On February 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, curator Maria Lanko loaded her car with several works of art and drove for six days through Romania, Hungary and Austria before arriving in Italy. One of those pieces, a monumental installation by Ukrainian artist Pavlo Makov, is now on display at Ukraine's pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Makov's installation, The Fountain of Exhaustion, comprises 78 light blue funnels mounted on a triangle through which water flows, slowing as it travels downwards to drip slowly into the collecting basin, echoing in the otherwise silent space.
He describes his work as "a metaphor for contemporary life".
"I don't think art can change the world. But art can help us to survive," he told AFP.
Scroll through the gallery above for more pictures from Pavlo Makov's Venice Biennale installation.
The 59th Biennale, one of the world's prestigious art exhibitions, has however been overshadowed by the war.
Makov, 63, one of the country's most important living artists, said his participation was "an act of defiance" against the Russian invaders.
"This war in Ukraine is not an ethnic conflict," he told Associated Press.
“It is a conflict of cultures. They want to destroy, to demolish, to eliminate Ukrainian culture, so that Ukraine doesn’t exist.”
In Kyiv, Makov left behind his adult son and daughter, who were working as volunteers to help the besieged population — and his lifetime production of artworks.
“There was no question about whether to take art, because there was no room for it,” he said. “Plus, we were leaving from the bomb shelter, we were not leaving from home or the studio.”
His works have since been transferred to safer ground in western Ukraine. Some pieces have already been requested for exhibitions elsewhere.
The Fountain of Exhaustion was inspired by the lack of vitality he felt as Ukraine transformed into an independent nation in the early 1990s, and again as he travelled throughout Europe in the 2000s.
“I felt this lack of ability to protect ideas. I felt this dependence on the energy that Europe was receiving from not democratic societies was growing,’’ says Makov.
A total of 58 countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are represented in national pavilions at the Venice Biennale, showcasing 213 individual artists. But the Russian Pavilion lays empty, after the curator and artists resigned following the invasion, with artist Kirill Savchenkov saying "there is no place for art when civilians are dying".
Organisers of the Biennale praised the move and subsequently banned anyone linked to the Russian government from the entire event, joining a global cultural boycott of Moscow over the war.
In Venice, Makov is speaking more about the war than about his art.
“It is like a diplomatic mission for us," he says. “I see myself less as an artist and more as a citizen of my country.”
Scroll through the gallery below for Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's installation at the National Pavilion UAE at Venice Biennale:
— Additional inputs by AP and AFP
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All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
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Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
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Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
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The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
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AndhaDhun
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Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
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16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
