Ukraine: Art for Architecture

(Paperback)

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In the times when the Ukrainian art sphere was regulated by the Soviet institutions, local monumental and decorative arts existed at the frontier of the Partys propaganda and the artistic thirst to experiments.

Nowadays, Ukrainian mosaics are wrested out of the architectural context of the country in both literal and metaphorical ways. The artworks are liquidated from the buildings they were specifically created for and indiscriminately despised as ideological pieces of no value. Furthermore, in legal terms mosaics are not defined as objects of art that makes them unguarded in the face of the decommunization process.

Initially conceived as a guide, this book is an equally beneficial companion for the journey through space (in the context of the geographical area of modern Ukraine) and hitchhiking through time (in terms of Ukrainian cultural history). It incorporates the selection of Ukrainian mosaics which undermines the simplified perspective on the Soviet art heritage in Ukraine.

The volume is generously supplemented with unique photographs of the documentary photographer Yevgen Nikiforov who continues the research, initially presented in the book Decommunized: Ukrainian Soviet Mosaics (2017). Together with the art historian Polina Baitsym who reveals striking linkages of the mosaics plots with broader historical context, he will guide you through the testimonies of the genuine creativity of Ukrainian monumental artists which managed to flourish on the most infertile soil.

Author Bio

Yevgen Nikiforov is a Ukrainian visual artist, a director, and a documentary photographer. He started his professional photography practice in 2005. Since 2013 Yevgen has been working on independent documentary projects. His current projects are "Ukrainian Soviet Mosaics" (2013--2019) and "On Republic's Monuments" (2014--2019). Yevgen is the author of the book Decommunized: Ukrainian Soviet Mosaics. One of the major subjects he has been working on for four years is Soviet cultural heritage, which remains in towns all across Ukraine, and the controversial attitudes towards it today. Polina Baitsym is a Ukrainian art historian and a curator who promotes a research-based approach to exhibitions. Since 2017 she has been exploring the institutional framework of socialist realism in Ukraine in Soviet times. Her primary research interests are national art histories and the development of art historical disciplines. In 2018 Polina launched a research initiative dedicated to Ukrainian children's illustration from the 1960--1990s. Currently, she is a PhD student at Central European University.