Press-releases
Damien Hirst and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation Opened a New Neonatal Centre ‘Cradles of Hope’ in Kyiv
On April 22, 2009, in the premises of the Neonatological Centre of the National Children's Specialized Hospital ‘Okhmatdyt', the 17th centre ‘Cradles oh Hope' was opened in Kyiv. It is a joint project of the British artist Damien Hirst and of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation under the Foundation's program in the field of health protection ‘Cradles of Hope'.
The medical equipment for this centre was purchased with the funds raised from the sale at Sotheby's of the painting ‘Dark Days', which Damien Hirst donated to the foundation specially for the implementation of the program ‘Cradles of Hope'. The work was created in 2008 and auctioned on the 5th of February 2009.
Damien Hirst: ‘I love great art, it can make you feel great but life is always infinitely more important'.
Victor Pinchuk: ‘To breath, see and hear normally is happiness. However, one can realize it only when missing it. Unfortunately, the babies that become patients of the neonatological units run a risk of being deprived of that simplest human happiness. The centre we have opened with Damien Hirst is intended not simply to save children but to give them the chance to feel the fullness of life'.
In the ‘Cradles of Hope' centre based at the Okhmatdyt hospital, a project has been implemented that will allow to provide at the highest level comprehensive care to the children born with an extremely low weight (less than 1000 gram). In its framework, blocks for intensive therapy have been created in the units 1 and 2 for prematurate newborn babies, the equipment of which allows applying the best methods of healing breath abnormalities. The Diagnostics and Retinopathy Treatment Ward has been equipped with a special laser system for correction of affected areas of the retina. Such diseases resulted in an irreversible loss of the child's sight before. The centre has been equipped for the first time with a modern blood and gas electrolyte monitor that checks all the parameters based on minimum blood samples. Equipment for diagnostics of hearing disorders in newborns has been installed that allows to detect failures at early stages and protect the child's health. Overall 59 items of medical equipment have been installed in the Centre. The total cost of the project for creation of the ‘Cradles of Hope' centre based at the Neonatological Centre of the National Children's Specialised Hospital ‘Okhmatdyt' is USD 320 448.
Tetiana Orlova, the head of the Neonatological Centre of the National Children's Specialized Hospital ‘Okhmatdyt': ‘Such a high class equipment for care of the heavily prematurate babies has been installed for the first time in Ukraine's neonatal units, and in Okhmatdyt namely. It's use will allow to improve the standards of humanization of the medical care in Ukraine and move them to a conceptually new level. The aim in the neonatology today is not just to survive but to live a decent life, and make the childhood and the maternity happy'.
This is not the first time Damien Hirst gets involved in charity projects. He regularly supports different activities for fight against HIV/AIDS, protection of the wildlife, improvement of the quality of children's life and support for young talents. In 2004, the artist became one of the co-founders of the charity Strummerville, devoted to the memory of Hirst's friend and leader of the Clash Joe Strummer focused on supporting young musicians.
The images from the opening are available by the link: http://pinchukfund.org/uk/media/photo-gallery/2009/1045.html
Additional information
"Cradles of Hope" is a programme of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation on setting up specialized Neonatal Centres throughout Ukraine. Implementing the program the Victor Pinchuk Foundation pursues two major objectives: reducing infant mortality rate in the country and improving quality of life of the saved children; facilitating the State in transition to the international registration standards of newborns. In order to accomplish these tasks the Foundation makes exerts efforts to arrange necessary complex of medical services aimed at providing aid to newborns.
More info on the programme: http://pinchukfund.org/en/projects/health/cradles/
Damien Hirst
Born in Bristol in 1965, Damien Hirst grew up in Leeds and studied at Goldsmiths College, London. Most notable amongst the exhibitions he curated whilst at college was Freeze, in 1988, in which he exhibited his work and that of his contemporaries. The exhibition is widely believed to have been the starting point of the Young British Artists' careers, and a defining moment in kick-starting cutting edge British contemporary art.
Hirst's body of work confronts the scientific, philosophical and religious aspects of human existence and includes sculpture, painting and printmaking. He has exhibited widely and was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995 for ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living'. In 2004, Hirst collaborated with Sarah Lucas and Angus Fairhurst to exhibit recent works at Tate Britain, under the title In-a-Gadda-da-Vida. In 2006, works from the artist's murderme collection were exhibited at the Serpentine gallery, London: ‘In the darkest hour there may be light. ‘
Hirst's work can be found in many important collections worldwide, including Tate, London, UK; British Council, UK; MoMA, New York, USA; Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA; National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK; Broad Art Foundation; Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands; Neue Galerie Graz, Austria and State Museum of Berlin, Germany.
The Victor Pinchuk Foundation (pinchukfund.org)
Established in 2006 by a businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation is one of the largest Ukrainian private philanthropic organisations. The Foundation develops and implements social projects aimed at modernising Ukraine and nurturing a new generation of Ukrainian leaders.
The Foundation's priority fields of activities are health care, education, culture, human rights, Ukraine's global integration and local communities' development.
Among the largest projects of the Foundation are: the "Cradles of Hope" programme for opening neonatal health care centres throughout Ukraine, student scholarship programme "Zavtra.UA", the PinchukArtCentre contemporary art institution, international network YES (Yalta European Strategy) to support Ukraine's aspirations for European integration.
The Victor Pinchuk Foundation is a member of European Fund Centre and Ukrainian Grant makers Forum and partner of the Yalta European Strategy (YES). The Foundation cooperates with Clinton's Global Initiative and other non-governmental organisations.
