On 2 October at 18:30, Promprylad Art Center in Ivano-Frankivsk will host the opening of the exhibition featuring the finalists of MUHi 2026, the competition for young Ukrainian artists. The award ceremony will take place on 4 October.

The exhibition will feature works by:

• Critical Tech Group (Kyiv)
• Elsa Gubanova (Odesa / Leipzig)
• Yevseviia Ziakina (Kharkiv)
• Sofiia Kozlova (Kamianske / Lviv)
• Dmytro Kupriyan (Kyiv / Sumy)
• Alisa Kulesh (Kyiv / Düsseldorf)
• Iryna Loskot (Kharkiv / Kyiv)
• Daryna Mamaisur (Kyiv / Brussels)
• Daria Molokoiedova (Kramatorsk / Kyiv)
• Dasha Podoltseva (Kyiv) and Oleksii Shmurak (Kyiv)

The exhibition is curated by Kseniia Malykh, Programme Director of Promprylad Art Center.

“The exhibition of the MUHi finalists is a reflection on the time we are experiencing together, expanded through their individual experiences: nonlinear, pieced together from memories, uncertain and fleeting. Some works will invite viewers inside, while others will offer a safe distance. These different degrees of proximity are also reflected in the media used — from photography and moving image to physical objects, sculpture and emerging technologies,” says Kseniia Malykh.

The finalists’ exhibition will run from 2 October to 2 December. On the opening day, Kseniia Malykh will lead a curatorial tour beginning at 18:30. Visitors will also have an opportunity to meet and speak with the participating artists.

On 4 October at 16:00, the award ceremony will take place, during which the international expert jury will announce the winner of the competition as well as two runners-up. The total prize fund is UAH 130,000, with each award divided equally: 50% as a monetary prize and 50% allocated to the production of a new project. The winner will receive UAH 70,000, curatorial support, a certificate, and a statuette created by Pavla Nikitina, winner of the first MUHi 2021 prize. Two runners-up will each receive UAH 30,000 and curatorial support.

The MUHi 2026 international expert jury includes:

Lorenzo Balbi (Italy) — Director of MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna, Head of the Modern and Contemporary Art Department of Bologna Civic Museums, and President of AMACI.

Maryna Hutz (Ukraine) — founder of the MUHi competition and curator of contemporary art exhibitions;

Rae Jones (United Kingdom) — artist and researcher who has participated in projects at the Royal College of Art, London Design Festival and Barbican Centre; co-founder of the Tool/Toy Project and member of the steering committee of OUTPOST Norwich;

Paul Haywood (United Kingdom) — Professor at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London; Co-Chair of the National Association for Fine Art Education; an academic and practitioner with international experience in art education and interdisciplinary collaboration;

Isa Ho (Taiwan) — artist working with staged photography and digital synthesis;

Kseniia Malykh (Ukraine) — curator and art historian, Programme Director of Promprylad Art Center;

Maria Proshkovska (Ukraine) — artist and winner of MUHi 2017.

“Since 2009, when I founded MUHi, the art ecosystem has changed significantly. Today, artists have many more tools for self-presentation and visibility, but these do not always lead to professional development, critical dialogue, or inclusion in a broader context. For MUHi 2026, it is therefore important not simply to revive the competition as a format, but to once again create a space where emerging artists can be seen, heard, and critically engaged with by the professional community. At the same time, MUHi is entering a new stage in its history by becoming part of one of Hutz Foundation’s key areas of activity. This allows us to view the competition not merely as a standalone event, but as an element of a more consistent system of support, education, and development for contemporary Ukrainian art,” says Maryna Hutz, founder of the MUHi competition.

The open call for the MUHi competition for young artists ran from 1 to 21 June. The organisers received 402 applications, from which the international jury selected 10 finalists.

Founder of the competition — Maryna Hutz;

Institutional Partner — Promprylad Art Center;

Media Partners — Artslooker, LB.ua;

Exhibition Curator — Kseniia Malykh;

Project Coordinator — Sviatoslav Mykhailov;

Communications Manager — Tereza Lashchuk;

Project Designer — Olha Kuzovkina.

MUHi is a multidisciplinary project dedicated to providing consistent and long-term support to Ukrainian artists at an early stage of their professional development. The name MUHi is an abbreviation of the Ukrainian phrase meaning “young Ukrainian male and female artists and…”. The first MUHi exhibition was presented in 2009 at Bottega Gallery.

Background information:

Hutz Foundation is an international cultural foundation established by Maryna Hutz in 2026 to support and develop contemporary art, strengthen the professional art community, and expand dialogue between Ukrainian and international cultural communities. Its main areas of activity include exhibitions, curatorial projects and events, international residencies, educational programmes and a school, as well as research and publishing initiatives. Hutz Foundation places particular emphasis on supporting artists in the creation of new works, the development of their practices, and their international presentation.

Promprylad Art Center is a cultural institution in Ivano-Frankivsk. The Art Center organises contemporary art exhibitions, educational programmes — including a contemporary art course for teenagers and the School of Cultural Competencies — as well as public programmes. Its first educational events launched in spring 2025.