Manifesta’s director wants to bring the roving biennial to Ukraine—and have former host cities 'adopt' local museums:
Manifesta’s Director Wants to Bring the Roving Biennial to Ukraine—and Have Former Host Cities ‘Adopt’ Local Museums,Ukraine's biggest national flag flies in Kyiv on February 26, 2022. Photo: Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images., plans are already underway for a forthcoming iteration of the roving European biennial to take place in Ukraine.
Last week, at a press conference inaugurating Manifesta 14 in Pristina, Kosovo, the 18-year-old event’s founder and director Hedwig Fijen said she is proposing a 2028 iteration of the show in Kyiv. Projects supporting the future biennial may start as early as next year. The goal, Fijen told Artnet News, is to “help rebuild and re-strengthen the cultural ecosystem and infrastructure of Ukraine in the next six years to come.”
The proposed exhibition would be a joint initiative between the Manifesta Foundation and the Ukrainian Institute for Culture. Central to the Manifesta founder’s vision is the concept that past and future Manifesta host cities—such asFijen explained that she put the idea in motion shortly after the Russian invasion and that it “has been received with great enthusiasm both from Ukrainian and European side.”Typically, the director is only partly responsible for choosing the biennial’s host cities.
Kyiv has twice applied to host Manifesta, most recently for the 14th edition on view now. The foundation ultimately decided against the Ukrainian city in 2018 due to the ongoing war in Donbas following. Now, the groundswell of European support of Ukraine may have turned the tide.Follow