Art Exhibition I Am Alive in tribute to the Ukrainian fight

Press release, 16 August 2023

The art exhibition I Am Alive by Beata Kurkul, a Lithuanian citizen living in Ukraine, has been on display at the Grand Courtyard of the Seimas since 29 June. The exhibition will be opened on 23 August, at 5.30 p.m., on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine.

The exhibition features 16 original works of art depicting Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s aggression, which have been created since the beginning of the first phase of the war in 2014. Kurkul’s works of art portray mythicized Ukrainian soldiers resisting the aggressor, who are united by an indestructible will to live and determined to keep fighting until victory is finally won.

Photo by Džoja Gunda Barysaitė, Office of the Seimas

As the artist puts it, she does not strive to produce photorealistic works of art, but rather to generate a certain mood which would evoke emotions in the audience. Kurkul employs mythological motifs because, in her view, this war has strong ties to the past, which has become a source of power to the Ukrainian people.

‘We should have already been killed many times. Kyiv should have been taken in three days; the whole of Ukraine should have been occupied in a few weeks. Few believed that we would stand up to the Russians. It felt then as if the land and nature itself were helping the Ukrainian nation to resist the Russians. People felt that the enemy had awakened something from the past. Ukraine and its land mean life. Everything is alive there. The Russians, who came to this land, brought not only death. In a sense, they were already dead themselves, having come from the country where the cult of the dead leaders basically dominates.

A second year into a full-scale war, Ukraine is saying: “I am alive. I am wounded and tired, but alive”,’ the artist said.

Born and raised in Lithuania, computer graphic artist Kurkul has been living in Kyiv, Ukraine, since 2008. Currently, she is working as a creative director at one of the studios in Kyiv, as well as a senior researcher on a project to commemorate war veterans at the Kyiv Fortress Museum. In cooperation with the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the artist has staged more than 20 exhibitions at various border security units and near the war zone in Mariupol over the period of 2015–2023.

Photo by Džoja Gunda Barysaitė, Office of the Seimas

Monday through Thursday, the Grand Courtyard of the Seimas is open to the public from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; on Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.; on weekends and public holidays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The entry is free.

The Grand Courtyard will be open during the scheduled hours until 16 October 2023.

Click here to see Beata Kurkul’s Art Gallery.

Follow this link to Beata Kurkul’s Instagram account.

Nerijus Vėta, Chief Specialist, Public Relations Unit, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6208, e-mail: [email protected]