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Inessa Kulchytska
artist, puppet theatre set designer, member of UNIMA-Ukraine
Born in 1972 in Berdychiv, Zhytomyr region. Inessa Kulchytska's creative work includes a number of original stage works in theatres of Lviv, Rivne, Uzhhorod, Poltava, Chernihiv, Lutsk, and Khmelnytskyi. These are performances of various genres, from folk tales, Ukrainian and world classics to works of contemporary drama.
Artworks
Biography
Education:
Studied at the Odesa Theatre and Art School. In 1990, she received a degree in puppetry. In 2018, she entered the Department of Puppet Theatre Scenography at the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University, where she received a bachelor's degree in 2018 and a master's degree (with honours) in 2020.
In 2023, she entered the postgraduate study at the I. K. Karpenko-Kary Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, Department of Puppetry, specialising in Stage Art.
From 1990 to 2022, Inessa Kulchytska worked at the Lviv Regional Academic Puppet Theatre (since 2009 she has been the theatre's chief artist).
Inessa Kulchytska's work acquired a special colour during the years of collaboration with the director Serhiy Bryzhan. The performances ‘The Cherry Orchard by the House’ (2014), ‘My Thoughts, My Thoughts’ based on the works of Taras Shevchenko, and ‘The Golden-Horned Deer’ (2018) based on the poem by Dmytro Pavlychko testify to the artist's true creative maturity, the philosophical nature of her imaginative vision, and the depth of her creative comprehension of the dramatic material.
Performances:
Lviv Regional Puppet Theatre: ‘Mysienyatko Mytsyk by Yukhym Chepovetskyi, directed by Olena Serova-Bondar (1990), Rimtimti by Jan Wilkowski, directed by I. Chekirda (1993), Coloured Milk by Volodymyr Orlov, directed by Olena Serova-Bondar (1995), How a Fox Was a Bird by Oleksandr Kuzmin, directed by Oleksandr Kuzmin (1997), Giraffe and Rhino by Gunther Horst, directed by Oleksandr Kutsyk (1998), Dorotheus the Naughty by Gernet, directed by Oleksandr Kutsyk (1999), Little Fairy (2005), and Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault, The Princess Jumper by Vasyl Bondar, directed by Olena Serova-Bondar (2012), The Princess Jumper by Olena Serova-Bondar (2016), The Golden-Horned Deer by Dmytro Pavlyk, directed by Serhiy Bryzhan (2018), The Sunset Tango based on the novel Tango of Death by Yuriy Vynnychuk, directed by Ulyana Moroz, Yana Tytarenko, and adapted for stage by Valentyn Tuzhyn (2021), Rag. One Evening in a Bomb Shelter by Andriy Bondarenko, directed by Yana Tytarenko (2022), The Atomic Mermaid based on the play by Andriy Bondarenko, directed by Yana Tytarenko (2024).
