On June 26th, 2018, a presentation of the project "Special dreams and professions" was held, in which the authors showed the pupils of the "Center of leisure and social rehabilitation of the Caritas-Lviv UGCC Foundation for young people with special needs" in the role in which society is difficult to imagine young. The photos were taken at the time of unusual young people performing ordinary social activities, creative tasks and good deeds. Smiling and happy faces in the photo should draw attention to the problem of socialization and self-fulfillment of people with special needs in modern Ukrainian society.
documentary project "varenyky"
In September 2019 in Lviv in the large hall of the former synagogue with the support of the Lviv Society of Jewish Culture, held the first opening of the art project "URBAN WINTER 32"
The photographic works that make up the exposition resemble graphic sketches of coal pencil on white paper - at first glance, it seems to be the result of deep post-processing, but this effect was achieved through experiments with foreshortenings, light and snow, natural background.
The documentary "Salad" is not a culinary guide, or part of the nowadays cult of the stomach. Cutting vegetables, which canvas the ribbon, symbolizes the segmentation of society, some of which formed the basis of the defense of the country. Adding or missing certain ingredients plays an important role. And on the properties of conditional "Salad" depends on its quality and "taste" differences. In fact, these are unique stories of former soldiers who returned from war and are forced to look at the world through the lens of the events of the front. However, every story in the film is positive, each of the characters has developed for themselves a strategy of adaptation to real life and gives on-screen effective advice to those who need it. The project involves viewers participating in a joint salad preparation and discussion of topics closely related to the subject matter of the film.
The movie "Varenyky" shows the world through the eyes of unusual children and raises the subject of our society. The film's characters themselves are children with autism and Down syndrome from the Lviv Shadow Theater "Picture", they are cameramen, which makes the movie even more interesting. The title of the movie - "Varenyky" is symbolic, and the filmmakers suggest to start viewing the picture from an unusual attraction - sculpting dumplings. Sashko and Darina are invited to join the action by spectators, festival goers, special children and their parents. During such a joint affair, viewers will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the children in question in the film, to feel their peculiarity and to touch their world. For their part, special children are always happy to participate in various creative pursuits and share their positive emotions with different people.
The debut film for directors.
This is the first movie in the "Food and Strange People" series. In 2018, film "Borsch" was Award winner at the 50th Anniversary Film Festival in Houston, USA. Disabled from Zaporizhia came to Lviv to show their charitable performance . They spent there three days , visited a lot of different places and told about their life .
The parallel story in the film is cooking of family borsch . Borsch is one of the favourite and famous meals in Ukraine. Borsch as our society consists of different components , simple and complicated .The quality and taste of borsch depends on the quality of its components . Sometimes the outlook of the components is not attractive but inside you will find a perfect content .
Amount of disabled is about 15 percent in the World . Sometimes people look at disabled with fear or disgust, sometimes it is suitable for people not to notice them . But disabled are the components of our society . Will we remain people or not ? It will depends on our attitude to such people .
The aim of the project is to promote healthy lifestyles, read interesting and fresh books and eat healthy. It is also a clear opportunity to break the stereotypes associated with libraries and librarians and show that our library facilities are modern, creative and innovative.
documentary project "borsch"
social project "fresh eading"
documentary project "salad"
social project "special dreams and professions"
art project
"urban winter 32"
In June 2019 2019 our team took part as video and photo support in exhibition project "IMPULS. LEVINSKYI" by union of Architects and Ya Gallery devoted to Lviv famous architect Ivan Levinskyi. Based on interviews with residents of houses built on the projects of Ivan Levynskyi, a documentary film "Levynskyi. Neighbors" was created. This film was presented in Lviv and Vienna as part of the project.
social project with dudaryk band, song"mamo"
documentary project
"70 years of silence"
documentary project
"Lviv – Israel 2018"
documentary project "toys"
documentary project
"invisible lviv"
documentary project "soul"
documentary project
"christmas in lviv"
Story about the most famous radio amateur in Ukraine.
