ARTIST STATEMENT

I am visual and media artist, curator of sociocultural projects, architect. My diploma Thesis, Specialist Degree, awarded with maximum honors, 2008, Complex development of art-district architectural environment on territory of non-functioning Odessa Tea-packing Factory, inspired me to participate in creation and to work both as artist, curator and organizer in self-organized and self-managed Experimental Center of Contemporary Art “Tea Factory” located on territory of diploma thesis research in 2009-2013. In 2010 I launched Creative cities of Ukraine initiative together with Odessa architects and artists that was designed to improve appearance of cities and residential areas that were built in Soviet period, and to create conditions for citizens positive thinking.Transdisciplinary trends, joint implementation of artistic practices with organizational and self-organizational skills can be seen further in my subsequent projects.

BIOGRAPHY

Mariia Gonchar (b. 1985, Ukraine, Odessa, USSR) is a visual and media artist, curator of sociocultural projects, architect. She graduated with honors from Odessa State Academy of Building and Architecture, Architecture and Art Institute (2008). She had Student Summer internship in Architectural Studio of A.Chernikov, Moscow, Russia (2007). She graduated from School "Animation of civic participation" by Kirovograd Institute of Socio-cultural management (2012-2013), Program “Cultural Diplomacy”, Warsaw (2012), “Ahalar School: I and community” by Ahalar Center, Chernihiv, Copenhagen (2013), New Art School: Media Art for practitioners, Kiev (2013), Summer School of Contemporary Art, Almaty, Kazakhstan (2013). Mariia Gonchar is curator of Project “Creative cities of Ukraine” (since 2010) and Project “TV has attacked us all our lives, now we fight back. Now we make our own TV/Nam June Paik” on TV channel "Odessa", Ukraine (since 2013) awarded Grand Prize in CONTEST FOR THE BEST PROJECTS OF CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION in the category Culture within Congress of initiatives in Eastern Europe in Lublin, Poland (October 2014). She is Stypendysta Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego RP "Gaude Polonia" (2014). She has been involved in a number of exhibitions, projects and screenings in Ukraine and abroad.