Rivne Academic Regional Puppet Theatre, Poltava Academic Regional Puppet Theatre: ‘Lesia Ukrainka's Forest Song, directed by Oleksandr Inozemtsev (2005), Krut-Vert, a folk tale, directed by Oleksandr Inozemtsev (2017), Charles Perrault's Cinderella, directed by Dmytro Nuianzin (Rivne, 2017), Taras Shevchenko's My Thoughts, My Thoughts, directed by Serhiy Bryzhan (2016)
Rivne Academic Regional Puppet Theatre: ‘Ivasyk-Telesyk, directed by Olena Tkachuk (2023)
Zakarpattia Academic Regional Puppet Theatre ‘BAVKA’ Uzhhorod: ‘About Valebuk, Princess Nebijsa and Dovhoborod’ (Slovenian fairy tale), directed by Natalia Oreshnikova, (2018), ‘Evenings on the Farm, or Fables about the Eternal’ - a tragic phantasmagoria based on the works of Mykola Hohol, in the stage version by Natalia Oreshnikova and N. Malyshko, directed by Natalia Oreshnikova (2020)
Bábkové divadlo Košického kraja, Košice, Slovakia: ‘The Snow Queen (Snehová kráľovná) by Mikhail Uritsky based on the novel by Hans Christian Andersen, directed by Mykhailo Uritsky (2024)
Kherson Puppet Theatre: "Black Rooster" based on the book "Rooster" by Zoryana Zhyvka, directed and staged: Natalia Oreshnikova, staging by Nina Malyshko (2025)
Participation in projects:
2023 - Ukrainian National Pavilion ‘Garden of Living Things’ at the Prague Quadrennial, Prague, Czech Republic
2021 - Lviv Quadriennale of Scenography, Lviv
2020 - Ukrainian pavilion at the Tbilisi Biennale of Scenography, Tbilisi, Georgia
Exhibitions:
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2024 - participation in three exhibitions of the project ‘Ukrainian theatre costume of the XX-XXI centuries: Identity, context, landscape’ at the gallery of the Dzyga Art Centre (Lviv), the gallery of the Rozdroża Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives (Lublin), and the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema (Kyiv). The project is supported by the UCF and the Ukrainian Institute
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2023 - participant in the exhibition ‘Ukraine and the Prague Quadrennial’ at the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine, Kyiv
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2022 - participant of the Triennial of Scenography named after D. Lider at the Central House of Artists, Kyiv
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2022 - participant in the exhibition ‘Danylo Lider Triennial of Scenography: to continue’ at the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine, Kyiv
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2020 - personal exhibition of theatrical and decorative works by Inessa Kulchytska at the Scenography Gallery in the premises of the L. Ukrainka Theatre, Lviv
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2009 - participated in the ‘Exhibition of Theatre Dolls’, Kyiv and Khmelnytskyi
Inessa Kulchytska's work acquired a special colour during the years of collaboration with the director Serhiy Bryzhan. The performances ‘The Cherry Orchard by the House’ (2014), ‘My Thoughts, My Thoughts’ based on the works of Taras Shevchenko, and ‘The Golden-Horned Deer’ (2018) based on the poem by Dmytro Pavlychko testify to the artist's true creative maturity, the philosophical nature of her imaginative vision, and the depth of her creative comprehension of the dramatic material.
Awards:
In 1994, Inessa Kulchytska received the Grand Prix for her performance of Rimtiti at the seventh International Theatre Festival in Lomzhe, Poland. According to the results of the All-Ukrainian review of the 2016-2017 season of puppet theatres, held under the auspices of UNIMA-Ukraine, the artist won the Best Artist nomination for the performance ‘The Golden-Horned Deer’, and at the International East-West Festival held in Krakow in the spring of 2018, the same performance received a diploma for Best Scenography.
The following performances were shortlisted for the Best Scenic Design nomination: ‘Cinderella’ by the Rivne Puppet Theatre and “The Boat is Full of Fairy Tales” based on folk tales, directed by Oleksandr Tkachuk (2017). This performance was shortlisted for the Second All-Ukrainian Theatre Festival and Award ‘HRA’, where it won second place, and in 2021 it won first place at the XIVth Festival of Theatres ‘Moloko’. Two more performances by the artist, which were staged at the Rivne Puppet Theatre, received awards: ‘My Thoughts, My Thoughts’ - first place at the All-Ukrainian Festival of Puppet Theatres (Zaporizhzhia) and “Forest Song” - Lesia Ukrainka Award.
In 2021, she received a diploma from UNIMA-UKRAINE for the best scenography of the performance ‘Sunset Tango’ by the Lviv Regional Puppet Theatre.
At the XIII International Festival of Puppets ‘Podilska Puppet’ (2023), she won the nomination ‘For the best scenography of the performance’ for the design of the performance ‘Evenings on a Farm, or Fables about the Eternal...’ by the Transcarpathian Academic Regional Puppet Theatre ‘Bavka’.
In 2024, Ivasyk-Telesyk by the Rivne Academic Regional Puppet Theatre won the International Interlialka Festival in the category of best scenography.
