CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN & BALTIC ART

You Are Invited to an Online Book Presentation and Discussion 

Join us for an online book presentation and discussion on political and social expressions in contemporary art of Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia since the collapse of the USSR.

About This Event

“Contemporary Ukrainian and Baltic Art: Political and Social Perspectives, 1991-2021”, edited by Svitlana Biedarieva, explores the transformations that art in Ukraine and the Baltic states has undergone since their independence in 1991. It analyses how the conflicts and challenges of the last three decades have impacted the reconsideration of identity and fostered cultural resistance against economic and political crises. The contributions in this collection open a discussion on whether there is a single paradigm that describes the contemporary processes of art production in Ukraine and the Baltic countries.

The volume addresses a variety of issues tackled by the artists, including controversial historical topics, the erasure of past historical traumas, the relevance of the cultural scene of the newly independent nations within a wider European context, and the current military conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The discussion panel will include the book editor Dr Svitlana Biedarieva (the Courtauld Institute of Art and University of London), Ukrainian-Estonian artist Andrij Bojarov, and discussant Dr Uilleam Blacker (UCL). The event will be moderated by Professor Andreas Umland (the Ukrainian Institute for the Future in Kyiv and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs in Stockholm). Volume contributors include Ieva Astahovska, Kateryna Botanova, Olena Martynyuk, Vytautas Michelkevičius, Lina Michelkevičė, Margaret Tali, and Jessica Zychowicz.

The discussants will explore connections between the past and the present as seen by the artists in Ukraine and the Baltic countries, as well as their visions for the future.

“Contemporary Ukrainian and Baltic Art” is volume 14 in the “Ukrainian Voices” book series published by ibidem Press and compiled by Andreas Umland.

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Donations are welcome. All funds raised from this event will support university scholarships for Russian-Ukrainian war veterans.

We look forward to seeing you at our event!