“At the beginning of 2022, Matvii Vaisberg was painting a winter Kyiv—covered in snow and mist: Yakiv’s stairs in Tatarka, Shevchenko Boulevard in the snow, a fountain, a night-time square, and the courtyard near the familiar Rolit building,” writes art historian and journalist Olena Balaba. “It was a premonition of the great tragedy that would come to our land on February 24, 2022. The familiar Don Quixote, whom Matvii has been creating throughout his life, did not prevent what happened, but still offers hope for victory.
This is how the exhibition Premonition was born. It was shown across Europe in 2022–23 and later returned to Ukraine. We have added works from 2023–24: the piercing Kyiv sky, the winter Babyn Yar during air raid alarms, Kyiv windows under shelling, and the Odesa pier—which, in fact, conveys the importance of grain convoys.
Premonition by Matvii Vaisberg is about our life and our hope for victory. Kyiv, December 2024.”