Conversations with the Inspiring Alice Iakubovych

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alice Iakubovych.

Alice, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Before telling my story of how, with my friends, I brought virtual reality to an African tribe, I will provide a short excursion into the history of my life.

I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia right before the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, and grew up in a young, independent Ukraine, where the concept of democracy was rather abstract.

My father wanted me to become an economist, but since childhood, I felt really connected to art and participated in different performances, musicals, and wrote novels.

I graduated as a journalist and used to work on the National TV-Channel for five years reporting about culture in different countries.

I attended Jean-Paul Gaultier’s show in Paris and New York Fashion Week. And, in the end, I realized my mission is to make art, not just observe it.

At the sunrise of my growing and thriving career, I decided to quit journalism and take a 6-month sabbatical. I had no clue what was around the corner and didn’t have any previous presuppositions that life would direct me toward the art of curating.

In April of 2015, my friends invited me to Los Angeles and even bought my ticket, that’s how I first came to California. I randomly stumbled across Art Walk DTLA. The cultural mix I witnessed was so captivating –so inspiring. Theaters were open to the public, barbershops were transformed into photo exhibitions, vibrant performances surrounded me, and I also discovered the LI galleries. After this thrilling adventure, I went back to Ukraine with a lot of ideas. I created a presentation of an ArtWalk that could potentially take place in Kyiv and started looking for investors.

When you believe in your idea with all your heart, share it. Do not hide it under the bed. Random people and unexpected miracles can help you. It happened to me.

My friend, with whom I used to work with on TV, gave me the contacts of potential investors. I presented my idea and I got a 39,000 sq. ft space and some investments. This is how I started a cultural project called AkT (@akt.artspace) (which means an act in the theatre) which would help to unite all types of art.

I started to organize international exhibitions with 100+ artists with the intention of introducing a new wave of art not yet seen in Kyiv. I made many decisions on a whim because I didn’t have a great deal of curatorial experience.

We had an open call with no restrictions. The main condition was a dismissal of the traditional methods of exposure. We exhibited artwork on a ceiling, invited electronic musicians to play a live show, and organized workshops “Painting in VR.” Imagine, all of this in the space of a former factory!

I started getting emails from artists in South Korea, Germany, and Canada that wanted to collaborate. It was definitely a breath of fresh art-air for the city. The first opening was modest, only fifty people showed up. However, in just a few months, we had two thousand in attendance.

I dived into the Eastern European art world. I became a member of the Culture and Creativity Association, the initiative group, whose mission is to develop and popularize the profession of the cultural manager and form a new generation of professionals in the field of cultural industries.

The experience with my hometown pushed my ambitions. I wanted to discover something new. My eureka moment was when I thought, how cool would it be to implement art into a wild and isolated space? I knew I had to find a way to make this idea a reality.

Soon, I went on a trip around the world and came across Risa Primary School in an African savanna, located in the middle of nowhere in Kenya. It is in the territory of the Maasai tribe, a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central, and southern Kenya. I remember thinking “what if..?” I took the phone number of the head teacher and was keeping in touch with him for about six months. Together, we planned my next visit. In half a year, I came to the school again, this time with a team to start an art education program called Risa. Today (@risa.today), which would provide practical knowledge and experience in the fields of digital communication, new technologies, culture, and art.

Has it been a smooth road?
In February 2019, I came to Nairobi (capital of Kenya) with two good friends of mine. The first complication we faced was that locals would call us “Mzungu” (what in a Bantu language means people of European descent), and they would also overcharge us by up to 10 times the amount. We had to pay $200 just to reach the county where the school was located. Then, we had to rent another car because the road was not intended for cars with low ground clearance. But, that was only the beginning.

Before arriving in Risa, I phoned every single art critic, journalist, designer, marketer, and programmer from London, Los Angeles, and Kyiv that I knew. We created a program with illustrations, examples, and 200 pages worth of homework. I remember that the printouts cost a fortune, and they filled most of the suitcase I had brought with me. On the very first day at the school, it became clear that all of this would not work given the conditions at hand. To start, there was no room with reliable electricity supply to hold classes in. There was no place to charge the computers we’d brought. We had to throw the whole program into a waste bin. Oh, and by the way, we even had to buy that bin. To resolve the issues the guys and I turned into supply managers. The first order of business was to call an electrician, repair the power sockets, set up Wi-fi for $400 (£315), order desks, and put bars on the windows. This took us two weeks. Only after this era of transformation could we start doing what we’d planned.

All things seem impossible while you are sitting on your sofa. So, my advice is simple –– live outside of your comfort zone and things will start happening.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into RISA.TODAY is an Art Education Program for schoolkids and teachers from African tribe Maasai. story. Tell us more about the business.
To make it more clear, I am an independent art curator. I am running a Digital Art Education program Risa. Today (http://risa.today/), for school kids in a tiny village Remito, Kenya in a foot from mt. Kilimanjaro. With two good friends of mine, we do classes of Effective Internet Use, Storytelling, Photography, Painting, build their first VR experience.

Also, we set up a movie theatre, an art studio, and a library. One night, we rounded up teachers and older students after classes and showed them the film Interstellar. None of them has access to TV, everybody listens to football commentary on the radio. The icing on the cake was the first exhibition in Kajiado county. Aljosha, a visual artist known for conceptual installations and sculptures based on ideas of bioism, biofuturism and bioethical abolitionism, traveled from Düsseldorf to the little Kenyan village. We weren’t acquainted, but with both of us being from artistic circles, we followed each other’s social networks. I had great admiration for his work.

Right in front of the children, he created a 5-meter installation from pigmented acrylic glass. We had all the children compose their own artistic creations and displayed them to the community. It was a really big deal for the entire region. I still kind of can’t believe I got to be a part of this.

This program was and is possible because of the donations. Now, we’re planning to visit this school at least twice per year, create a 2-week creative camp program. People from all over the world will be able to buy a trip that will include one week of volunteer work at one of the schools and one week of workshops and finals. All the funds will be spent on Risa. The school’s first necessity is a dorm for girls. It is needed to protect them from sexual slavery. And for our next visit, we’re planning to take the kids to Nairobi, to show them a different perspective from their own. Despite all my attempts to bring knowledge and new experiences, in actuality, those kids taught me more than I could have ever imagined. I learned how to be present in every moment and how to no longer fear to open my mind to the unknown things and incredible possibilities.

I’ve got a new dream, a new vision, to create an international agency which will work to unite all types of young experimental artists and help them find collaborators and new projects. The ultimate goal is to create a worldwide community of art, one that everyone, including you, is welcome to join.

Who do you look up to? How have they inspired you?
My best friend and a great musician Monet Makohoniuk. She is in a band formally known as Modern Monet. I had a chance to see how she brought her dream in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://risa.today/
• Phone: 2134760828
• Email: risa.today@gmail.com
• Instagram: @alicescope
• Facebook: fb.com/alice.yakubovych
• Other: @risa.today

Image Credit:
Julia Weber, Dmytro Goreniuk, Julia Weber, Alice Iakubocych, Pavel Buryak, Alice Iakubovych, Dmytro Goreniuk, Alice Iakubovych

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