Life, business, art: an interview with Dzemma Grebenko
From philology to art business, from Odessa to Berlin – the founder of online platform GART Gallery Dzemma Grebenko gave an interview to one of the leading Ukrainian online publications LIGA.NET.
A businesswoman
We know that Dzemma is very interested in feminism in art. Right now, for example, GART Gallery is preparing an exhibition project with Ukrainian women artists dedicated to the phenomenon of the Ukrainian woman, her strength and resilience. When you read Dzemma’s story you will understand why she is interested in emancipation, woman’s self-reliance and woman’s creativity. She is a true self-made woman herself – she was not afraid of hardships and went forward, solving interesting problems and creating businesses, changing cities and countries. She also raised two sons, combining her purely feminine concerns with her “eternal leader” activities.
Dzhemma, born in Odessa, a beautiful city on the Black Sea and educated as a German philologist, realised at a young age how to combine language and business. After moving to the Ukraine’s capital Kyiv she became a language teacher and soon became head teacher of a high school, then opened her own international language school which within five years was amongst the top five most successful language schools. She later became a business partner in a Ukrainian-German business advisory company. In 2016, she moved to Berlin and started a new chapter in her personal life.
Art from Eastern Europe to the world
It has never been about a professional interest in the art world until now, has it? The story began in Germany, when Dzemma and her friend Ganna Kryvolap, a well-known Ukrainian artist, were thinking about how to make Ukrainian art popular in Europe and in the world, how to introduce bright, high-quality works by Ukrainian artists to Western collectors.
Dzhemma’s love for art, her (through Ganna Kryvolap) acquaintance with Ukrainian art market, and, of course, her experience in business were the factors that helped her to realize and create the unique online art platform GART Gallery, focused on Eastern Europe. Today GART Gallery is:
- a wide range of works of Eastern European artists
- help those who want to buy art online
- individual work with artists and buyers
- a magazine with articles about art, art markets, galleries and artists
- creative, ambitious team, developing new directions
Having completed additional training courses in “Art Management” and “Curating”, Dzhemma Grebenko has a professional approach to filling the online platform as well as various GART Gallery projects: art residencies and exhibitions.
Buy a painting – support Ukraine
There are now 15 regular members of the GART Gallery team. Most of them are Ukrainians working remotely from Ukraine and other countries – specialists in IT, marketing, management, design, art expertise, journalism and criticism. Dzhemma, who put the team together, says: “I am proud to be able to give jobs to my fellow countrymen. Especially in these turbulent times.”
Since February 2022 – when the first Russian missiles landed on Odessa and Kyiv, where Gemma has lived for many years and where her children grew up – GART Gallery has been helping Ukraine. A special section has been opened on the website, where paintings donated by artists from various countries are sold. By buying these works of art, you can help Ukrainian refugees and the Ukrainian army.
So:
How do I open a business in Germany? How much money do I have to invest in a gallery? Who is part of the GART Gallery team? How much does contemporary art cost and who buys it? How does Support Ukraine work on the GART Gallery platform? The answers to these and other questions are in the article about art, life and business LIGA.NET / LIGA.LIFE “How a woman from Odessa set up an art business in Germany and sells paintings in support of Ukraine“.
