As part of the Lviv Sculpture Week 2024, an exhibition “Kindergarten” by Volodymyr Semkiv opened at the Andriy Sheptytskyi National Museum.
In his works, the artist demonstrates the deep emotional states of adults hidden behind the mask of childhood, and thus questions traditional ideas about “childhood”.
“Kindergarten” or “Kindergarten” is an exhibition about childhood states (or not about childhood? about you and me? about society?). Volodymyr Semkiv deliberately refuses to give details, leaving room for free interpretation. His sculptures resemble fairy tale characters. At the same time, they resemble toy children. And they also evoke associations with the childish trials and traumas that modern society is experiencing.
“You can look for many meanings in my works, and everyone will feel something different. But what I would like to say with this project is the importance of feeling the moment, its value. It’s about the value of each and every inner kindergarten,” Volodymyr Semkiv said at the opening of the exhibition.
In the space of the exhibition halls, an action unfolds that looks more like a frozen theatre. The halls are filled with the smell of cut wood and the search for a route among big children, who, it turns out, are not so small and tender. The first hall is about the birth of a child. Then there are the stages of growth and maturation. Gradually, favourite “toys” appear, and some of them become difficult to handle. And then the seesaw of life keeps swinging, going up and down, up and down…
“We are in Kinderharten, where certain social models are reduced to childish (at first glance) metaphors. Here, Volodya has found a new language of sculpture, and it is not about the material he works with. This is an exhibition of a mature, adult artist who thinks not just in terms of one work, but in terms of the whole space, the integrity of the project,” says Pavlo Gudimov, curator of the exhibition.
The exhibition, which Volodymyr Semkiv prepared especially for the National Museum, is created in wood, which is always rough and as if torn to pieces. No sanding, the only tool used is a chainsaw. It is interesting to note that the sculptor made the works for this exhibition from the hazardous trees that were cut down in city parks.
The exhibition will be open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 18:00 pm (the ticket office closes at 17:30 pm) from 8 October to 10 November 2024.
As a reminder, Lviv is currently hosting the third Sculpture Week under the slogan “Trace of Memory”. Learn more about the exhibition projects of LTS 2024 here.