Nataliia Zabolotna (Ukrainian: Ната́лія Пили́півна Заболо́тна) is the president of the Ukrainian Humanitarian Development Foundation.
Formerly, Director General of the National Art and Culture Museum Complex “Mystetskyi Arsenal”, from May 2010 to July 2016. Commissioner of the first Kyiv Contemporary Art Biennale ARSENALE 2012, supervisor of projects: ART-Kyiv, ArtUkraine, Grand Sculpture Salon, Grand Antiquity Salon, ART-KYIV contemporary — 2010, the first international Arsenal Book Festival, НЕЗАЛЕЖНІndependent, Cosmic Odyssey, Fine Art Ukraine.
Life and career
Zabolotna was born on April 23, 1973, in
Cherkasy
Cherkasy (, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy serves as the administrative centre of Cherkasy Oblast as well as Cherkasy Raion within the oblast. The city has a population of
Cherkasy is the cultural, educational and industrial centre ...
. Graduated from Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National University of Cherkasy, Ukrainian philology faculty. Also studied in National Academy of Internal Affairs (legal studies) and
National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture
The National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture (; НАОМА) is an art university in Kyiv, Ukraine specialising in visual arts and architecture. It has departments of painting, sculpture, illustration, graphic design, stage design, archit ...
(art history).
*1996 – Deputy Chief Editor, Gubernskie Vedomosti newspaper;
*1998-2002 – Founder and Head of the Association of Ukrainian Popular Literature Support;
* 2000 - Deputy Chief Editor, Presidential Newsletter newspaper, Head of the Publishing Department;
*2004-2010 – Director of
Ukrainian House
The Ukrainian House International Convention Center (), is the largest international exhibition and convention center in Kyiv, Ukraine. The five-storey building is the host venue for a variety of events from exhibitions, trade fairs and confere ...
, State Business and Cultural Cooperation Center;
*Since 2007 – Founder and publisher of the Art Ukraine magazine;
* 2008 – Founder of the NGO Intellectual Cooperation Foundation “Ukrainian Time”;
* 2010-2016 - Director General of Mystetskyi Arsenal, National Art and Culture Museum Complex;
* 2016 - Founder and Head of the Art Ukraine Gallery;
*2017 – President of the Ukrainian Humanitarian Development Foundation.
Mystetskyi Arsenal is now considered to be a leading art and culture institution in Ukraine. Within 5 years, Zabolotna’s team has brought to life over 50 art projects of national and international scale. More than 2,5 million visitors have enjoyed exhibitions, festivals and events at Mystetskyi Arsenal.
During her years at the Arsenal, Zabolotna claimed to make
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
a viable international art destination.
"Think of Natalya Zabolotna as a six-foot-tall optimist, leading a revolution in her Louboutin heels. The stunning lawyer and former reporter is the art diva of Kiev, and she’s determined to transform Ukraine’s capital — a cultural backwater for most of the last millennium — into one of Europe’s top art destinations,"
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
on Zabolotna in 2011.
“What is the paradox of Ukraine? Ukraine gave the world very many geniuses, but they’re not listed as Ukrainian due to Ukraine’s geopolitical situation. Not many people know that Kazimir Malevich was born in Kiev,” Zabolotna on Ukraine's cultural heritage.
Zabolotna was the founder and commissioner of the Kyiv Contemporary Art Biennale Arsenale. David Elliott, the British curator and museum director, was the curator of Arsenale. According to the
Dzerkalo Tyzhnia
''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' (, ), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror of the week'', is a Ukrainian online newspaper; it was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.
In 2016, Zabolotna’s contract as head of Mystetskyi Arsenal had ended. However, the State Management of Affairs (agency overseeing the museum) did not start the mandatory vacancy competition procedure, which raised suspicions among Arsenal’s employees and the arts community about possible corruption violations.
In the end, the competition had only been appointed after the personal intervention of Ukraine's president
Petro Poroshenko
Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...
.
On July 7, 2016, the final session of the selection board has been conducted. Civil observers reporter of violations during the session. Notably, it was attended by people in military uniform, who named themselves civil justice defenders and demanded to appoint Olesya Ostrovska-Lyuta. Ostrovska-Lyuta was actually chosen for the position, but she published a statement the next day acknowledging that manipulations took place and proposing to reopen the competition.
Art Ukraine Gallery
In November 2016, Zabolotna has opened “Art Ukraine Gallery” art-space in Kyiv. The very first project of the gallery was the exhibition of Stepan Ryabchenko “Virtual Mythology". During its first year, the gallery had exhibited contemporary artists of Ukraine, particularly “Gulliver’s Dream” by Arsen Savadov and “The Gallant age of Enlightment” by Oleksandr Roytburd.
In 2018, Art Ukraine Gallery moved to a new location. New art space has been opened by an exhibition “More than Sculpture” that combined works by Ukrainian and international artists with the augmented reality technologies.
