Ukrainian curator and philosopher Vasyl Cherepanyn has been named the curator of the 14th Berlin Biennale, scheduled for summer 2027. The Berlin Biennale announced that Cherepanyn was selected for the role unanimously by an international jury.
Born in 1980 in the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Cherepanyn currently lives in Berlin and is a founder and managing director of the Visual Culture Research Center (VCRC). The VCRC is noted for bringing together academic, artistic, and activist communities, and has organised significant projects including the Kyiv Biennale. Cherepanyn’s work focuses on post-Soviet social transformations in Eastern Europe, cultural publicness, and the role of art within social contexts.
A Vision Focused on the Future of Art and the Public Realm
Describing his approach to the Berlin Biennale, Cherepanyn states:
“To carry the Berlin Biennale into the future and re-configure it in the context of our time means taking on the responsibility to sustain the existence and transmission of art within the city. The Biennale has the potential not only to function as an artistic or academic platform but to generate a publicness arising from social and political imperatives. My approach draws on my Ukrainian experiences; particularly today, at a moment when Russia’s colonial war is confronting all of Europe with the most fundamental questions, this perspective is of critical importance.”
Cherepanyn’s selection was made unanimously by a jury of international figures including Akiko Miki (Naoshima New Museum of Art), Emma Enderby (KW Institute for Contemporary Art), Julia Grosse (Gropius Bau), Marina Naprushkina (artist), Marta Kuzma (Yale School of Art), Nicola Trezzi (CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo / Pinacoteca Agnelli), and Pablo José Ramírez (Hammer Museum). Berlin Biennale director Axel Wieder praised Cherepanyn’s curatorial approach, which is deeply engaged with collective artistic initiatives and social as well as urban contexts.
Cherepanyn has participated in leading biennial and exhibition projects including the Kyiv Biennale, Warsaw Biennale, Stroom Den Haag, Rijksakademie Amsterdam, M HKA – Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Dnipro Center for Contemporary Culture, Dovzhenko Centre (Kyiv), and Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz. He holds a doctorate in philosophy and has taught at various universities across Europe, where he also works as a writer and editor.
Founded in 1998, the Berlin Biennale is held every two years in different sites across Berlin and is regarded as one of Germany’s leading forums for contemporary art. The Biennale brings together artists, thinkers, and city residents through an experimental program of exhibitions and events which engage with Berlin’s urban fabric.
