Decolonization and Disentanglement in Ukrainian Art

Svitlana Biedarieva

konteksty@ispan.pl
Kyiv School of Economics (Ukraine)
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8866-2675

Abstract

In this text focused on how postcolonial and decolonial processes are reflected in contemporary Ukrainian culture, art historian Svitlana Biedarieva examines methods of decolonizing Ukrainian cultural discourse through the lens of works by contemporary Ukrainian artists – specifically those addressing complex aspects of identity conflicts actualized by Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Each of the artworks analyzed here dismantles the notion of Ukraine’s postcolonial entanglements through discussions of memory, language, and trauma. Further, Biedarieva attempts to establish a new theoretical framework in which to understand Ukraine’s particular position on the world’s geopolitical map, taking into account the fading impact of Russian colonialism on Ukrainian territory.


Keywords:

Ukraine, art, decolonization


Published
2024-02-28

Cited by

Biedarieva, S. (2024) “Decolonization and Disentanglement in Ukrainian Art”, Konteksty, 343(4), pp. 37–41. doi: 10.36744/k.2579.

Authors

Svitlana Biedarieva 
konteksty@ispan.pl
Kyiv School of Economics Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8866-2675

Switłana Biedariewa – historyczka sztuki, artystka i kuratorka. Uzyskała doktorat z historii sztuki w Courtauld Institute of Art na Uniwersytecie Londyńskim. Jest redaktorką książki Contemporary Ukrainian and Baltic Art: Political and Social Perspectives, 1991–2021 (2021) oraz współredaktorką At the Front Line. Ukrainian Art, 2013–2019 (2020). Była visiting fellow na Uniwersytecie Jerzego Waszyngtona; laureatka Prince Claus Seed Award za swoją pracę artystyczną. Publikowała teksty w czasopismach naukowych i pismach opinii, takich jak „October”, „ArtMargins Online”, „Space and Culture”, „post at MoMA”, „Revue Critique d’art”, „Financial Times”, „The Burlington Contemporary”, „Hyperallergic”, „The Art Newspaper”. Obecnie pracuje nad książkami o dekolonialności w kontekście Ukrainy (Palgrave Macmillan) oraz o sztuce i oporze (Routledge).



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