.png)
Olena Polishchuk
scenographer, costume designer, designer, organiser of exhibition projects
Born in 1985 in Kyiv. Olena Polishchuk's creative work includes collaboration with the Kyiv Academic Drama Theatre on Podil, the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre, and participation in many art projects. She is an art book designer, participant and organiser of stage and book exhibitions.
Artworks
Biography
Education:
From 1995 to 2003 she studied at the Taras Shevchenko State Art High School, from 2003 to 2009 - at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture of Ukraine. Department of Scenography and Screen Arts, specialising in theatre, cinema and television set design.
She is an active participant and organiser of art exhibitions, set design exhibitions and art books. She was a co-founder, contributor, illustrator, computer editor, and layout designer of the Independent Theatre Magazine ‘KOZA’ from 2009 to 2012. Olena Polishchuk's theatrical works are characterised by original solutions and an innovative approach. The artist uses both ancient archetypal symbols and artistic images of the twentieth century, which subtly influence the aesthetic perception of the performances.
Performances:
Kyiv Academic Drama Theatre on Podil: scenography for Summer Evening in Paradise by Serhiy Shchukchenko, directed by Vitaliy Malakhov, small stage (2008)
Kyiv Municipal Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet for Children and Youth: scenography for the performance The Enchanted Chumak by Oleksandr Vratariov, composer Ihor Poklad, director Larysa Mospan-Shulga (2009).
National Academic Drama Theatre named after Ivan Franko, Kyiv: scenography for the performance ‘Rhinos’ by Eugène Yonesco, directed by Andriy Prykhodko, costume designer Bohdan Polishchuk (2014)
Kyiv National Academic Operetta Theatre: scenography and costumes for the performance ‘Vertep. Tales of a Silent Night’, directed by Maksym Dobrolyubov, scene in the foyer (2019), set design and costumes for the project “First Step into Great Art”. The project included 4 performances: ‘In the Rhythm of Africa’; “The Great Jazz Journey”; “Spanish Stories”; “Musical Ukraine” by Natalia Havrylko. Directed by Bohdan Polishchuk, Stage 77.
In 2021, she created scenography and costumes for the performance ‘Vertep. A Neo-Baroque Mystery’ based on the texts and music of the Halahaniv nativity scene, directed by Bohdan Polishchuk. Artistic formation Ignea Corda. The play is based on a historical reconstruction of the musical and sung part of the oldest surviving Galaganivskyi (Sokyrynskyi) nativity scene in Ukraine and a modern theatrical performance. The stage designer Olena Polishchuk transferred the traditional chamber performance, which existed in the format of a miniature puppet theatre, to the space of a large stage. The premiere took place in the Great Bell Tower of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Rivne Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theatre: set designer for the play Paraskeva by Olha Matsiupa, director Dmytro Leonchyk, costume designer Bohdan Polishchuk (2024)
Participation in projects:
2024 - costumes and scenography for the performance ‘Mr Schoenberg's Bizarre Tales’. A project of the NGO Scenography Gallery, in partnership with the NGO Studio Fugu / PUC - Pop Up Collective (Austria). Supported by the Austrian Cooperation Office in Lviv, Per Forma grant from Kyiv Contemporary Music Days. Author and director Bohdan Polishchuk, composer Akim Zvarych, choreographer Maria Shurkhal, Kyiv-Lviv
2023 - costumes and scenography for the site-specific performance project ‘Playing Hide and Seek with Mr Lyatoshynskyi’. A project by Ignatius Korda, in partnership with Studio Fugue / PUC - Pop Up Collective (Austria), and the Liatoshynsky Foundation. With the support of the Austrian Cooperation Office in Lviv, a grant from the Goethe Institute in Ukraine. Author of the project and director Bohdan Polishchuk, author of the musical score Yana Shlyabanska, choreographer Maria Shurkhal, producer Ruslan Kirsh. The screenings took place at the ROLIT House, Borys Liatoshynskyi's Cabinet-Museum, Kyiv
2023 - designer of video projections for the performance ‘A Girl from Hiroshima, Scared of Thunder’ based on the play by Hisashi Inoue, composer Yana Shlyabanska, Les Kurbas National Centre for Theatre Arts (Kyiv) in collaboration with the NGO Scenography Gallery with the support of UCF
2023 - participant of the Ukrainian National Pavilion ‘Garden of Living Things’ at the Prague Quadrennial, Prague, Czech Republic
2022 - participant of the Ukrainian National Pavilion at the Tbilisi Biennale of Scenography, Tbilisi, Georgia
Exhibitions:
-
2024 - participation in three exhibitions of the project ‘Ukrainian theatre costume of the XX-XXI centuries: Identity, context, landscape’ at the gallery of the Dzyga Art Centre (Lviv), the gallery of the Rozdroża Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives (Lublin), and the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema (Kyiv). The project is supported by the UCF and the Ukrainian Institute
-
2023 - participant of the exhibition ‘Ukraine and the Prague Quadrennial’ at the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine, Kyiv
-
2022 - participant of the Triennial of Scenography named after D. Lider at the Central House of Artists, Kyiv
-
2022 - participant in the exhibition ‘Danylo Lider Triennial of Scenography: to continue’ at the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine, Kyiv
-
2017 - ‘Scenography of Bohdan and Olena Polishchuk’ Mykolaiv Regional Art Museum named after V.V. Vereshchagin
-
2016 - ‘Trienniale of scenography named after Danylo Lider’. National Museum ‘Kyiv Art Gallery’
-
2016 - ‘Scenography of Bohdan and Olena Polishchuk’ Scenography Gallery, Lviv
-
2008-2013 participation in group exhibitions ‘Cut Image’, ‘Theatre on Paper’, ‘Scenography. Breath of the Wind’, “Scenography, the Horn of Plenty” at the O. Zamostian Gallery, Kyiv
Design:
2024 - design, layout, catalogue layout computer editing, layout of the catalogue ‘Ukrainian Theatre Costume of the XX-XXI Centuries. Identity, context, landscape’
2021 - computer editing, layout of the book ‘Ukrainian theatre costume of the XX-XXI centuries. Sketches’
2019 - computer editing, layout of the catalogue ‘Lviv Quadriennale of Scenography: Preview’
2013, 2015 - layout of the theatre magazine for children ‘Crazy Goats’, issues 1, 2
2013 - computer editing, layout of the catalogue dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Les Kurbas Lviv Academic Theatre
2012 - design, layout of the Catalogue to the 20th anniversary of the Kyiv Pectoral