There were interviews with Jewish people from Lviv, photos of their youth and videos of their being nowadays. These people have been living in Lviv for all their lives – and they`re of the same age as Israel. But only a few of them had an opportunity to visit this country, others are still dreaming to do that. Each of the individuals tells us his personal thoughts about Israel and his Jewish life in Lviv. There were used an experimental drama technique at that film, so you couldn`t meet there any standard elements as a main hero, plot, conflict, so on. Audience can try to find the main idea of the film for own taste. But in general the plotline one can compare to turning over the pages of the old photograph album. Both the film atmosphere and dialogues content are making the basement for meditation and retrospection.
In cooperation with boys choir "Dudaryk band" and Lviv Ballet school was made a music film devoted to the Mother`s day.
People walk on them every day, children play near them every day, they are used as a building material.
Gravestones from the Jewish cemetery in the heart of the modern city ...
Christmas celebration in Lviv, ukrainian traditions and carols.
Shmuel Agnon , “A guest for the night”… The book is thick and few people understand what is it about. What is it telling about ? The book tells us about a guest for the night that arrives to Buchach from other country. He founds there Bet-Midrash absolutely empty, closed, abandoned, nobody comes there. A fire never burning there. And what he is doing ?
He is buying firewood, light up a fire and inhale a new life to these old walls. Then, in the end of the book, he returns home, behind the sea… But what he left after him ?
He left after a Bet-Midrash, that is again visited by people.
Now in this old Sambir`s synagogue we see people from Lviv, California, Kazan, Israel, Dobromyl, Sambir from different places… And we can feel like heroes of Agnon`s book, which came here and breath in the old walls of synagogue a new life ... Since 70 years of silence...
Film tells about an artist Mykhailo Yaskovych who during the long period of his life makes scale models of wooden churches that were destroyed by people or time. Every model he makes by hand, finds the appropriate materials, develops the drawings. Now we have that unique possibility to see the beauty of wooden churches due to such an amazing master. Mykhailo Yaskovych says in film that there must be an altar in every church he makes – it is the soul of the church, without it church is empty. He dreams people should value the wooden churches that are yet existing. Mykhailo is sure that unlike the modern churches the wooden ones are keeping inside history of Ukrainian nation, its traditions and have particular value for every Ukrainian.
At the head of the table is sitting Sergey . He is telling about how he and his friend arrived to Lviv a year ago . Sergey had only about 116 $ in his pockets. They did not know anybody in Lviv and did not have a place to stay for a night . Sergey had a dream to make 10 000 positive photo portraits of Ukrainians .
He made photo studio in the black booth in the central street of Lviv . He started to make free photo portraits and present them people . First time people were afraid to come in . Since some time a lot of people in Ukraine knew about Sergey and his project - the Greatest Photo Portrait Project in the World, project "Good Photos Lviv".
Sergey is telling about his creative solutions of different tasks .
Sergey completed his project on Independence Day of Ukraine and managed to open the exhibition in City Hall.
documentary project
"Say "brooom" or black booth"
documentary project "Le visage français de la region de Lviv"
De la présentation du projet "Le visage français de la région de Lviv". Auteur du projet: Vasyl Kmet, historien, archiviste, Directeur de la bibliothèque de l'Université nationale de Lviv Ivan Franko, réalisateurs : Sashko Balabai et Daryna Balabai, jeunes documentalistes, participants de l'Euromaidan, qui sont nés et ont suivi leurs études à Kharkiv. Le projet est réalisé en coopération avec l'Alliance française de Lviv. Balzac, Marie Curie, Sarah Bernhardt, Jean-Paul Sartre et beaucoup d'autres personnalités éminentes françaises ont visité Lviv et sa région. А suivre....
documentary project
"love, peace, rock-n-roll and a little bit... fire"
The first documentary about the Shipit Festival. Giant fire and the incredible atmosphere of the Ukrainian Carpathians.
documentary project "ceramist"
Andriy a boy with autism is the main character of the film. He attends a potter studio in Lviv. Physicians from all over the world are sure that working with clay has a significant influence to the autistic people. The clay has a great therapuetical effect, it cures, calms down and improve psychomotor skills. From the other side it was proved that music can cure as well…
Beautiful music by Roman Ros and Yuriy Zmorovitch.
