In the Eye of the Storm: Ukraine's Cultural Heritage vs. Russian Imperialism

How did it happen that the art of Ukraine became absent from the annals of art history, and the country’s culture turned into a blindspot? Analysing the 20th-century exhibition history, this talk explores how different iterations of the Russian state cultivated the idea of ‘great Russian culture’ internationally at the expense of other nations, long subjugated and overshadowed by multiple guises of Russian imperialism. We will also discuss the role of cultural diplomacy and how such projects as 'In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine' can help reclaim names and events for Ukraine’s cultural heritage, reassess the existing art historical canon, expose and redress institutional biases, and engender long-term epistemic reparations. At the same time, the talk will address the need to embrace the multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual milieus within which the artists from Ukraine had historically operated.

Image credit: Davyd Burliuk, Carousel, 1921, National Art Museum of Ukraine © The Burliuk Foundation