[spectre] Fwd: Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories: Ukrainian Art 1912–2023 at Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Betreff: Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories: Ukrainian Art 1912–2023 at 
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Datum: 	Tue, 25 Apr 2023 20:01:18 +0000
Von: 	e-flux <info at mailer.e-flux.com>		
	
Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories: Ukrainian Art 1912–2023

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

May 6–September 10, 2023

Albertinum
Salzgasse
01067 Dresden
Germany

https://albertinum.skd.museum

It is the first exhibition of its kind in Germany: the Albertinum of the 
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) is dedicating a comprehensive 
overview presentation of modern Ukrainian art. Paintings, sculptures, 
photographs, installations, video works, graphics and archives by around 
50 artists represent Ukrainian art from the beginning of the 20th 
century to the present on 1,200 square metres and provide insights into 
the country’s turbulent history as well as its constant struggle for its 
own identity.

The exhibition *Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories: Ukrainian Art 1912-2023* 
deals with four main themes that overlap: Practices of Resistance, 
Culture of Memory, Spaces of Freedom and Thoughts on the Future. In 
them, the current situation combines with historical events, showing 
individual experiences and personal stories. Each position represents a 
particular microcosm interwoven with the history of the country and its 
heritage. This unfolds the complexity and diversity of today’s Ukrainian 
art scene. It deals with self-knowledge in Ukrainian history, takes an 
introspective look at its contemporary culture, analyses and describes 
the country in its complexity and resistance with the medium of modern 
and contemporary art.

The exhibition illustrates a cultural federalism that is essential to 
Ukrainian culture: it has not developed centrally in Kyiv alone, but in 
parallel in many unique cultural centres, such as Dnipro, 
Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odessa. Among others, the 
post-independence period in the 1990s, the Revolution of Dignity from 
2013 to 2014 and the period after the Russian annexation of Crimea are 
examined. With the Russian invasion since February 24, 2022, Ukrainian 
culture is experiencing a renewed decentralisation and nomadism. Many 
artists from these important cultural centres are forced to leave their 
cities and live as migrants scattered around the world.

To promote art production, new works by artists Nikita Kadan, Kateryna 
Lysovenko, Lada Nakonechna and Masha Reva will be presented. In this 
context, the SKD’s Kupferstich-Kabinett has also purchased five drawings 
and a carbon copy on carbon paper from the series “Drawing on Maidan” by 
the artist Lesia Khomenko. Paintings by the artist Kateryna Bilokur as 
well as numerous new productions travel outside the country for the 
first time. In dialogue, they show the continuity of culture and the 
sources of contemporary art in Ukraine since its beginnings from the 
avant-garde to the present.

The exhibition is assembled from private collections and museums, such 
as the National Art Museum of Ukraine (Kyiv), Odessa Art Museum, 
National Museum of Decorative Folk Art (Kyiv), Stedley Art Foundation 
(Kyiv), Prymachenko Family Foundation, Dovzhenko Centre, MOCA NGO, 
Artsvit Gallery (Dnipro) and Ya Gallery Art Center (Kyiv-Lviv). Loans 
from the Art Collection Telekom, the Akademie der Künste (Berlin), the 
Artothek of the German Bundestag and the Thyssen Bornemisza Art 
Collection 21 complete the show. After its run in Dresden, the 
exhibition will be on view at Museum de Fondatie in Zwolle, the 
Netherlands, from October 2023 to January 2024.