THE RAPE OF EUROPA is an international multimedia exhibition by visual artist Yana Lande in collaboration with the artists Anastasia Isachsen (Norway), Asta Bria (UK) and Natalka Osha (Ukraine). It is a contemporary interpretation of an ancient Greek myth with the same name.

The display includes 12 photographs, video and music, that together convey the artistic idea.

It is a beautiful, sentimental, moving story about growing up, told by means of modern technologies. The heroine of the project is a symbolic female figure. Another character of the myth is a Bull but he is simply a decorative object, which Europa is vainly trying to involve into the unfolding events. All her dreams and  hopes are  connected to the legend of abduction.

Europa finds herself under the veil of mythical daydreaming as she is preparing to  become a bride. She is trying to seduce the Bull but he shows no reaction to  her  wiles. She becomes overwhelmed with anger and indignation; she uses all possible methods to bring his senses. It is only when she wears herself out that she realizes one obvious fact: the object of her adoration is a sham. As she realizes how grim the situation is, sorrow and disappointment lead to total frustration. She  is ready to die!

However, having experienced a whole range of feelings, Europa realizes that it was only her emotions that died. Each experience that she has lived through vanishes forever and her soul breaks free. Now she has become strong and does not need anyone to help her fulfill her dream.

Yana Lande  is a contemporary visual artist.

Her works are a combination of an academic approach with a fresh look at the very familiar things, representing the pursuit of happiness — woman’s, man’s, universal.

Her paintings are on display in the world’s best collections and museums including The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. «The Crowns» series was presented specifically for the 90th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II in London. In 2015, Yana was a part of the Ukrainian team at the Burning Man festival where they have presented the sculpture «Love».

Anastasia Isachsen is considered as one of the most prominent contemporary visual artists in Norway.

She creates video art for projections for various cultural productions: concerts, dance performances, theatre, installations, exhibitions and shows. She collaborates with artists across different creative disciplines and this interdisciplinary focus gives her artwork a mesmerizing and emotional expression.

Since she has established her practice first in Delhi, India in 2009 and in Oslo, Norway in 2011, she has collaborated on numerous Norwegian and international projects. Her work is presented on the main stages and venues in Europe, the USA and India.

Asta is a violinist, singer and songwriter. Her music is charachterized by smooth vocals over rich, orchestral and piano accompaniment — easy listening at its most sophisticated.

She has graduated from the Brussels Royal Conservatoire as well as from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Lithuanian Music Conservatoire.

While searching for her authentic sound she worked with producers Dina Fanai and Heather Holley in NY at the Spin studios and Pete Brazier in Cambridge. She has also collaborated with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields on her recordings at the Metrolpolis Studios in London.

Asta is now realising her first album “Divine Investigation”, recorded at Iguana studios in London and featuring collaborative sets with Temple Boys Choir and Vilnius Decima. Asta´s first album is an artpiece of beauty and spirit, performed with virtuosity of a classical violinist.

Natalka Osha is a photographer from Odessa. «The Rape of Europa» is her debut public exhibition.

 …A representational artist, she nonetheless steers her work from realism toward a state of being, with a touch of the surreal and the romantic, creating readings that are intimate as well as symbolically and psychologically charged…