Ukrainian Humanitarian Development Foundation and #SOSfuture
In March 2017, Zabolotna has initiated a civil society platform #SOSfuture. It is dedicated to saving historical buildings, museums, art and sports schools, libraries and other socially important sites that are on the brink of destruction.
“We are indignant due to the fact that the authorities did not introduce the main reform, the cultural sector reform, into the priority list. Social and cultural sectors lie beyond the interests of politicians. The cultural sector reform needs to become the country’s priority. One should not ignore all the cultural civic initiatives that were suggested as a tool to resolve the humanitarian crisis. The country without culture is just a territory,” - Zabolotna on the #SOSfuture project.
Among the first participants and supporters of the project were George G. Grabowicz,
Roman Balayan
Roman Gurgenovich Balayan (, ; born 15 April 1941, Nerkin Horatagh, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Soviet Union) is a Ukrainian-Armenian film director.
In 1997 Balayan was awarded the title People’s Artist of Ukraine.
Career
Balayan wor ...
and
Myroslav Popovych Myroslav Popovych (; 12 April 1930, Zhytomyr – 10 February 2018, Kyiv) was a Ukrainian philosopher, DA, professor, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Biography
Popovych was born on 12 April 1930 in Zhytomyr, in the Ukra ...
.
#SOSfuture online platform for everyone to add the sites in need had become operational in Spring 2017.
“If today the state does not invest in children’s sports schools, stadiums, swimming pools, as well as museums, theaters and other cultural centers, tomorrow Ukraine and its international donors will have to invest in the juvenile penal system, special police units and hospitals for drug and alcohol addiction,” - Zabolotna on urging the government to save objects of cultural heritage.
On June 14, 2017, #SOSfuture conducted International Civil Forum Let’s Create Our Future Together in the abandoned children’s swimming pool Chayka. City authorities, diplomats and community activists discussed the problem of saving architectural landmarks, cultural and historical sites, as well as sports facilities.
Vitalii Klichko, the Mayor of Kyiv and participant of the event had declared that Chayka pool would be renovated within a year.
During the first months of #SOSfuture’s activity, more than 2000 participants joined its cause.
In September 2017, Zabolotna became the president of the Ukrainian Humanitarian Development Foundation. She named the achievements of the #SOSfuture initiative as the catalyst the Foundation's start. It aims to support projects of Ukrainian communities in domains of education, culture, sports, conservation of architectural heritage and all other humanitarian domains.
Among the major projects of the Foundation is the fundraising for the renovation of
Mykola Leontovych
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (, ; 23 January 1921) was a Ukrainian composer, conductor, ethnomusicologist, and teacher. His music was inspired by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko and the Ukrainian National Music School. Leontovych spec ...
’s historical house, located in Shershni village (
Vinnytsia region
Vinnytsia Oblast (, ), also referred to as Vinnychchyna (), is an oblast in central Ukraine. Its administrative center is Vinnytsia. The oblast has a population of
History
Vinnytsia Oblast, first established on February 27, 1932, originally comp ...
), and the charitable auction for the renovation of the Sparta sports club in
Kaniv
Kaniv (, ) is a city in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. The city rests on the Dnieper River, and is one of the main inland river ports on the Dnieper. It is an urban hromada of Ukraine. Population:
Kaniv is a historical tow ...
.
In March 2018, Zabolotna announced the International Economic and Humanitarian Forum Ukrainian ID to take place in Kaniv for the first time in Summer 2018:
“Ukraine, as one of the biggest countries in Europe, could and has to be the place to host a world discussion on effective models of sustainable development of modern States. A country can be successful only under the condition when the development of human capital is its main priority. Sure, the perspective of the developed economy, successful businesses and attraction of investments look ephemeral in a country, catastrophically falling in international ratings of human development. It is our duty to change the situation.”
Kaniv city council and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry became the co-organizers of the Forum alongside the Ukrainian Humanitarian Development Foundation.
Awards
On March 20, 2008, Zabolotna was assigned the title, Honored Arts Worker of Ukraine by Presidential decree for her contributions to the cultural development of Ukraine.
In 2012 she was named Person of the Year 2011 by The Day newspaper, and selected as a Person of Decade (among others) by the Korrespondent magazine. In 2013, she was named among the top-100 influential Ukrainians (62nd position) by the Korrespondent magazine.
In 2014 and 2015, Zabolotna was listed amongst the 100 Influential Women of Ukraine ( Focus magazine), and for the same years, was included in the Top-100 People in Culture List by the New Time magazine (
Novoe Vremya
''The New Times'' (, tr. ''Novoe Vremya'') is a Russian language magazine in Russia. The magazine was founded in 1943. The magazine is a liberal, independent Russian weekly news magazine, publishing for Russia and Armenia. (During the Soviet ...
).
Personal life
Zabolotna resides in Kyiv. She has two children (son and daughter). She is single.