Kyiv Biennial 2025
Vertical Horizon
exhibition view 
exhibition view 
exhibition view 
exhibition view 
exhibition view 
Kateryna Aliinyk, What the Heroine Wants is the Main Question, 2023 
Lesia Vasylchenko, A night without Shadow and Light without the Rippling of Waves, 2025 
Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán, Rehearsals for Peace, 2023 
Daria Koltsova, Witnesses, 2024 
Ihor Okuniev, Untitled, 2024 
Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán, Rehearsals for Peace (film still), 2023 
Stefaniia Bodnia, Coal Mine, Land Mine, The Body of Mine, 2024
The Kyiv Biennial, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025, is an international project that interweaves artistic, political, and social issues. Against the backdrop of ongoing wars, colonial
continuities, and global inequalities, the Biennial offers a space for reflection, solidarity, and critical engagement. At the initiative of tranzit.at, the Lentos Kunstmuseum presents the exhibition
Vertical Horizon, conceived specifically for Linz. At the same time, further projects are taking place at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, M HKA in Antwerp, the Dnipro Center for Contemporary Culture, and the Dovzhenko Centre in Kyiv.
The Vertical Horizon exhibition is based on the notion of land and landscape as poetic and political agencies. It traces their development as the visual basis of territorial identity – from marking borders and possessions to technologically armed, extractivist observation of the Earth’s depths by national and transnational agents of power. The exhibition centers on the shift from horizontal geopolitical struggles on the Earth’s surface to a vertical perspective – into geological depths and atmospheric heights, where resources are controlled and territories are monitored. Through planetary thinking, artistic research, and collective imagination, the project seeks to reclaim the agency of the Earth, opening up the perspectives beyond the hegemonic logic of violence. The exhibition venue in Linz – once home to the Hermann-Göring-Werke [Hermann Göring Steelworks] and deeply involved in the Nazi regime’s Second World War armaments industry – provides a significant space for exploring the verticals of power, traces of violence, and potential artistic subversion. Vertical Horizon presents works by Ukrainian artists in dialogue with international positions. In parallel, an exhibition at Kunstraum Memphis (on view until December 5, 2025) expands on the themes explored at the Lentos.
Curators: Serge Klymko, Sarah Jonas
This exhibition is a collaboration between Lentos, the Kyiv Biennial, and tranzit.at.
Funded by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport, ERSTE Foundation, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program with funds from the German Federal Foreign Office (AA) and RIBBON International.
Artists
Kateryna Aliinyk, Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán, Stefaniia Bodnia & Jack Dove, Sergey Bratkov, Olia Fedorova, Daria Koltsova, Elena Kristofor, Ihor Okuniev, Lesia Vasylchenko
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 15.05 | Painting Studio: Expressionism for Adults, on “Max Pechstein” Expressionism is an art form that aims for heightened impact. In this workshop with Klaus Scheuringer (artist and art educator), participants explore how to evoke strong emotions and make both the inner essence of the subject and their own emotional experience visible. The most important means of expression is color. Participants will be provided with a typical painting setup featuring objects and people as motifs. Painting materials (paint, brushes, paper, canvas) are supplied, but you are welcome to bring your own (please no oil paints). For questions: klaus.scheuringer@lentos.at. Dates (bookable as a package only): Cost: €90 (for all three days, including materials) | 3:00 pm–6:00 pm |
| Sat 16.05 | Lentos Atelier Children and young people between the ages of 6 and 12 have the opportunity to discover works of art, work creatively and try out different techniques in the Lentos studio. | 10:00 am–12:00 pm |
| Sat 16.05 | A Studio for All Age Groups (Fully booked) Every first Saturday each month we throw open the door of our “Atelier für Alle”, our studio for sessions with all age groups from 0 – 99. | 2:00 pm–4:00 pm |
| Sat 16.05 | Painting Studio: Expressionism for Adults, on “Max Pechstein” Expressionism is an art form that aims for heightened impact. In this workshop with Klaus Scheuringer (artist and art educator), participants explore how to evoke strong emotions and make both the inner essence of the subject and their own emotional experience visible. The most important means of expression is color. Participants will be provided with a typical painting setup featuring objects and people as motifs. Painting materials (paint, brushes, paper, canvas) are supplied, but you are welcome to bring your own (please no oil paints). For questions: klaus.scheuringer@lentos.at. Dates (bookable as a package only): Cost: €90 (for all three days, including materials) | 2:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Sun 17.05 | Painting Studio: Expressionism for Adults, on “Max Pechstein” Expressionism is an art form that aims for heightened impact. In this workshop with Klaus Scheuringer (artist and art educator), participants explore how to evoke strong emotions and make both the inner essence of the subject and their own emotional experience visible. The most important means of expression is color. Participants will be provided with a typical painting setup featuring objects and people as motifs. Painting materials (paint, brushes, paper, canvas) are supplied, but you are welcome to bring your own (please no oil paints). For questions: klaus.scheuringer@lentos.at. Dates (bookable as a package only): Cost: €90 (for all three days, including materials) | 2:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Sun 17.05 | Öffentliche Führung durch „Max Pechstein“ Dauer 60 Minuten, max. 25 Personen, Führungkarte € 4 (zzgl. Eintritt) Keine Anmeldung erforderlich („first-come-first-served“) | 4:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Tue 19.05 | Öffentliche Führung durch „Max Pechstein“ und „Die Sammlung“ Dauer 60 Minuten, max. 25 Personen, Führungkarte € 4 (zzgl. Eintritt) Keine Anmeldung erforderlich („first-come-first-served“) | 4:15 pm–5:15 pm |
| Wed 20.05 | WIR ROCKEN DAS MUSEUM. Rockkonzert für Kinder mit Suli Puschban und der Kapelle der guten Hoffnung in Kooperation mit dem Kinderkulturzentrum Kuddelmuddel Rockkonzert für Kinder mit Suli Puschban und der Kapelle der guten Hoffnung. Suli Puschban rockt mit ihrer „Kapelle der guten Hoffnung“ die Bühne – laut, klar und voller Energie. Ihre Songs gehen direkt ins Ohr und ins Herz und sorgen für ein gutes Bauchgefühl. | 4:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Thu 21.05 | Öffentliche Führung durch „Max Pechstein“ Dauer 60 Minuten, max. 25 Personen, Führungkarte € 4 (zzgl. Eintritt) Keine Anmeldung erforderlich („first-come-first-served“) | 6:00 pm–7:00 pm |
| Thu 21.05 | Max Pechstein: Film evening and discussion The Lentos presents the film Max Pechstein – The Story of a Painter (2019, directed by Wilfried Hauke, duration: 84 min.) in the auditorium and invites visitors to a discussion afterwards with the exhibition curator Brigitte Reutner-Doneus. Duration: 120 minutes, max. 25 participants. Ticket €4 (plus admission). Registration requested at +43 732 7070 3614 or online. | 6:00 pm–8:00 pm |
Kunstraum Memphis 11.11. – 5.12.2025
Cooperative Exhibition
Untere Donaulände 12, 4020 Linz
www.memphismemph.is