photo and video support of exhibition project "impuls. levinskyi"
photo and video support of exhibition project "angels"
Our team have been photo and video support of one of the largest exhibition projects in Ukraine "Angels" by Pavlo Gudimov in June- September 2019. A film about the opening of the project and a full-length film-curatorial tour of all exhibition halls of the project were made, and the brightest exhibits of the project were covered.
social project "fresh Reading"
We spend a lot of time listening to our favorite radio wave, whether in transportation, whether in a sports workout, whether during a work break, or better yet, just relaxing. Sometimes we are very curious as to who really is there, on the other side of the city or even in the country, has such a pleasant voice and a wonderful sense of humor that does not make us sad in any situation. It turns out that radio presenters are often left behind, unbeknownst to us, we only know their voices.
documentary project
"prayer to the metropolitan"
Film tells about the Ukrainian artists who helped with their works the restoration Sviato-Ivanivska Lavra in Lviv. As in the times of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky artists, sculptors, musicians and other creative people were united together for the great deal – preservation of the Ukrainian cultural heritage. Authors have been working at the film for about a year and got unique materials. There were interviews with artists, stories about their art lives, histories of their art way – all this is describing the incredible atmosphere and spiritual features of main heroes of the film. But the film didn`t manage to pass through the censorship and there were proposed to the authors to throw away the unique materials as a garbage. Nevertheless film was finished and saved for the next generation of the philanthropists… For the part of the authors this film is really their pray to Metropolitan and understanding of his greatness and meaning for the Ukrainian nation.
art projects
documentary and social projects
international art project
"city vs quarantine"
The international art project "City VS Quarantine" is a unique spatial photo installation, supplemented by audio-video-visual effects, the result of joint work of a team of curators, artists and architects of Lviv. The project was implemented jointly with the Lviv Union of Architects of NSAU and with the support of the Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religions of LODA.
exhibition of photo projects
"Lucky ticket" & "Coronascope"
The "LUCKY TICKET" project is a series of author's photos by Darina Balabai and Sashko Balabai.The authors of the project used an experimental technique to simulate the protective scratch layer, which is usually used on lottery tickets. And visitors could see there are such expected moments of post-quarantine life, our future social, artistic and cultural life after the end of the pandemic and quarantine restrictions.
art works
Sashko is a naive artist, has no art education and began painting recently, in November 2020. This art therapy helps him to survive the moments of social vacuum and recover for successful creativity. Sashko Balabai's works are somewhat ironic, deep and childishly naive, they contain elements of art brut. In each picture there are colored balls that resemble balls in a dry pool for small children, for the author it is a return to a calm and happy childhood, moments of carefreeness and peace.
international festival
of theater photography
"interlude" 2021
International festival of theatrical photography "Interlude" will take place in Lviv at the end of August 2021.
As part of the festival, a street exhibition of photographs is planned in the courtyard of the First Theater. The opening will feature a presentation of the plays that will be performed on stage this theatrical season.
The idea of this project is to visualize theatrical action and a variety of stage images on the stages of theaters around the world. Photographers who will take part in the project will be co-author a bright action and dialogue between actors and spectators, which will be a prelude to the upcoming theater season.
Art project "lesya ukrainka.
forest song. reload of the dreams"
The project "Lesya Ukrainka. Forest song. Reload of the dreams" is a series of paintings where the author tells about
heroes of the fantasy play "Forest Song" by the famous Ukrainian writer Lesya Ukrainka, this year we have 150 years since the birth of this extraordinary author and 110 years since time of her writing "Forest Song".
