The flight of “Mriya”. Uzhgorod artist will be involved in the Ukrainian pavilion at the Venice Biennale

At the 58th International Art Exhibition in Venice, which will begin in May 2019, Ukraine will be represented by the "Open Group" Association.

One of its co-founders is Pavlo Kovach, Jr., a native of Uzhgorod, the son of artist Pavlo Kovach.

The "Open Group" will present the project "Shadow of "Mriya" cast on the Giardini Gardens". This was announced at a briefing in the news agency "Ukrinform".

According to the curators, the project consists of several parts. The first one is the flight of "Mriya", the largest cargo aircraft in the world, which will contain information about all Ukrainian artists. For a few seconds, the plane will cast a shadow on the Giardini Gardens, where the main exhibition of contemporary art takes place. The second part of the project is the display itself in the pavilion, which will be built around the myth about the flight of "Mriya".

According to the First Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine Svitlana Fomenko, the preparations for the final agreement are now underway. The Ministry of Culture pays for the full cost of renting a pavilion in the Arsenal for half a year – about 3 million hryvnias.

An-225, or "Mriya", is the world’s largest transport aircraft built by the Antonov design bureau. Its first flight took place in 1988. It is used for the transportation of extra heavy goods.

The "Open Group" association was formed in Lviv in 2012 by five Ukrainian artists. Now it includes four artists: Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Stanislav Turina and Anton Varga. Their works were presented at the Ukrainian pavilion at the 56th International Biennale in Venice.

In October, the expert commission under the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine chose the curator of the Ukrainian pavilion for the 58th Venice Biennale. The theme of the forthcoming exhibition is "May you Live in Interesting Times".