Kyiv Dreams of Heaven
The exhibition “Kyiv Dreams of Heaven” in Noorderhaven at the studio of Ilse Oelbers presents works by Ukrainian artists Oleh Tistol, Nikita Vlasov and Serhii Ihnatiuk, together with sculptures by Dutch artist Ilse Oelbers. The exhibition is presented by Block A Kyiv, Amsterdam, and curated by Mariana Dzhulai.
The exhibition speaks about heaven not as an unreachable utopia, but as a space of memory, loss, resistance, and inner strength. For each artist, heaven takes a different form, a palm tree, a dance, wood, a dove, touch, a crack, light, or movement.
Oleh Tistol has been returning to the image of the palm tree for many years. For him, the palm is a symbol of heaven, rest, dreams, and southern light. He painted palms during his residencies in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula associated by many Ukrainians with freedom, warmth, and the blue sea. After the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, this heaven was stolen. Tistol continued to paint palms, but they acquired a new meaning. They became not only an image of a dream, but also a powerful statement. Tistol believes that a rightful end to the war should mean the return of all occupied territories to Ukraine, including Crimea.
For Nikita Vlasov, who remains in Kyiv, heaven appears through movement. His black and white ink works show confident women, dancing bodies and crowds caught in rhythm. Even after nights of drone and missile attacks, Kyiv continues to live. People meet, support one another and dance. Here, dance becomes an act of life, a way to be together and to resist fear.
Serhii Ihnatiuk works with wood. In his hands, a simple piece of wood comes alive. Its surface begins to shimmer, communicate with the viewer and invite touch. His works radiate warmth, calmness and order. Yet within this order there are natural scars, cracks and fractures. Ihnatiuk does not hide them. He reveals their beauty and allows them to remain visible. During the war, every Ukrainian carries wounds, physical or emotional. These cracks can be seen as signs of dignity and strength.
The sculptures of Ilse Oelbers add another important line to the exhibition. Her works continue the conversation about peace as a lost heaven. Her sculpture of a girl holding a dove refers to one of the most recognisable symbols of peace in art. In this work, peace is no longer a given. It appears as a fragile value that must be rescued, fought for, healed and protected.
In a new, still unfinished sculpture, Ilse depicts a small boy on a horse, with a flag on his shoulders and the words “Not my war” on his back. The work speaks about a generation that did not choose war, but is forced to live in its reality.
Another remarkable sculpture, “No Return”, installed in the port of Harlingen, depicts a woman fleeing war with her modest belongings. It is an image of forced migration, the moment when an entire life is left behind, and a woman’s search for a new heaven.
“Kyiv Dreams of Heaven” is an exhibition about the fragility of peace and about the heaven that Ukrainians continue to imagine, defend and create. Even during war. Even among fractures and cracks. Heaven appears not as a place without pain, but as the ability to live, remember, love and move into the future. Mariana Dzhulai curator
Organisers and Participants
For Nikita Vlasov, who remains in Kyiv, heaven appears through movement. His black and white ink works show confident women, dancing bodies and crowds caught in rhythm. Even after nights of drone and missile attacks, Kyiv continues to live. People meet, support one another and dance. Here, dance becomes an act of life, a way to be together and to resist fear.
Serhii Ihnatiuk works with wood. In his hands, a simple piece of wood comes alive. Its surface begins to shimmer, communicate with the viewer and invite touch. His works radiate warmth, calmness and order. Yet within this order there are natural scars, cracks and fractures. Ihnatiuk does not hide them. He reveals their beauty and allows them to remain visible. During the war, every Ukrainian carries wounds, physical or emotional. These cracks can be seen as signs of dignity and strength.
The sculptures of Ilse Oelbers add another important line to the exhibition. Her works continue the conversation about peace as a lost heaven. Her sculpture of a girl holding a dove refers to one of the most recognisable symbols of peace in art. In this work, peace is no longer a given. It appears as a fragile value that must be rescued, fought for, healed and protected.
In a new, still unfinished sculpture, Ilse depicts a small boy on a horse, with a flag on his shoulders and the words “Not my war” on his back. The work speaks about a generation that did not choose war, but is forced to live in its reality.
