The Kyiv Biennial, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025, is an international project that interweaves artistic, political, and social issues. Against the backdrop of ongoing wars, colonial continuities, and global inequalities, the Biennial offers a space for reflection, solidarity, and critical engagement. At the initiative of tranzit​.at, the Lentos Kunstmuseum presents the exhibition »Vertical Horizon«, conceived specifically for Linz. At the same time, further projects are taking place at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, M HKA in Antwerp, the Dnipro Center for Contemporary Culture, and the Dovzhenko Centre in Kyiv.

Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Ernst-Koref-Promenade 1, 4020 Linz

Opening: 11 November 2025, 19:00

The »Vertical Horizon« exhibition is based on the notion of land and landscape as poetic and political agencies. It traces their development as the visual basis of territorial identity – from marking borders and possessions to technologically armed, extractivist observation of the Earth’s depths by national and transnational agents of power. The exhibition centers on the shift from horizontal geopolitical struggles on the Earth’s surface to a vertical perspective – into geological depths and atmospheric heights, where resources are controlled and territories are monitored.

Through planetary thinking, artistic research, and collective imagination, the project seeks to reclaim the agency of the Earth, opening up the perspectives beyond the hegemonic logic of violence. The exhibition venue in Linz – once home to the Hermann-Göring-Werke [Hermann Göring Steelworks] and deeply involved in the Nazi regime’s Second World War armaments industry – provides a significant space for exploring the verticals of power, traces of violence, and potential artistic subversion. Vertical Horizon presents works by Ukrainian artists in dialogue with international positions. In parallel, an exhibition at Kunstraum Memphis (on view until 5 December 2025) expands on the themes explored at the Lentos.

Curators: Ser­ge Klym­ko, Sarah Jonas

Participating artists: Katery­na Ali­i­nyk, Anca Bene­ra & Arnold Este­fán, Ste­fa­ni­ia Bod­nia & Jack Dove, Ser­gey Brat­kov, Olia Fedo­ro­va, Daria Kolts­ova, Ele­na Kris­to­for, Ihor Oku­niev, Lesia Vasylchenko

Kyiv Biennial is an international forum for art, knowledge and politics that integrates exhibitions and discussion platforms. It was launched, and is organized, by the Visual Culture Research Center from Kyiv. The biennial takes an interdisciplinary perspective at the intersection of the humanities, socially engaged art, and political activism, to reflect on the key problems of the contemporary world. This year’s edition is being held in several cities in Ukraine and across Europe (Warsaw, Antwerp, Dnipro, Kyiv and Linz), with the aim of creating a space for cooperation between Ukrainian and international artists, for critical reflection on pressing political issues, resistance through art, and ongoing wars.

Header image: Kateryna Aliinyk, What the Heroine Wants is the Main Question, 2023