Curators - Pavlo Gudimov and Andriy Alferov

Organizers of the project in Kyiv: Ya Gallery Art Center, FILM.UA Group, Lviv Art Palace; supported by Lviv Regional Council and Lviv City Council

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Exhibition. This is the name of the vast museum project dedicated to the iconic film by Serhiy Parajanov.

This picture moved far beyond being a simple movie. It became a milestone of Ukrainian art and the national cinematography. After fifty years the film presents itself to viewers as a provocation – a real, genuine piece of art that withstood the test of time.

Film's path lays behind the structure of the exhibition. The exposition could be conditionally divided into units, all of which give an opportunity to see “Shadows..." from a different angle. Unique storyboards by Serhiy Parajanov which for half a century were kept in personal archives of the second director of the “Shadows..." Volodymyr Lugovsky; little-known works of the art director Heorhiy Yakutovych; photos and statements of Tiberiy Szilvashi who practically was a volunteer on the set back in his student years; works of Lidiia Baikova, who created the world of unique costumes of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors – each and every object of the exposition opens up the atmosphere of the filming process. One can also notice the film echoing around the exhibition in works of contemporary painters Mykola Malyshko, Tiberiy Szilvashi, Andriy Khir, Anton Logov, Serhiy Panasenko, Yuriy Denysenkov, Ivan Mykhailov, and directors Kirill Serebrennikov and Ihor Podolchak. Music by Svyatoslav Lunyov, created specially for the project, is also an important exhibit of the exposition.

These accents are incredibly important according to curator Pavlo Gudimov, “The film is so concentrated that it spawned the whole spectrum of art phenomena."

Apart from that, film's history on its own coexists with a lot of legends surrounding it. What actually happened? Special expeditions to Hutsulshchyna, Western Ukraine within the project help to find out. During them, numerous conversations with direct participants and witnesses of the filming, who are included in the credits as “Verkhovyna hutsuls", have been documented. And since the same event has had different interpretations, it is only natural to depict them ironically, passing the bizarreness of some stories through comics of the Pictoric illustrators club. A documentary about the filming process of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by co-curator Borys Filonenko, in contrast, will help to get the facts straight.

Exhibition's curators moved away from political issues related to the film. This work fits into the worldwide chain of events of the first half of the 60s, therefore assuring its place in the general cultural context. Accents on film's art value support it in debunking the sturdy myths about cinema in Soviet society.

The Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors project will be accompanied by the cultural programme which includes meetings with filming participants (Ivan Drach, Larisa Kadochnikova, Tiberiy Szilvashi), film researcher Serhiy Trymbach, director Roman Balayan, round–table discussions on Hutsulshchyna Ethnography, Culture and Tourism, presentations of publications made specially to the project, tours with curators, film screenings, and more. During the last weekend, July 16–17, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Nocturne, a night-at-museum type of event, will take place.

The project has been first presented in the Spring, 2016 at Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex in Kyiv. The high level of interest from visitors unveiled the cultural need to spread the exhibition to other Ukrainian and foreign cities.

Opening celebration June 26, 5:00 PM in Lviv Art Palace

“Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Exhibition" Work Hours:

Tuesdays–Sundays, 11 AM – 8 PM