Maria Lanko
Curator in Ukraine: between an imported professional and an artist as an institution
Art manager, critic, researcher. Participant of program “Curatorial Platform at Pinchuk Art Centre (2012-2013), guest editor at Korydor.in.ua, lecturer at Cultural Project. Graduated from Kiev National University with MA in Philology. Since 2005 coordinated exhibition and educational programs at major Ukrainian institutions, including Karas Gallery, EIDOS Arts Development Foundation and Ya Gallery art centre. 2009 participated in Internship program at Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, 2011 – in curatorial course at Node Centre Berlin. Writes reviews and essays for Korydor.in.ua, Kiev Post and Gallery Magazine. Since March 2012 has been a guest editor at Korydor with a focus on 1st Kiev Biennial Arsenale.
She attended the National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture in Kiev (1999-2004) and the Jan van Eyck Academy in the Netherlands (2004-2005). Since 2002 she has exhibited in Ukraine as well as internationally. Her village of Muzychi, where she lives with her husband and many pets, is a quiet place where contemporary art held little meaning to its inhabitants until her arrival. Kakhidze is on her third year of hosting an artist residency, where she gives up her own studio to another artist for a month, and recently hosted the Muzychi Christmas Art Fair, where she and other contemporary artists sold work in efforts to deepen Muzychi’s history. Now her friends and neighbors have been exposed to contemporary art and find new meaning in it, though it might not be the traditional art to which they are accustomed. And more importantly, her home in Muzychi and everything in it is the focal point of artistic activity. Each object, her home’s interior, and even her dog named Duchamp is a purposeful choice by an artist who completely and utterly blends art and life.