Mythical creatures of Lesya Ukrainka in the works of Sashko Balabai are allegorical and modern, they are the embodiment of the author's own experiences, his reflections concerning the present and the Soviet past, technological progress and the future humanity.
art exhibition at verkhovna rada of ukraine
project "Inspired by Pinzel in Godovytsia"
art support for ralley monte-carlo classique
EXHIBITIONS AND FESTIVALS
2023 - Group exhibition Korsakiv Museum of Modern Ukrainian Art
2023 - Personal exhibition, project "CITY", Cafe "Krymska Perepichka", Lviv, Ukraine
2023 - Group exhibition "Inspired by Pinzel", National Museum by Andrey Sheptytski, Lviv, Ukraine
2023 - Winter exhibition, D31 Gallery, Doncaster, UK
2023 - Group exhibition/charity auction, Khersonshchyna tse Ukraina", Ternopil, Ukraine
2022 - INSITA PRAHA festival, Prague, Czech Republic
2022 - Group project, "Just a Light", Gdansk, Poland
2022 - ART NAIVA festival, Bratislava, Slovenia
2022 - personal exhibition, project "CITY", Gdansk, Poland
2022 - Group exhibition, Solomiya Krushelnytska Music and Memorial Museum, Lviv, Ukraine in Lviv
2022 - "Digital Art for Climate" project, Seatte NFT museum, Seattle, USA
2022 - Group exhibition "Inspired by Pinzel in Godovytsia", Verkhovna Rada, Kyiv, Ukraine
2022 - art support for Ukrainian crew at Rallye Monte-Carlo Classique 2022,
2021 - "Bubble stories" personal exhibition, Central library for children, Lviv, Ukraine
2021 - international art project DIGITALART4CLIMATE at Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP26, Glasgow, Scotland
2021 - personal exhibition "Forest song. Reload of the dreams", art space at Lviv University Scientific Library , Lviv, Ukraine
2021 – exhibition “Artist atelier”, Artist`s house, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2021 - personal exhibition "Forest song. Reload of the dreams", art gallery "Mazurek", Lviv, Ukraine
2021 - all Ukrainian art project "Hryvnia ART", Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
2021 - all Ukrainian art project "Hryvnia ART", Rodovyd Gallery, Kolomiya, Ukraine
2021 – group exhibition "INDEPENDENCE", Kyiv History Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine
2021 - all Ukrainian art project "Hryvnia ART", Kyiv History Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine
2021 - all Ukrainian art project "Hryvnia ART", Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
2021 - international online group exhibition, ‘Awaiting Voices’, Toronto, Canada
2021 - international online group exhibition "Be your own Hero", San Francisko, California
2021 - "Art Naif Festiwal", Katowice, Poland
2021 - international online group exhibition "Art as a Response to Mental Health 2021", finalist, Doncaster Art Fair, UK
2021 – international art project "Connect", Mykolaiv ART WEEK, Mykolaiv, Ukraine
2021 – personal exhibition «Bubble dreams», Zhytomir, Ukraine
2021 – all Ukrainian art project "Lesya Ukrainka. 150 names", Kyiv, Ukraine
city
This original series is devoted to the City. The author started the series before February 24. Initially, it was a project about carefree trips to European cities. Unfortunately, Russia's invasion of Ukraine gave "City" a new meaning. And now, among the vivid images of European cities are Ukrainian cities destroyed by Russian bombs, which is a reflection of the author's emotional state and his feelings about the shocking events in Ukraine.
This exhibition is one of projects organised in recent years by the NGO IVONA LOBAN Art Studio to draw attention to the heritage of national importance - the Church of All Saints in Godovytsia, which is currently in almost destroyed.
The exhibition "Inspired by Pinzel in Godovitsa" was the result of the art residence "Inspired by Pinzel in Godovitsa", which took place in August 2021 as part of the cultural and art project "Under the Star of Pinzel". The residence was attended by famous Ukrainian artists, whose paintings presenting the culture of Ukraine around the world.
Sashko Balabai takes part with two paintings as an art support of Lviv crew of drivers that are representing Ukraine at Ralley Monte-Carlo Classique-2022.
art exhibition "Just a light"
International art exhibition within the framework of the "Dzień Światla" project
Find light and warmth in yourself. Find it nearby - in nature, people, animals and share it with the world.
The exposition presents the works of Ukrainian and Polish artists who will share with the viewer their personal history of finding light, their understanding and vision of material and immaterial light, before participating in a joint exhibition of works. Works in various techniques, painting, graphics, photography, collage.
