See Ukraine’s cities through the eyes of their bright young artists

“Odesa is an amazing place, a sunny city by the Black Sea. The art flows away from here but the tide brings it back time and time again.” These are the words of artist Nikolay Karabinovich, from a video commissioned by PinchukArtCentre to pay homage to his hometown.

It shows shipyards, tower blocks, and courtyards, and Karabinovich gives us a tour of the beach at night, under the neon glow of fairground rides. “Odesa occupies an important place in my practice and so I always refer back to it. My story is intertwined with that of the city.”

The video is a part of a promotional series by the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv for next year’s Pinchuk Art Centre prize for young Ukrainian artists. All the videos in the series have been produced by the artists nominated for the prize. The idea was to create links between the artists’ work and their hometowns, explore the art environments they grew up with, and how they have affected their work today.

Besides Karabinovich’s video on Odesa, you can watch Lviv introduced by local artist Kinder Album on the art centre’s Facebook page. Videos will be added over the next few weeks, taking you to Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyya, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.

The PinchukArtCentre prize, which seeks to celebrate young talent in Ukrainian art, will take place next year and is now open for applications until 20 May 2019. Artists must be from Ukraine and under 35 years old.