Another remarkable sculpture, “No Return”, installed in the port of Harlingen, depicts a woman fleeing war with her modest belongings. It is an image of forced migration, the moment when an entire life is left behind, and a woman’s search for a new heaven.
“Kyiv Dreams of Heaven” is an exhibition about the fragility of peace and about the heaven that Ukrainians continue to imagine, defend and create. Even during war. Even among fractures and cracks. Heaven appears not as a place without pain, but as the ability to live, remember, love and move into the future. Mariana Dzhulai curator
Organisers and Participants
Ilse Oelbers is a Dutch sculptor based in Harlingen. Her background in boatbuilding in England and years spent sailing on Tall Ships shaped her sensitivity to form, space, movement, and human vulnerability. After creating wooden figureheads and ship ornaments on commission, she moved into autonomous sculpture. Today, she works with bronze, wood, and acrylic, creating figurative sculptures about presence, fragility, resilience, and human connection. Her work has been presented at PAN Amsterdam, ARTZUID 2025, First Art Fair Amsterdam, Art Fair Gerlach, and NockNock Art Fair. She runs Studio Ilse Oelbers at Noorderhaven 111 in Harlingen.
Mariana Dzhulai is a Ukrainian curator and art manager with three decades of professional experience. She has curated more than 100 exhibitions, managed multicultural festivals and art fairs, and founded Block A Gallery in Kyiv and Amsterdam. Her international practice includes cooperation with UNESCO, embassies, ministries, cultural institutions, artists, and curators in Europe and the United States. After relocating to the Netherlands because of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she continued developing projects that promote Ukrainian culture internationally. In the Netherlands, she also founded Kastanje, the Dutch-Ukrainian Cultural Centre.
Oleh Tistol is one of the leading figures of contemporary Ukrainian art. Born in 1960 in Vradiivka, Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, he is associated with the Ukrainian New Wave and Ukrainian Neo-Baroque movements. Since the late 1980s, his work has explored stereotypes, national myths, collective memory, and Ukrainian cultural identity. His works have been shown widely across Europe and the United States. Career highlights include the 22nd São Paulo Biennial in 1994, the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001, and two presentations at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1990 and 1991.
Nikita Vlasov is a Ukrainian artist whose work explores identity, memory, and emotional tension through expressive figurative compositions. His visual language combines immediacy with symbolic depth. From the early 1990s, Vlasov worked in graphic and object design, animation, and illustration. Since 2013, he has focused on graphics and drawing with Chinese ink, developing this technique from book illustration to large-scale artworks. His works capture the reality of “here and now” and are influenced by design thinking and minimalism. He has participated in more than 15 exhibitions and projects in Ukraine and abroad. Serhii Ihnatiuk is a contemporary Ukrainian artist from Zhytomyr who began working with wood in 2022. Despite his short artistic journey, he has already participated in Biennale Révélations, Art The Hague, and Rotterdam Art Week. His works are a dialogue with living material, where every texture and line suggests the form. Abstract shapes and human figures without facial details dominate his sculptures, creating a space for silence, inner states, and deep emotions.
Block A Gallery was founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2000. Initially focused on emerging artists, it gradually expanded its programme to include established Ukrainian artists recognised in Ukraine and internationally. After russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the gallery’s founder relocated to the Netherlands, where Block A Gallery continues to present Ukrainian contemporary art through exhibitions, partnerships, and cultural projects across Europe. Over the past four years, the gallery has participated twice in Art The Hague and in Rotterdam Art Week.
Kastanje, Dutch-Ukrainian Cultural Centre was founded by Ukrainian women in the Netherlands. It creates an inclusive space for cultural exchange, dialogue, research, and collaboration. Through exhibitions, public programmes, and community-oriented projects, Kastanje helps Ukrainian migrants and refugees connect with Dutch society, while offering local audiences a deeper understanding of Ukraine and its culture. Over the past three years, Kastanje has organised more than 30 exhibition and cultural projects in the Netherlands and abroad, including in Copenhagen.
