Kyiv Post Journalist’s War Art Goes on Exhibition in Venice

Aleksandra Klitina, a Senior Correspondent for the Kyiv Post, has seen her artwork on display in the Venice Biennale, an international art exhibition celebrating a variety of arts, including cinema, dance, music, and architecture.

Held every two years during the summer, the Biennale was founded in 1895 as the ‘International Exhibition of Art of the City of Venice’, to “promote the noblest activities of the modern spirit without distinction of country”.

This year, the International Art Exhibition’s ‘The Milk of Dreams’ was curated by Cecilia Alemani, organized by La Biennale di Venezia, and chaired by Roberto Cicutto.

The Exhibition includes 213 artists from 58 countries; 180 of them participating for the first time – including Klitina.

A former Deputy Minister from Ukraine’s Ministry of Infastructure, Klitina is described in the biography on her official website as having been “an activist who protested against corruption and sexism in Ukraine, first with satirical videos that became popular on YouTube, then by illustrating her thoughts and ideas with paintings. She highlights political, social, and environmental problems in her artworks.”

Her controversial, vibrant style, and recent paintings depicting the ongoing invasion in her homeland, Ukraine, have attracted praise online and buyers from far afield.

This year the exhibition paid particular attention to Ukrainian artists, with a piece from famous Ukrainian artist Primachencko taking pride of place in the Central Pavilion (Giardini)

Other Ukrainian pieces can be found at the PinchukArtCentre and MUSA Pavilion.

Running from April 23 to August 7, ‘This is Ukraine: Defending Freedom’, is a special exhibition held in the PinchukArtCentre, that states on its official website that the centre “in partnership with the Office of the President of Ukraine and Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, champions the work of contemporary Ukrainian artists whilst also contextualizing Ukrainian history and culture with support from international artists.

“Across two chapters, the exhibition reasserts Ukraine’s cultural resilience that has always defined itself, even in the most challenging times, through its ability to think and create critically. Artists refuse direct war narratives and instead reflect deeply on their meaning, origin, and impact. This is Ukraine: Defending Freedom is about strength, it is about making, it is about friendship. But most of all, it is about our collective freedoms—the freedom to choose, the freedom to speak, and the freedom to exist.”

Russia has been banned from participating in the Venice Biennale this year, with the Russian pavilion closed and guarded by police officers.