On 20–21 June, Znesinnia Park in Lviv will host a Land Art Festival, during which artists will create 10 land art sculptures dedicated to the impact of war on nature. The festival is returning to the park for the first time in eight years, and admission to all events will be free.
On the first day, the programme starts at 14:00, and on the second at 13:00. Ten artists from Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv and Poland, including Lublin, have been invited to take part. The participants include Vlodko Kaufman, Natalia Lisova, Sasha Nykytiuk, Bohdan Lokatyr, Marharyta Zhurunova, Volodymyr Semkiv, Serhii Yakunin, Oleksii Konoshenko, Serhii Radkevych and Pavlo Kovach. The programme will also feature the artist Wojtek Januszkiewicz, who has organised a land art festival in Lublin.
According to Oksana Lutsko, Deputy Head of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of Lviv City Council, the park will showcase ten land art objects by Ukrainian and international artists, created from natural and recycled materials and integrated into the landscape. In addition to creating sculptures, there will be curatorial tours, panel discussions, workshops and a large area for children.
A separate theme of the festival will be reflecting on the impact of war on the environment through art. The discussions will include, among others, biologists who have been to the front, and artists who have witnessed the contrast between flourishing nature and war-ravaged infrastructure. Veterans from the UNBROKEN centre will also take part in the event, creating their own art object.
The artist Vlodko Kaufman explained that the festival logo uses the pattern of bark beetle tracks on wood as an image of a living organism’s intervention in a natural material. He stresses that the theme of intervention or invasion is central to the festival, as it deals with how far human interaction with nature can be painless or aggressive, especially in wartime.
According to him, many artificial objects remain scattered around Znesinnia Park, brought there by people in the past. Some artists will combine them with stone, branches, soil, air and other natural materials, working with an environment already altered by humans. In this way, the objects will acquire multilayered meanings and various authorial interpretations of the theme of intrusion and penetration into nature.
All sculptures will be installed directly before the opening, on 20–21 June. The land art works created will remain in the park after the festival ends, until they are gradually destroyed by natural forces. The organisers aim for this format to be held regularly in future in various parks around Lviv.
The festival’s core motif is “The Responsibility to Be”. It is linked to the concept of Lviv developed during the city’s bid for the title of European Capital of Culture, and at the same time is part of Lviv City Council’s strategic programme. Iryna Shutka, Communications Manager at the Institute of Culture Strategy, notes that this concept makes it possible to have a deeper conversation about the fragility, adaptability and recovery of the human being and about their connection with nature in the conditions of full-scale war.
During the festival, a symbolic performance in support of internally displaced persons is planned for World Refugee Day, as well as a charity fundraiser for the creation of the UNBROKEN therapeutic park.
The festival is being implemented in partnership with the Institute of Culture Strategy and a number of cultural, civic, social and environmental initiatives. Among them are NGO “Virmenska 35”, the Department of Culture, the UNBROKEN rehabilitation centre, the Centre for Support of Internally Displaced Persons, RLP “Znesinnia”, the Youth Commission of the Lviv Archeparchy of the UGCC, the Congregation of the Sisters of St Josaphat of the UGCC, “Domivka vryatovanykh tvaryn” (Shelter for Rescued Animals), “Radio Lvivska Khvylia”, Inso-Lviv, “Grinera”, “Nasampered”, Slow Food and other partners.