher, planting designer and a gardener. Practitioner of urban gardening on various scales - from the creation of pocket gardens to greenery projects of former factories. Curated the educational program on urban ecosystems at xawwi34. Currently working on a Book about Kyiv trees. Master of Journalism, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Uliana Dzhurliak
Uliana Dzhurliak

is an architect, PhD student in social housing (2017- now), studied architecture at Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (2011 - 2017), was a student of Canaction`s school “Homes for tomorrow” (2019), was an architect at Balbek bureau (2015-2019), co-founder of the architectural workshop 0113 (2019-2022), social activist, researching and protecting human rights in cities, protection of cultural architectural heritage: head of NGO “Save Kvity Ukrainy” (2021-now), member of the supervisory board at association of city initiatives “March za Kyiv” (2021-now). Lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ivan Grabko
Ivan Grabko

born in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Currently lives and works in Kyiv. He graduated National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. Ivan works with traditional methods of fine art. Studies the concept of artistic form, art as a historical phenomenon, development, and changes in culture and values. The influence of political and social events on the image of culture and art. His practice includes painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, temporary installation, creation of utilitarian objects of everyday life. At this stage of his creative activity, Ivan is focused on working with primary means of expression – color, composition, and scale.



Dmytro Gurin
Dmytro Gurin

born in 1982, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. Public relations specialist, public communications consultant, urban planner. Developer of territorial development projects in Kyiv and Baku. Member of the development team of the Mariupol reconstruction project after de-occupation. People's deputy of Ukraine, member of the Ukrainian parliament committee on national health, medical care and medical insurance. Developer of new construction standards for medical facilities.

Dana (Bogdana) Kosmina
Dana (Bogdana) Kosmina

is an architect and artist living and working between CDMX, Berlin and Kyiv. In 2017 entered HUDRADA (Artistic committee) curatorial and activist group. Since 2017 started her own multidisciplinary practice to change the perspectives of Ukrainian public architecture. From 2018 cooperate with the urban collective METASITU is devoted to the exploration of new spatial pedagogies. From 2019 is a co-founder and curator of a self-organized exhibition space in a formal postmodernist pavilion “Dzherelo” (The Source) in Kyiv, dedicated to urban transformations by video-art,  performance & experimental music. In 2020 represented "The hotel, the sanatorium, the pension and their refugee’s rooms" in the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial “What Do We Have In Common”. At 59th Venice Biennale Kosmina represented the spacial  installation “Piazza Ucrania”.

Sasha Kurmaz
Sasha Kurmaz

born 1986 in Kyiv, Ukraine where he currently lives and works. Sasha is an interdisciplinary artist. He uses various media and approaches in his artistic practice such as photography, video, public intervention, and situations, as well as diverse strategies to engage the audience through collaborative practice. The main focus of his work is social and political issues and global challenges that Ukrainian society has faced in recent years. Kurmaz's works have been widely presented at many international exhibitions and festivals.



Nataliia Mysak
Nataliia Mysak

is an architect, researcher, PhD in History and Theory of Architecture. She studied at Lviv Polytechnic University and pursued doctoral fellowships at TU Vienna, Malmö University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at ETH Zürich, which encompassed research and teaching. Since 2018, she has served as an independent expert for the Mies van der Rohe Award. Previously, she engaged in several urban initiatives, focusing on participatory planning in Lviv, and worked as a researcher at the Center for Urban History, Lviv, and as an architect at Drozdov and Partners, Kharkiv. Currently, she collaborates with the Swiss Network with Ukraine and develops the Spatial Practices Lab, focusing on alternative approaches to architectural production that could foster emerging new urban commons in the context of crisis. Based primarily in Lviv, Ukraine.

Anton Oliynyk
Anton Oliynyk

has been working as an architect and spatial planner since 2004, in 2012 he founded the architectural practice burø together with his partners. Co-author of local and international competitions, such as "Terra dignitas - Ukrainian House" - 1st place (2015), "Contract - Reconstruction of Contract Square in Kyiv" - 1st place (2015), "Museum of the Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv" - 2nd place (2018 ). He worked as a tutor and headed the "Housing" studio at the Kharkiv School of Architecture (2020-2022).

Elena Orap
Elena Orap

born in Kyiv, Ukraine. Studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture and physics at Taras Shevchenko National University of Ukraine. Olena is practicing architecture and design in various forms: designing spaces and objects, creating installations and curating art exhibitions. Co-founder of the SERIA__ project, dedicated to Ukrainian panel mass housing. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she fled to Switzerland and later joined EPFL with the research project “Ukraine. Architecture of Emergency” developed at ALICE lab, which investigates the agency of architecture in the current state of emergency in Ukraine through the reading of buildings and structures which appear during the war.

