3D ONLINE EXHIBITION @ www.zoiaskoropadenko.com
MAY 29 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

We would like to inform you that on May 29, 2020 at 2 pm Kyiv time a virtual exhibition “Life of a Sumo Champion" will be launched under the patronage of the Embassy of Ukraine in Japan at Ukrainian artist Zoia Skoropadenko’s web page – www.zoiaskoropadenko.com.

This event is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the birth of the great Japanese sumo wrestler of Ukrainian origin Ivan Boryshko, or Taiho Koki, who was born on May 29, 1940.

The exhibition will feature works by Zoia Skoropadenko, created by the artist during her visits to sumo championships and training of wrestlers of prominent sumo schools in Japan.
Please kindly note that Ivan Boryshko (1940-2013) was an outstanding Japanese sumo wrestler of Ukrainian origin, the 48th Yokozuna. Japanese name - Koki Naya; also known as Koki Taiho ("Great Phoenix"). His father Markiyan Boryshko was from the village of Runivshyna, Poltava province (present Kharkiv region). In 2011 Taiho received the Order of Merit of the third degree (Ukraine), and in 2015 - the title of Honorary Citizen of Japan.

Zoia Skoropadenko is a contemporary Ukrainian artist. She is world-famous for a series of works "TORSO", which was presented in Japan at the international art event "World Art Tokyo" in 2019. In 2016 in Soma city, Fukushima prefecture, there was installed a sculpture "The Hope" ("Hope") by Skoropadenko as a sign of solidarity with the Japanese people after the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. In 2019 a similar statue was installed in front of the National Museum "Chornobyl" in Kyiv.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Japan congratulates Ms. Zoia Skoropadenko on the opening of the first virtual exhibition and sincerely wishes everyone a pleasant viewing!