Like Canberra, four seasons are a fact of life in Kiev, Ukraine, but manifest in much harsher ways, as shown in these works by Ukrainian artist Vitaliya Kalmutska, who arrived in Canberra this week to hang a new exhibition at M16, of works by seven emerging artists from Kiev.

Kalmutska, 27, has co-curated the show, which opened on Friday, with Canberra artist David Keany, who says he was struck during a visit to Kiev last year by the vibrancy of the artistic community.

Keany was there to attend a dance and music festival but was particularly taken by a new circle of artists called MMM, which refers to "workshop of young strokes".

Artists did not enjoy much government support in a country as overlaid with troubles as Ukraine, but that help tended to come from the community instead, Kalmutska said.

"Our government does not support even people with disabilities or old people. We have many things to worry about and it's just not at the same level as in Australia," she said.

She said although she had studied at art school, she had never finished university.

"Education in our country is not as necessary as in your country," she said, adding that putting together this show had made her think she could learn more about arts management and curatorship.

She said while this was her first overseas trip, she had not faced any reactions about the fact that she's from a country most recently associated with violent protests and a deadly international plane crash.

"I think not all people are reading news and watching TV," she said.

"People are asking, 'How are you? What's happening there?' I didn't feel that they're angry or afraid of me."

Keanyliked that the young artists he met were painting in the realist tradition, using oils on linen canvas, rather than dabbling too much with post-modernism.

The works also shine a light on modern life in Ukraine – urban landscapes, political unrest – while still affirming the positive power of art, from a blocked street drain, to a playful experiment in cubism.

Nostalgia and childhood memories are also often overlaid with sinister modern overtones – a playground that's now used by the Russian military, for instance.

Keany hoped the art would be not just educative but worth buying.

"I think there's a demand for their work and they seem to be selling stuff, but I don't think the market is very good either [in Ukraine] like here," he said.

``In fact, I've put the prices really low here so a lot gets sold - I don't want to send a whole lot back."

7 Stories is at M16 Artspace until November 30.