Thirty Years in Color: The ET SAETERA Exhibition at the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko
On April 7, the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv opened the exhibition “Initiation. 30 Years. ET SAETERA…” – a retrospective project by three Ukrainian artists: Petro Bevza, Petro Lebedinets, and Oleksii Lytvynenko.
Time is the greatest value. Thirty years is 946,080,000 seconds. It is the age at which a person gains life wisdom and defines their own path — a moment of psychological and social initiation, a search for deeper meaning, liberation from illusions, and the realization of one’s mission.
It all began in 1996–1997, when the same three artists created the project “ET SAETERA,” which became both their artistic initiation and a landmark event for Ukraine’s cultural landscape. They participated in the international exhibition “D’Art Contemporain” in Nice, where they received an Honorary Prize, showed their works in Luxembourg, Cannes, and Mannheim, and presented a joint exhibition at the Academy of the Environment in Geneva, the National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv, and the Robin Leadouze Gallery in Paris.
Each artist works within his own distinct concept. Petro Bevza, in his cycle “Traces,” explores the presence of the sacred and the unfathomable – his painting is a “manifestation” of light and hidden meanings. Petro Lebedinets, in “Timeless,” works with the pure energy of color and space, transcending the boundaries of linear time. Oleksii Lytvynenko, in “Children’s Room,” immerses the viewer in the mystery of nature and primal sensations, presenting the world as a space for contemplation and discovery.
Over thirty years, the country has changed, and so have the artists – within a society that was maturing, shedding illusions, making mistakes, and realizing its own strength. Their works reflect these processes from within.
“Initiation. 30 Years. ET SAETERA…” is not nostalgia, nor a look into the past. It is a painted history made of “color-memory,” “color-experience,” and “color-emotion” – a genuine chronicle of the evolution of three artists and a nation.