Oleksii Pakhomov
Oleksii Pakhomov

born in 1983, Kharkiv, Ukraine. He has been working as an architect since 2006, in 2012 he founded the architectural practice burø together with his partners. Engaged in urban planning and architectural design, together with partners implemented several large construction projects. Participated in Ukrainian and international competitions, in some of which he won prizes, namely: "Terra dignitas - Ukrainian House" - 1st place (2015), "Contract - Reconstruction of Contract Square in Kyiv" - 1st place ( 2015), "Museum of the Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv" - 2nd place (2018).

Mariia Pakhomova
Mariia Pakhomova

born in 1983, Severodonetsk, Ukraine. She has been working as an architect since 2007 in Kyiv. In 2012, together with partners, she founded the architectural practice burø. As part of burø, she participated in Ukrainian and international competitions. She founded burø design in 2017. Designs commercial, corporate and residential spaces. Maria also develops product design (textiles) and has a blog about modern architecture.

Anna Pashynska
Anna Pashynska

co-founder and curator of an Urban Laboratory "MetaLab", Biennale "City Scanning Session" and a makerspace in Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine). Anna leads on a wide range of projects, specializing in spatial research and design, product design, community-led public space projects, and institutional planning. Today, Anna and the team work on a city development laboratory Metalab supporting a socially equal, spatially comfortable, culturally rich, environmentally responsible, economically balanced build environment. In order to reach these goals, Metalab aims to create a supportive environment, a field for experiments, where the social and spatial potential of the city can be developed and tested in practice.




Tanya Pashynska
Tanya Pashynska

co-founder and architect of the "Co-Haty" project in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. She is an architect, stage designer, and 3D artist with over 10 years of working experience in Austria, Germany, and Ukraine. Most of her architectural practice has been focused on repurposing and planning residential buildings. She studied at the technical universities of Lviv, Ukraine, and Vienna, Austria. Her designs are created through hands-on experiments and collaborations with local manufacturers and the community. With a background in dance, she is keen on designing spaces for performances and movement.

Dasha Podoltseva
Dasha Podoltseva

is a visual artist and graphic designer based in Kyiv. She graduated from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She studied academic drawing and painting in Oleksandr Titov's workshop. Studied at Central Saint Martins/University of Arts London summer school and Petr Bankov poster school. Graduate of the Canactions Studio 1 school of urban planning. Co-founder of the SERIA__ project, dedicated to Ukrainian brutalists mass housing. Works with such subjects as public spaces, material world, and "temporary inconveniences". Dasha creates installations, graphics, curates exhibitions. Awarded Golden Medal of International poster Biennale in Warsaw for the work (Unwanted) Harvest.

Ivan Protasov
Ivan Protasov

born 1993, Kyiv, Ukraine. Architect, works with public and cultural architecture projects of various scales with his firm Prototype. Resides and works in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Daryna Pyrogova
Daryna Pyrogova

is an independent sociologist and consultant in strategic urban development and public engagement based in Kyiv and Vilnius. She worked as a researcher, analyst, and project manager at the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (2012-2017), CEDOS think tank (2017-2019), taught at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (2012-2014), at the Kharkiv School of Architecture (2019) and mentored the education process at CANactions School for Urban Studies (2018-2019). Since 2018, Daryna has been engaged in the elaboration of Integrated Urban Development Concepts for Kyiv, Kharkiv, Melitopol, and smaller territorial units of Ukraine as a national mentor and expert. Currently, she is working on topics of forced migration, war impact on the environment, and Ukraine's spatial and social recovery

Kateryna Semenyuk
Kateryna Semenyuk

is a curator and co-founder of the memory culture platform Past / Future / Art. Since 2010 she has been working in the field of art and collective memory. She was the head of the art centre Ya Gallery in Dnipro (2010–2017). In 2018–2019 Kateryna worked with the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. After February 24, 2022, she continued her work, focusing on the commemoration of the Russia-Ukraine war. Kateryna is based in Kyiv.

Vadym Sidash
Vadym Sidash

born in 1988 in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2011 started working as an architect. In 2018 open his private practice in design studio Berezen Studio. They develop architecture and interior desigh as well as interior design. In designing, the studio always takes into account the urban planning context, as well as modern urban trends.



commercial public art
Prykarpattian Theater
Prykarpattian Theater

is an artist collective whose members share common relations to Kolomyia, a town located in Prykarpattian region of the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast in western Ukraine. Their work reflects the imprints left by the four occupations of the region throughout history and sets them in a translocal dialogue. Members of the collective: Ivan Bazak, Roman Khimei, Yarema Malashchuk, Tereza Yakovyna, Ostap Yashchuk

The Center for Spatial Technologies
The Center for Spatial Technologies

(CST) was founded in 2017. An interdisciplinary research center working on a wide range of topics using spatial analysis and visualization methods. Based in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Svitlanka Konoplyova
Svitlanka Konoplyova

is an artist and architect living in Ukraine. Was born in Simferopol, Crimea, where she studied as an architect, and finished her education in Kyiv, after the occupation of the peninsula. Worked in Kyiv as an urban planner and researcher, in her artistic practice she works with space, memory, myth. Since 2018 co-founder of the commercialpublicart team, whose commercial approach is known by the principle "free is the new expensive". Not part of commercialpublicart in 2023.



