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. 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 (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, 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 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 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 newspaper, Arsenale 2012 became the main cultural event of that year.
In 2013, Zabolotna founded Borys Voznytskyi Prize "For the significant personal contribution to the development of Ukrainian museum work".
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.
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.