Kultura: Exploring Ukraine’s Visual Culture

What is the role of art and visual culture in shaping and defining identities? How can we ascribe artists and artworks from historical periods and geographies to contemporary nation-states? What is the value of art, especially in the time of war? And can it be weaponised or used as a tool of cultural diplomacy? Within the eight weeks of the Ukrainian Institute London’s inaugural course Kultura, we will delve into all these questions and more.

For far too long, art from Ukraine was absent from the annals of art history, with the country’s visual culture either suppressed or appropriated by the imperial powers that controlled it. Yet creativity flourished and cultural heritage survived to be used by the subsequent generations of Ukrainians to redefine their identity and nationhood. From mosaics of Kyivan Rus’ and Taras Shevchenko’s etchings through the modernist experiments in decorative arts and architecture to the art scene of independent Ukraine, Kultura explores the diversity and endurance of Ukraine’s visual culture, past and present.

Kultura offers a unique opportunity to learn from top experts in visual culture and Ukrainian studies, including leading art scholars from Ukraine.
Comprehensive course handbook and materials.
Engaging discussions with lecturers and fellow students.
On-demand access to recorded video lectures for flexible learning.

The course is designed with no expectation of prior knowledge of Ukrainian history or art.
In addition to eight online seminars led by top specialists in the field of Ukrainian visual culture, this course offers an exclusive online tour of the acclaimed Royal Academy exhibition In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930, along with an invitation to the conference Modernism in Ukraine: Local Contexts, Intercultural Encounters, Transnational Exchanges at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London on 4-5 October (please note that it’s an in-person only event, further details are available on the conference webpage).

The course will be held via Zoom.

Course co-curators: Katia Denysova and Constance Uzwyshyn
Course coordinator: Constance Uzwyshyn, Ukrainian Institute London/University of Cambridge