Hedwig Fijen, the founder and director of Manifesta, has proposed that Ukraine host the 2028 iteration of the show in Kyiv.
In a press conference inaugurating this year’s Manifesta 14 – hosted in Pristina, Kosovo – Fijen outlined to Artnet her intention to ‘help rebuild and re-strengthen the cultural ecosystem and infrastructure of Ukraine in the next six years to come’.
The exhibition as proposed would be a joint initiative between the Manifesta Foundation and the Ukrainian Institute for Culture. A key element of Fijen’s vision is that previous and forthcoming Manifesta host cities would ‘adopt’ local Ukrainian art and education institutions.
Typically – according to Manifesta’s rules – prospective host cities or regions will apply to Manifesta, where the director’s decision will only have sway as a member of the foundation’s selection board. Though, Fijen notes that the Ukrainian Institute sent a letter of intent to host what would be Manifesta 17 in 2028.
Kyiv has had two failed attempts at hosting Manifesta – the latest, to host the ongoing Manifesta 14, was unsuccessful in 2018 due to the ongoing war in the Donbas region after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. This time around, Fijen initiated discussions around this new idea shortly after the Russian invasion, saying that it ‘has been received with great enthusiasm both from Ukrainian and European side’. Planning and supporting projects may even begin next year.
