The Bienniale of Naive Art and Primitivism "Velour Cat" named after Andrii Lipatov to the All-Ukrainian Day of Cultural Workers and Masters of Folk Art (November 9) was launched by the Oleksandr Osmerkin Art Memorial Museum with the support of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council in 2020. One of the co-organizers of the unique art event is the Kirovohrad Regional Organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.
   The aim of the art project is to preserve and develop original folk traditions in modern amateur and professional fine arts, to popularize fine arts as one of the effective means of developing Ukrainian culture and to perpetuate the memory of the original master of naive art, a fellow countryman, a member of the National Union of Masters of Folk Art of Ukraine Andrii Lipatov.
   Andrii Lipatov (1960-2010) was a mechanical engineer by profession, and an artist by heart. He lived a short but extremely bright life. His original paintings were exhibited at exhibitions and festivals of folk, decorative and applied and naive art not only in Ukraine, but also in other countries. The works of the talented artist are in the collections of many museums and private collections in Ukraine and abroad. The mural depicting his painting "Promenade on Dvortsova", executed in 2019 on the wall of the Museum of Arts on the occasion of the 265th anniversary of Kropyvnytsky, is an original calling card of the city.
   The funds of the Oleksandr Osmerkin Art Memorial Museum contain Andrii Lipatov's painting "Velour Cat" (1998), which gave the name to the art project and became the basis for the Biennale logo. "This work with the image of a velor cat not only reflects the author's view of the world around him and is his original self-portrait, as indicated by the monogram "A.L." decorating the side of the cat, but also, thanks to its immediacy and high artistic professionalism, reflects the general mood of two artistic trends - naive art and primitivism," explained its author, professional art critic, Honored Artist of Ukraine Andrii Nadiezhdin (1963-2022), who successfully worked as a leading researcher at the O.O. Osmerkin Art Memorial Museum for twenty-seven years, in the scientific concept of the Biennale.
   In 2024, the Biennale will be held in a virtual format due to martial law in Ukraine. The exhibition of the participants of the Third Biennial of Naive Art and Art of Primitivism "Velvet Cat" named after Andrii Lipatov for the All-Ukrainian Day of Cultural Workers and Masters of Folk Art consists of more than 230 works by 58 authors from different regions of Ukraine and other countries, where our compatriots were forced to leave with the beginning of the full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Significant organizational work to attract artists to participate in the Biennale was carried out by artist and art critic Oksana Zhuravel (Nadiezhdina), a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, laureate of the Kirovohrad Regional Prize in the field of fine arts and art criticism named after Oleksandr Osmerkin in the nomination "modern tendencies", and also presented at the exhibition the paintings of her father - People's Artist of Ukraine Mykhailo Nadiezhdin (1935-2023) and brother - Honored Artist of Ukraine Andrii Nadiezhdin (1963-2022).
   Since the priority tasks of the Biennale are to promote the development of amateur and professional creativity based on appeal to folk art traditions, forms of urban and rural folklore, to identify and support talented artists who work creatively in the artistic directions of naivety and primitivism, its participants were both professional artists - members of the National Unions of Ukraine of Artists, Masters of Folk Art, Photo Artists, Architects, and amateur artists, different in professional education, who are successfully realized in the fine arts. Students of the Central Ukrainian State University named after Volodymyr Vynnychenko in Kropyvnytskyi and the National University "Poltava Polytechnic named after Yurii Kondratiuk", who are studying in the specialty "023 Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, Restoration", and even a graduating class student of one of the Kropyvnytskyi lyceums, also took part in the Biennale.
   The creative works of the participants of the Third Biennale present original artistic ideas that go beyond any stylistic features and generally accepted artistic cliches, reflecting a unique cross- section of modern visual art in a multi-vector technogenic and information space. Many of the author's works were created under martial law and reflect the thoughts and feelings of the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for the territorial integrity of their country, its independence and freedom. The exhibition demonstrates that even during war, creative life does not stop, and the contemporary Ukrainian fine art is a reproduction of the national culture of Ukraine.