Light on the Waves is a special screening program dedicated to the emergence of video art in Odesa in the second half of the 1990s — a period when media technologies were only beginning to enter the artistic language of Ukraine. These first works appeared against a backdrop of social and political transformation and the search for new forms of imagination that challenged the inertia of post-Soviet culture.
The Soros Center for Contemporary Art in Odesa (1996–2003) played a decisive role in this process. As part of the international SCCA network across Central and Eastern Europe, the Center provided artists with access to previously unattainable equipment — video cameras, editing stations, and digital tools — enabling experimentation and the development of new visual languages. The works of this period, marked by visual spontaneity, bodily performance, sound, archival materials, and diary-like gestures, soon gained international recognition at Videoformes (France), Ostranenie (Germany), Impakt (Netherlands), and Manifesta, Documenta, and the Venice Biennale.
Curated by Andrii Siguntsov, curator of the Museum of Odesa Modern Art, Light on the Waves revisits this key chapter in Ukrainian contemporary art while highlighting its ongoing influence. Alongside landmark works from the 1990s, the program features recent videos by emerging artists, emphasizing the continuity and transformation of this practice across generations.
Light on the Waves is presented in partnership with Razom for Ukraine as part of the Ukrainian Culture Festival 2025.
Friday, 31 October
6:00–8:00 PM