Date: August 22 – October 1
Location: Na Valakh Park, 1 Pidvalna Street, Lviv
To mark the Day of the National Flag and Independence Day, a public art exhibition titled “Afterimages” will open in Lviv — a joint project by the ZAG Gallery and the Lviv Regional Military Administration. The event will take place in Na Valakh Park, a historic green square in the heart of the city.
At the center of the exhibition is the eponymous installation by Ukrainian artist Mykhailo Deyak, created with the patronage of Oleh Dziubiak. The work consists of 50 original chairs, which serve as a metaphor for loss and memory during wartime. The concept of the project is rooted in a planned but unrealized collaboration between the artist and the Mariupol Drama Theater, which was destroyed in 2022 as a result of Russian military aggression.
“Through the deformed shapes of the chairs, I draw a parallel between the destroyed inner world of a person and the external one. I mean architecture, because a chair is, in a way, an intermediary between the human and architecture,” — says Mykhailo Deyak.
“Afterimages” is a visual reflection on the destruction and disruption of cultural processes, raising questions about the role of art in an era of wartime trauma. It also shows how art can not only represent loss but also shape the way we remember it.