Launch of the Pavilion of Culture’s space, undergoing renewal, together with Sam Lewitt’s intervention ‘Shubin’
Launch of the Pavilion of Culture’s space, undergoing renewal, together with Sam Lewitt’s intervention ‘Shubin’
Шубін (SHUBIN), on display as part of the 19 June opening, is the result of Lewitt’s multi-year dialog with partners at ФОРМА. The work examines the contemporary relevance of Pavilion 13 as a former showcase for coal mining in Ukraine, approaching the building through questions about representation and resources, exhibition and extraction. Its title invokes a myth drawn from eastern Ukrainian mining culture, where the proper name ‘Shubin’, refers to a mythological ‘ghost of the mines’. Lewitt’s contribution features a film work, produced onsite, a neon-sign on the building’s facade, and sculptural reconstructions of the pavilion’s original display furniture. A programme of talks and screenings titled ‘Shubin Talks’ will run simultaneously at Pavilion 13, co-organised with researcher Maria Noschenko and editor Kateryna Khimei.
Originally opened to the public in 1967, Pavilion 13 was an exposition hall located on the grounds of Kyiv’s National Complex Expocenter of Ukraine (VDNG). With SS Pavlovsky as lead architect under the Kyivzndiep Zonal Research & Design Institute for Experimental Designing, the building was originally intended to showcase developments in the coal mining industry. As a result of the de-Stalinization policy implemented by Nikita Khrushchev, Stalinist architecture was condemned for its excessive decoration and eclecticism, accused of being ‘formalist and bourgeois’. A subsequent period of rationalized International Style civic architecture in the USSR ensued, with Pavilion 13 being of this moment.
By the early 2000s, Pavilion 13, like many parts of the VDNG complex, was no longer actively used for its original purpose, reflecting a broader shift in the role and upkeep of Soviet-era cultural infrastructure in post-independence Ukraine. Yet the building’s significance as an example of Ukraine’s Soviet architectural heritage remained. In 2020, the Pavilion of Culture was founded on the site of Pavilion 13, creating a space for artistic experiments, research projects, and public events.
Open Thursday and Friday 16:00 - 20:00
Saturday and Sunday 12:00 - 19:00
kabf 2025
partner: UKRAiNATV / stream art network
year: 2025
Kyiv Art Book Fair also served as a statement of solidarity. We stand with artists and publishers who may lack access to resources many take for granted, ensuring their voices and stories continue to be heard.
KABF hosted discussions, Q&A sessions, performances, and book presentations — all broadcast by the experimental media collective UKRAiNATV. The opening featured a music program curated by the Kyiv-based artistic duo crowd connection, with sets by DJs Sasha Dolhiy and Slava Lepsheev.
Over the three days of the fair, we raised 159,135 UAH (3,390 EUR) through the sale of books generously donated by the international publishers, including BREADFIELD PRESS, IDOINE ÉDITION, Simple Editions, ESSARTER Éditions, Valiz, NoRoutine Books, Sailor Press, Edition Haus am Gern, COLLECTIF ARISTIDE, Stefan Klein, Terra Firma, Sophie Willison, the modernist, STIGMATA, ZONE6, HAPAX, Ana Blumenkron, ANAMOT PRESS, Multiple States, Trolley Books, Architectural Association, EYESORE, Noel Faucett, and Départ Pour l’Image.Proceeds have been distributed to:
@base_ua_ngo
@nesami.ua
@pdmsh.ua
@lenasamojlenko
and @solomiyamag’s fundraiser for Margarita Polovinko’s unit.
Learn more about Kyiv Art Book Fair 2025 in this article: artslooker.com, or watch the full livestream on YouTube.