It’s time for the Festival of Naive Art

Get ready for creativity without borders, in a format without restrictions: it’s time for the Festival of Naive Art. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, ‘naive art’ is usually defined as visual art made by artists without formal training. 

This year, admirers, researchers, collectors, and creators naive art have come together to share new and relevant works by untrained artists from all over Ukraine, both past and present. The curators have set up a virtual museum of Ukrainian naive art, featuring works by Maria Prymachenko, Kateryna Bilokur, Anna Sobachko-Shostak, Dmytro Moldovanov, Oleksandr Naiden, and Vladyslav and Oleksandra Kryshovsky. 

You’ll find wildly expressive paintings, meticulous pencil drawings, and ironic mixed media works. Rural artworks share a space with urban creations, while well-known images are exhibited side-by-side with less familiar ones. 

As well as the virtual museum, there are over 30 online events: lectures, excursions, discussions, quests for kids, film screenings, and more. You choose the time and place! 

Earlier in October, this online project also ventured beyond the confines of the internet and into the capital’s transport system: look out for the “A-Z of Ukrainian Naive”, coming soon to a metro carriage near you, as well as an exhibition at Teatralna station. So what do these ‘naive artists’ have in common? How is the ‘new naive’ different from the older generation of folk artists? Which Ukrainian amateur artists have gained worldwide recognition? Find out on your next metro journey, or go to naive.in.ua

You will be dazzled by the diversity and ingenuity of Ukraine’s self-taught artists. Who needs art school anyway?

Access the festival on the online platform naive.in.ua

FB: naiveartukraine