Museum of Odesa Modern Art from 18 May to 3 July 2016 presents the project of curator Viktoria Velikodomenko “Dashing 90s”. Today one can often hear the phrase “the 90s have returned to Ukraine”. It concerns not only, or rather not so much fashion trends, but the state of the country and society as a whole: the state’s defence of the right to independence (in conditions of war!); economic and political crises; corrupt authorities; racketeering, only wrapped in a beautiful wrapper; the process of generational change – the Google Generation replaced the Pepsi Generation; the coexistence of “hope for a better future” and “uncertainty”… We are familiar with this state.

Perhaps that’s why it’s now fashionable to reenact exhibitions from the 90s. It was a dashing time of formation of new types and formats of art against the background of a historical turning point. A time when everything was happening for the first time – the first curatorial movement; the first experience of working with exposition space as an integral part of an exhibition; the first appearance of young people and an older, but no less provocative, generation on the same platform; the first grants; the creation of the first artistic institutions of contemporary art; the birth of the art market.

In Odesa, the artistic process of the 90s was unprecedentedly active. The participants of this process tried to change the local socio-cultural situation through new types of art (installation, video installation, video), “other” painting and a new “project” approach to expositions.

The new artist of the 90s can be compared to V. Pelevin’s hero Vavilen Tatarsky, who adapted the advertising of foreign goods to the domestic mentality, and then became the creator of the television reality replacing the reality surrounding it. Odessa authors created “Western” works, taking into account the local context, and involved the viewer in their virtual reality in real space.

The project “Dashing 90s” is not just a reconstruction of exhibition activity in Odessa, and not just a desire to recreate the atmosphere of that time. It is an attempt to see the Odessa art of the 90s in the context of today’s life, to give it a new meaning. And who knows – maybe “yesterday’s” virtual reality has become reality today?

The exhibition will present the most representative projects of the 90s. Unfortunately, the space of the Museum will not be able to accommodate everything that was created by Odessa artists at that time. We will try to highlight the events not included in the project exposition in social networks. Therefore, besides the obligatory visit to the Museum, follow Facebook..