Renaissance Festival

What do art, social crises, war and ecology have in common? Anonymous encounter, Kherson's diaries, water levels in the rivers of Spain? Man and nature? Ukraine and Spain? Art gives us answers and looks for clues to a better future!

17 November 2023 / 10:30 - 19 h / UPV - Valencia

Chris Baldwin is the project mentor and curator of presentations and round tables of the Renaissance Festival - a joint project of the Ukrainian platform for creative interaction CultUcrania.org, led by Mariia Kotvitska, and partners: Polytechnic University of Valencia (Vice-Rectorate for Art, Science, Technology and Society) and the French Institute with the support of the Ministry of Universities and the Action Plan for Refugee Universities.

The project has selected the most interesting young artists from Ukraine and Spain working in the field of socially oriented art. The Festival's curators and mentors are the true stars of the international cultural scene.

The event is on the 17th of November 2023 at UPV - Valencia and the programme includes a conference, an exhibition and a performance. 

Conference (10:45 - 12:30 h)

"Trauma, Art, Recovery - Ukrainian Context" is public lectures and speeches of our well-known speakers on the deep nature of ART and the philosophy of human existence. This is a conversation about possible ways of transition and recovery for our society in the form of dialogue, poetic and inspirational sense of life. 

Chris Baldwin is the moderator and curator of presentations and the round tables.

Participants and speakers are:

• Laura Silvestre Garcia - Vice-Dean of Culture, UPV Art Faculty
• María José Martínez de Pisón Ramón - Director of Cultural Action UPV
• Miguel Angel Herrero - Vice-Dean of International Relations UPV Art Faculty
• Kateryna Taylor - curator of the residency, PORT.AGENCY
• Ivetta Delikatna - project mentor and curator of the ecocide communication campaign in Ukraine ECOMM
• Adrien Sina - project mentor, curator, artist, dance and performing arts historian
• The residency artists: Marta Flisykowska - artist, researcher and professor at Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts; Sofia Melnyk - Lviv National Academy of Arts; Kateryna Pokora - Lviv National Academy of Arts; Ruslana Klyuchko - National Academy of Fine Arts; Carmelo Gabaldon - PhD student UPV;
• Roser Domingo Muñoz and Jorge Dabalina - PhD students UPV and representatives of CultUcrania

Altered Landscapes: Art, War and Ecology! Exhibition (13:00 - 14:00 h Opening) 

It is a voluminous history in the format of installation, video art, photography and graphics, which refers us to the challenges of the present, rethinking history and our role in the new environment. 

The project Altered Landscapes: War, Art and Ecology describes themes that are relevant to both Spaniards and Ukrainians. They are universal, and at the same time, the lens that each artist participating in the project brings to the conversation a personal and unique perspective.

• Curators: Katya Taylor, Laura Silvestre and Miquel Ángel Herrero-Cortell
• Artists: Ukraine - Sofia Melnyk; Ukraine - Kateryna Pokora; Ukraine - Ruslana Klyuchko; Spain - Carmelo Gabaldon; Spain - the team formed by Roser Domingo Muñoz and Jorge Dabalina; Poland/Spain - Marta Marta Flisykowska

"Frozen Catastrophe" - THERAPEUTIC ACTION (14:00 - 14:30 h)

ReincarNation - a documentary performative theatre project consisting of a series of monologues by Ukrainians during the ongoing Russian invasion. 

The subject of this artistic reflection is the horrific terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in June 2023. A large number of people died as a result of the destruction of the dam by the Russians. Even more people were injured and lost their loved ones, property and homes. A large number of animals and local vegetation suffered the consequences. Infrastructure, agriculture and the ecosystem were destroyed, both in the downstream areas of the Dnipro River and in the areas that depended on the KHPP water supply. It is hard to imagine the damage caused to the psyche of Ukrainians and the impact of this event on the memory of mankind for many years to come.

The verbal performance based on the Ukrainians' statements about the terrorist attack is presented in Ukrainian and Spanish language.

• Director and dramaturg: Vikhorst (Vik)
• Participants: Actors from the UPV Performance Faculty
• Tutelage and curation: Chris Baldwin

A disaster is not an event, it is a reaction. It does not exist without people. Without our reaction to it.

Find the full programme of the event and more about the network here.