Art in Ukraine Between Identity Construction and Anti-Colonial Resistance

This edited volume traces the development of art practices in Ukraine from the 2004 Orange Revolution, through the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity, to the ongoing Russian war of aggression.

Contributors explore how transformations of identity, the emergence of participatory democracy, relevant changes to cultural institutions, and the realization of the necessity of decolonial release have influenced the focus and themes of contemporary art practices in Ukraine. The chapters analyze such important topics as the postcolonial retrieval of the past, the deconstruction of post-Soviet visualities, representations of violence and atrocities in the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, and the notion of art as a mechanism of civic resistance and identity-building.

The book will be of interest to scholars of art history, Eastern European studies, cultural studies, decolonial studies, and postcolonial studies.

Svitlana Biedarieva is an art historian, artist, and curator. In 2022/23, she was selected as the George F. Kennan Fellow at the Kennan Institute, Wilson Center, and the Non-Resident Visiting Fellow at the George Washington University for her research, the CEC ArtsLink International Fellow for her curatorial work, and the Prince Claus Seed Award Laureate for her artistic work. Svitlana has published texts in academic journals and media outlets and is the editor of the book Contemporary Ukrainian and Baltic Art: Political and Social Perspectives, 1991-2021, and co-editor of At the Front Line. Ukrainian Art, 2013-2019.