The premises of the Ukrainian art gallery TSEKH in Kyiv can be destroyed at any time. Some of the works in the Vilnius branch gallery founded by Ukrainians are the only hope for the gallery and the artists to survive this terrible period of war. The organizers of the art fair "ArtVilnius" invite you to an auction to support Ukrainian artists. The auction will take place in the TSEKH gallery on Vytenio st. 6 in Vilnius on March 17, at 18 p.m.
TSEKH Gallery, which opened its doors in Kyiv in 2005, is the first foreign gallery that opened its branch in Vilnius six years ago. Gallery TSEKH has been a long-term participant of "ArtVilnius" since 2009, in 2015 it was chosen as the best gallery of "ArtVilnius'15". During the auction, about 40 works of artists presented by TSEKH gallery - Ievgen Petrov, Mykola Bilous, Jaroslav Derkač and Rustam Mirzoev - who are currently in Vilnius, will be sold.
After the barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the battles approached the capital, Oleksandr Shchelushchenko, head of the TSEKH gallery, risking his life, managed to take out and hide some of the artworks in a safer place outside Kyiv last week. The famous artist J. Petrovas currently lives in Odesa surrounded by Russians, R. Mirzoev is suffering from the bombings in Nikolaev, J. Derkačas left Donetsk from the war in 2014 and is currently in Kyiv, and M. Bilous is hiding in the village.
"We strongly support Ukraine and its independence. This satanic war is the worst thing that can happen to humanity in the twenty-first century. The Ukrainian nation is going through a genocide. We must all stop the war! Relations with Ukraine are historically very important to us. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, in support of Ukrainians, we invited the best Ukrainian art galleries and the most famous artists to ArtVilnius'15 as guests.
And now, with the brutal war going on again, it is possible that some of the works in Ukraine will simply be destroyed or stolen, as already happened with the works of the famous Ukrainian artist Maria Pryimachenko. I highly encourage everyone who can contribute to this noble cause. We are strong together, let's help Ukrainian culture and its artists! All funds will be allocated to the gallery's artists in Ukraine," said Diana Stomienė, head of ArtVilniaus.
"On behalf of all the artists in the gallery, I want to thank both the auctioneers and the future participants for their vital help. Both I and the gallery artists are in Ukraine. We don't want to leave our country, we are still trying to work and take care of our families. I wish everyone to be strong. I really hope that we will all meet again in Vilnius or Kyiv. We will definitely win, glory to Ukraine!" - says O. Shchelushchenko.
The auction will take place in the TSEKH Kijevas–Vilnius gallery, Vytenio st. 6 in Vilnius, on March 17, at 18 p.m. The works for the auction can be viewed in the gallery on March 15-16 from 14:20 to XNUMX:XNUMX. You can also get acquainted with the works on the website https://artvilnius.com/lt/aukcionas-ukrainai/ The auction will also take place virtually, the works will be available for purchase through the "ArtVilnius" YouTube channel.