When discussing 1999, the third year of the Municipal Gallery’s operation, it’s essential to highlight several events that took place within the “Contemporary Foreign Art” program.

The “Photography of the USA” exhibition, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Kharkiv and Cincinnati, was held under the patronage of the municipalities of both sister cities. The exhibition featured 40 photographs by seven Cincinnati artists and, according to the curators, represented a cross-section of Cincinnati’s contemporary photography.

Among the works were genre scenes by M. Johnson, conceptual compositions by B. Davis and M. Wilson, landscapes of Cincinnati and reportage of city life by T. Schiff, photographs created using special technical effects by K. Sullivan, and sensitive psychological portraits shot on old black-and-white film that once belonged to the author’s grandfather, D. Stevens. Diana Holmes presented her 1995 “Montreal” series, in which photography was only one element of works created in a mixed technique that also included poetic lines.

It should be noted that among the numerous American delegation that arrived to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the sister city relationship and the opening of the exhibition, there was the US ambassador and the mayors of both sister cities.

Another important project that took place in 1999 as part of the collaboration with the Austrian Embassy was the “A8010 Graz” exhibition, which featured works by 14 artists from the Austrian city of Graz. All the artists’ works were created in various techniques: objects, installations, photographs, casts, posters, and graphics in various genres of visual art, giving the Kharkiv audience a comprehensive understanding of the trends and tendencies in contemporary art life of Graz and Austria.

At the opening of the exhibition of contemporary Austrian art, in particular, its visual component, a project of avant-garde electronic music by the Kharkiv duet “Smalloaknightgale” was also presented, which combined Sergey Nizhkodub, a professor at the Kharkiv Conservatory and a member of the American Clarinet Association, and composer Nik Solovyov. This project was conceived by the authors specifically for the presented exhibition as part of another object or musical installation among the visual series of the exhibition.

https://mgallery.kharkov.ua/1999-prohrama-suchasne-zarubizhne-mystetstvo/