Borys Medvedik
Borys Medvedik

born in 1986 in Cisinau MD, raised, educated and built architect`s career in Odesa, UA, expanded it and recently jumped into contemporary arts field in Kyiv, UA. Official surname `Medvediev`, I'm planning to change it asap after russian invasion and military situation in UA. Co-founded of commercialpublicart collective, at the time of printed catalog, may already leave the collective, giving it more space for fresh blood. Topics: medium-message, actor-network, blurred mirages, endless mutations, inhuman affairs, complexities of waste, biome ecologies, edges of critique, self-care, future. Mediums: all forms of architectural speculations, including social architecture, participation, 3d models, ready-mades, upcycling, graffiti, graphic novels, presentations, SMM, DIY exhibitions, sculpture, toys, public art, classic techniques and transitions between the listed.








Oleksandra Sakharuk
Oleksandra Sakharuk

is a public figure and journalist. Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, she has been filming the de-occupied and frontline territories while also creating an independent Ukrainian video magazine called Ikla. Through extrusive conversations with local residents of the frontline territories, Oleksandra came to realize the necessity of constructing comprehensive system to aid people in evacuating and adapting to new environments. This realization led to the birth of the NGO NE SAMI. This organisation dedicated to facilitating the comprehensive evacuation of civilians and developing projects that support their successful adaptation.



Yuliia Holiuk
Yuliia Holiuk

majored in publishing and editing at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University. Since then, she has been immersed in working with various text formats as an author and editor. Her passion lies in educational projects, as she views them as vital for a thriving civil society. She's partnered with LAURUS publishing house, was an editor of a professional magazine for educators. Yuliia crafts scenarios for SAMI educational productions, addressing significant Ukrainian themes like human rights, history, public service growth, and digitalization. She's also involved with content for the Metalab urban laboratory. She delves into Ukrainian traditional culture, composes poetry, and crafts zines that showcase art & culture, authentic traditions in the urban context, and the war in Ukraine.



Curators
Iryna Miroshnykova
Iryna Miroshnykova is an architect and urban development researcher. Currently working on 
her PhD thesis exploring the socio-economic 
and planning features of Ukrainian monofunctional cities. She is a partner at ФОРМА, one of Kyiv’s leading architectural offices whose open-minded work is focused on spatial development strategies, masterplanning, renovation programs, as well as interface, installation, and exhibition design. Further to this, Iryna is a co-founder of the Pavilion of Culture, a cross-disciplinary institution, where she curates architectural research.
Oleksii Petrov
Oleksii Petrov is an architect, and founder of architectural office ФОРМА, one of Kyiv’s leading whose open-minded work is focused on spatial development strategies, masterplanning, renovation programs, as well as interface, installation, exhibition design. Oleksii is a co-founder of the Pavilion of Culture, a cross-disciplinary institution, where he curates architectural research.
Borys Filonenko
Borys Filonenko is an independent curator, art critic, and editor-in-chief of IST Publishing (Kharkiv). He was a co-curator of the Pavilion of Ukraine at the 59th International Art Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia (2022), the Second National Biennial of Young Art (Kharkiv, 2019), and the exhibitions Aeneas Passes On. Artists of the Present Face to Face with the Past (Kharkiv, 2019) and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Kyiv, Lviv, 2016). He was a curator at Come In Gallery in Kharkiv (2015–18) and tutor and curator in the Humanities Department at the Kharkiv School of Architecture (2017–2021).
Commissioner
Mariana Oleskiv

Mariana Oleskiv is the Commissioner of the Pavilion of Ukraine at Biennale Architettura 2023. She had been invited to this role by Ukrainian Government as the experienced manager, capable to effectively organize big national projects. Currently she holds the position of the Chairperson of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine, with deep background in authentic cultural approach to international events. As the professional marketer, Mariana Oleskiv empowered numerous projects to engage people from around the world to visit Ukraine, absorb its culture and perceive its history as one of the oldest and most unique.

Team
Deputy curator and program coordinator
Kateryna Ulianova
Deputy curator
Maria Lanko
Architects and researchers
Kyrylo Khivrych
Yelyzaveta Perel
Yevhen Pichkur
Iryna Shershakova
Landscape architect
Hanna Popenko
Visual identity
Fedoriv marketing innovations
Producer
Ilona Shneider
PR and communications
Ksenia Iefremova
management
Anastasiia Vasylenko
Facilitators
Insha Osvita 
General editor
Clemens Poole
Graphic designer
Ostap Yashchuk
Website development
Andriy Lanko
Website design
Dmytro Horeniuk
With support of