Art exhibition by Ola Rondiak, 4-16 October 2023
Ola Rondiak is a Ukrainian-American artist who has lived in Ukraine for more than 25 years and whose works now span the globe in museums and private collections. Ola launched her career in 2014 during the ‘Euromaidan’ or ‘Revolution of Dignity’ when ordinary Ukrainians took to the streets to protest their government’s pivot to Russia. That government fell and Russia retaliated by annexing Crimea and stoking conflict in the Donbas, Ukraine’s eastern regions. That flared into open war this year when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
For the premiere of Lesia Ukrainka’s play CASSANDRA at Omnibus Theatre (presented by Live Canon and the Ukrainian Institute London), Ola Rondiak created two special works: Cassandra, the heroine of the play, and Lesia, the playwright herself. These monumental and unique artworks continue Ola’s tradition of exhibiting strong women unafraid to speak their mind. Alongside these original works dedicated to the performance of CASSANDRA, this exhibition Women of War featured a series of eight specially curated framed reproductions of original artworks from Ola’s previous collections: Gulag, Identity Interrupted, Behind the Lines and War Women. The exhibition was curated by Lesia Scholey from the Ukrainian Institute London.
The artwork CASSANDRA by Ukrainian artist Ola Rondiak is on sale, raising funds for Ukrainian Institute London and Live Canon. For more information, email scholey@ukrainianinstitute.org.uk
