Christina Katrakis

Katrakis was born in 1980, December 16, in Kyiv, in a family of Anatoliy Kushch-Katrakis and Helen Pilkevich-Kushch. Her father is Ukrainian sculptor, author of many historical monuments in Ukraine, United States, Iran, Lebanon and Poland,[8] residing in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her mother is Ukrainian ethnographer and an art historian.[9] She officially took the double second name Katrakis-Kushch because of Greek legacy of her ancestors, who were Pontic Greeks, migrated long ago to Ukraine, according to her father.[9]

Katrakis founded the International Academy of Arts in 2005[10] which is now based in Munich, Germany.

In age of 10 (in 1991 year), Katrakis went to the USA with her parents, when her father received an order for a monument creation in Chicago. Her parents returned to their homeland, but Christina stayed and went to English International institute for foreign languages and diplomacy in Washington (1992–1993). In 1993–1994 she studied at Catholic school of St. Nicholas in Chicago and in parallel – in a specialized school "Glenn Eco". In 1994–1998 she returned in Kyiv, where she studied at the Shevchenko State Art School. In 1996–1998 she studied courses of Arts, Art History and Anatomy in Italy and France (Lorenco di Medici' Academy in Florence and Sorbonne Academy in Paris). In 1998–2000 she studied at the National Academy of fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv. In 2000–2002 she studied at the Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, USA. She also studied at the renowned National Academy of Art of Ukraine, as well as in various art schools in Europe and in the USA. She passed a terminal MA degree from the University of Memphis, where she teaches drawing, figure structure, watercolor and oil painting.[11] She spent several years at the University of Memphis as a teacher and lecturer, and building a national reputation as an artist: her works are owned by Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Angelina Jolie, among others.[12]

She comes from a family with a rich heritage and background: maternal grandfather – last king of Georgia and Armenia (Bagrationi and Dadiani royal lines) and royal prince of Lithuania ( Yagailo Gedimin royal line) – Simon Bagration Dadiani Gedimin Pilke, his grandmother on paternal line was Isabella de Savoy from royal family of Savoy kings of Piemonte and Sardinia. Maternal grandmother – the countess of Poland and Ukraine, granddaughter of countess Evelina Hanska the wife of Honore de Balzac. Paternal line: Father a sculptor Anatoliy Kushch (Katrakis), comes from a family of Cretan artists as well as his cousin Manos Katrakis famous Greek actor.[13] As a model of the Berehynia statue on the Independence Monument in Kyiv, the author Anatoliy Kushch chose his daughter, Christina Katrakis. The statue is made of a cast bronze and weighs about 20 tons.

Katrakis had a son, who died when he was only 8 days old, from a heart disease, caused by a Chornobyl disaster[14] and another baby, who was unborn, for the same reason.[12] In one month after, she drew-up a cycle of paintings named "Zone", inspired by this horrible events.

Katrakis also known not only as a painter, but also as potter, sculptor, writer and documentary maker.[15] It started in 2002, when she had presented several projects during her study at the ASU.[15] In 2011 Katrakis photo series "Tree of Life" appeared in "The picture of the World. Free look" exhibition hosted in Kyiv, Ukraine.[16] In 2011 was a productive for Katrakis – she took part in 6 exhibitions around the world, including opening of own exhibition in Kyiv, Ukraine.[11][14][16][17][18][19]

Katrakis made a film "UltraViolet Light" presented in 2014 at the RAR Gallery.[20] In 2014, Katrakis was at the Maidan of Independence in the heart of capital of Ukraine, during disturbances in Kyiv in the Second Maidan revolution, approved by a photo.[21]

Christina Katrakis is married to Roman Kudlay, producer, top-manager and international project’s coordinator. Together they have a son Mark Roman Kudlay, born on July 15, 2015 he’s an USA citizen.

Works as producer in Hollywood MO’z art pictures[2] and Visionairemedia[3]

Producer of the Visionairemedia documentary film "Believe", directed by Mary Lambert edited by Shawn Thompson exacutive director Jerome Gary[22][23]

In 2019 Christina Katrakis was appointed the official UNESCO coordinator and international projects’ curator of the Centro per I’UNESCO di Bologna. This official title was granted to Christina Katrakis by the UNESCO Ambassador Maurizio Aronica himself. She is from now on, leads international projects of the Centro per I’UNESCO di Bologna, including the upcoming UNESCO art show “Bridge for Art» which will take place in the historical Palazzo Torfanini in Bologna in April 2020. [7] The work on the “Bridge for Art” UNESCO project for UNESCO Center in Bologna has come to an end on May 5th 2020. On November 18, 2020 Christina Katrakis has been appointed as an official international coordinator [1] of the United Nations Agenda 2030 SDG Global initiative[5] in partnership with the FFUN[6] and official international coordinator of UNESCO for the UNESCO Center of Bologna. Katrakis believes that all together we can make a difference fir the better!