Reflecting the landscape of Ukrainian photography today, Essential Goods showcases work by a new generation of 24 artists. Roughly half of these artists are young men, currently prohibited from leaving the country under martial law.
Created between 2014 and 2024, their varied projects form a meandering path through the noise: from raves and graves, through bombings and blooming gardens, spanning serene landscapes and destroyed city districts.

23 May – 6 June
Pavilion of Culture
1P13, 1 Akademika Hlushkova Ave
Kyiv, Ukraine

Set across the Pavilion of Culture, functioning as a humanitarian aid warehouse since 2022, Essential Goods is an imprint of a moment, captured through an array of distinct lenses.

Winding past sakuras, borders and bullet holes, the exhibition turns up a series of subjective metaphors that speak to the generational experience. Recurring themes of love, loss and absence merge and overlap: a private diary charts daily cycles of normality, beauty and absurdity; a first love comes to life, then falls apart.

Where a number of the featured artists have changed creative course in recent years, others find resistance in the familiar, committing themselves to tried and tested subject matter. In both cases, photography offers a coping mechanism – a tool to understand a new reality, the self and world around us.

When the future is uncertain, a fundamental question arises:
“What constitutes an essential good?”