Mykhailo Rai

“In the most difficult times of your journey, the words from Rainer Maria Rilke's poem will guide you: Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.”
The second part of the large-scale exhibition project Concentration of the Will, featuring works by 49 contemporary artists from Ukraine and beyond, continues at the M17 Contemporary Art Center. The project reveals the Ukrainian vision of the will through the prism of works of art by contemporary artists, those mental forces that help in the liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people each and every day.
Mykhailo Rai, a participant in the exhibition project, whose series, Diary of the Occupation, is presented as part of the exhibition at M17, was in the region under Russian occupation, Kherson, from February to November 2022. The region, which has been liberated by the Ukrainian army, continues to suffer catastrophic and horrific consequences from the actions of Russian terrorists. During the period of occupation and the creation of the artworks included in the series, the artist learnt from his own experience that happiness and well-being do not depend on external circumstances. "Paradise is not a place, but a state of mind," the artist says.
We invite you to visit M17 and experience the works of the artists, most of which were created during the first stages of the turbulent modern period in the life of the struggling country.
Organized by the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Modern Art Research Institute and M17 Contemporary Art Center.The Art Support Fund provided essential support for the opening of the second stage of the Concentration of the Will project at the M17 CAC.
Curators: Andriy Sydorenko, Iryna Yatsyk
Project management from the institutions: Andriy Puchkov (NAAU), Igor Abramovych (MARI), Natalia Shpytkovska (M17 CAC)
M17 Contemporary Art Center102-104, V. Antonovycha St., Kyiv cityTue-Sun: 11 am to 8 pmMonday: closedFree admission