Zhanna Kadyrova: Permit for the cocktail

The exhibition, the first solo exhibition in Cuba by the artist, is part of the XIII Havana Bienal’s collateral programme.

Kadyrova’s perspective is partially informed by the plastic and symbolic values of urban building materials. Thus, ceramics, glass, stone and concrete enter the spotlight of her work. For this occasion, the artist has taken inspiration by her visit to Havana and its periphery and as a culmination she realized that although history once paralleled Soviet Ukraine and Revolutionary Cuba, the island shines with a unique aura, shaped by historical and socio-cultural layers so thirsty of more and diverse narratives that, just like Havana, endlessly entangle.

Zhanna Kadyrova was born in Brovary, Ukraine in 1981 and currently lives and works in Kyiv. Her work is currently on view at the 58th Venice Biennale curated by Ralph Rugoff, as well as at the Ljubljana Graphic Biennale, curated by Slavs and Tatars.