Opening Forever and a Day

On January 18, our new group exhibition Forever and a Day will open, running from January 18 to February 25, 2024, at Melkweg Expo. This exhibition showcases various projects created in Ukraine over the past two years. Of the fourteen participating artists, many of them young, the majority have chosen to remain in Ukraine during the ongoing war. However, what does the immense uncertainty and constant sense of insecurity and hopelessness do to the mental health of young people? How do you shape your daily life when a future perspective is completely absent? This exhibition includes work by Lesha Berezovskiy, Igor Chekachkov, Marynka Dovhanych, Nazar Furyk, Open Group, Evgeniya Laptii, Viacheslav Poliakov, Julie Poly, Daria Svertilova, Marta Syrko, Mila Teshaieva, Dima Tolkachov, Valerii Veduta, and Kris Voitkiv. Forever and a Day is curated by the Dutch visual artist Christian van der Kooy (1983, Goes), who lives and works in The Hague. His work consists of commissions and long-term projects that stem from a conceptual approach, reflecting on the cultural-historical organization of the landscape and public space.

In just one night in February, the shortest month of the year turned into an immensely long month that never transitions to the next. At the beginning of the war, Ukrainians jokingly asked each other on social media, "Which day in February is it today?" On the opening day of "Forever and a Day," it is Thursday, February 694. Nevertheless, it became spring, summer, autumn, winter, spring, summer, autumn, and winter again. Despite everything, many Ukrainians chose to continue seeing Ukraine as their home, where survival is a shared endeavor, and every individual is significant.