Zhanna Kadyrova: First Woman in 20 Years to Win Shevchenko Prize

For the first time in 20 years, a woman artist has been honored with the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine in visual art. Zhanna Kadyrova, known for her bold and innovative works, received this prestigious award for her project Flying Trajectories, presented at the PinchukArtCentre in 2023, curated by Björn Geldhof. 

The Flying Trajectories exhibition has become a marked event in Ukrainian art. The project includes several installations, including 'Shots' (2022-2023) and 'Safe War' (2022). These works are geometric shapes made of metal sheets painted white and shot by shrapnel, which turns them into material evidence of war. In this way, the artist draws attention to the Western world's lack of awareness of the events in Ukraine.

In addition, as part of the project, Kadyrova shows works created at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, when art seemed empty, and the artist herself was evacuated in Transcarpathia. Among these works are the 'Alert' series, where Kadyrova combines traditional hand embroidery with inscriptions'machine-embroidered Air Alert!', and the 'Palianytsya' project—symbolic Ukrainian bread cut from river stone.

Zhanna Kadyrova was born in 1981 in Brovary, Kyiv region. In 1999, she graduated from the sculpture department of the Taras Shevchenko State Art High School. She is a member of the group R.E.P. (Revolutionary Experimental Space), which was created during the Orange Revolution in Kyiv in 2004. Kadyrova is known for her work in various media, including sculpture, photography, video, and performance. She is active in cultural diplomacy, representing Ukrainian art internationally. 

Her work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Venice Biennale and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. In recent years, she has focused on site-specific projects, including a street installation in the Semmering Mountains in Austria. 

The Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine, established in 1961, is the highest state award in culture and art. It is rewarded for excellent works of literature, art, publicists, and journalism that affirm high humanistic ideals and enrich people's historical memory, national consciousness, and identity. Awarding this prize to Zhanna Kadyrova not only emphasizes her achievements but also shows recognition of the importance of visual art in understanding and reflecting Ukraine's complex historical and contemporary realities.

Awarding the Shevchenko Prize to Zhanna Kadyrova for her project Flying Trajectories is a significant event for Ukrainian art. Her work reflects on current events and challenges facing Ukraine and profoundly reflects on the country's identity and self-consciousness in the face of historical and contemporary trials. This recognition emphasizes the importance of art as a means of communication and reflection in difficult times.