Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift

Maryna Protas; Natalia Bulavina

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13

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Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift

Maryna Protas, Natalia Bulavina

Published in American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 7, Issue 4)

Received: 14 September 2022 Accepted: 8 October 2022 Published: 17 October 2022

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Abstract

For contemporary Ukrainian art, the time of war has become an occasion for the development of its vision of the national idea as a defining episteme, the process of approval of which began around the time of Ukraine gaining its independence in the 1990s, but was then suspended by the uncritical adaptation of the postmodern cultural-industrial paradigm, which was perceived a marker of belonging to the European family of developed democracies, while obviously ignoring the colonial-rudimentary patterns of Eurocentrism. The war has launched a transformation of cultural stratagems, during which certain types of older narratives typical of Ukrainian culture of the past decades and even centuries have been returning and becoming increasingly more important thanks to them re-actualizing the aesthetics that opposes those paradigms that tolerate a technocratic way of being marked by a commodified cognition, which also plays a significant role in nowadays’ Russian pan-imperial ideology. The decolonial metamorphoses of the art epistemes of the Ukrainian visual arts during the war may testify to essential changes in solving the crisis state of artistic and cultural theories and practices. The experience of Ukrainian artists proves that in stressful conditions, the nation has been able to consolidate its efforts and self-organize around the main imperatives of transcendental aesthetics, where the priority of artistic, creative ecstasy in the fulfillment of life-affirming meanings helps to defend the state sovereignty. This makes it possible to conclude that a new humanistic vector of the future civilizational development of culture might be being born: the one in which contemporary narratives of progress-based postmodernism lose their power, as well as the militaristically-chauvinist authoritarianism that is being aggressively planted in the Russian Federation.

Published in	American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 7, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13
Page(s)	116-123
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Aesthetics of Resistance, National Sovereignty, Russian-Ukrainian War, Ukrainian Fine Art, Art Epistemes

References

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[2]	Asadcheva T. The fortress of Kyiv artists: the capital museum exhibits the works of the first months of the war. Evening Kyiv. August 29, 2022. https://vechirniy.kyiv.ua/news/70813/
[3]	Barsukova, O. It’s like you die and are born again: how the artist Anzhela Kushchyk paints the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian Pravda. April 5, 2022. https://life.pravda.com.ua/culture/2022/04/5/248107/
[4]	Churikova, N. “The world learned about Ukraine because it defends itself” — Timothy Snyder. Voice of America. May 5, 2022. https://ukrainian.voanews.com/a/6604333.html
[5]	Heidegger, M. Hölderlin and the essence of poetry. In “Ї”, 2 (1990).
[6]	Hnatyuk, Y. Ukrainian cordocentrism as a national philosophy. Bulletin of the Carpathian University. Philosophical and psychological sciences. Vol. X, p. 39–45, 2007.
[7]	Hrycak, J. Essay on the history of Ukraine. Formation of a modern nation of the XIX–XX centuries. Kyiv: Geneza, 1996.
[8]	Krechetova, D. “I combine the horror of war and the greatness of culture”: how the artist paints anti-tank “hedgehogs” in Kyiv. Ukrainian Pravda. August 18, 2022. https://life.pravda.com.ua/culture/2022/08/18/250054/
[9]	Mignolo, Walter D. The darker side of western modernity. Global Futures, Decolonial Options. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2011.
[10]	Osadcha, Ya. Draws on the lids of ammunition boxes: the story of an Odessa citizen who fights in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Ukrainian Pravda. June 10, 2022. https://life.pravda.com.ua/culture/2022/06/10/249040/
[11]	Snyder, Timothy. The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2018.
[12]	Symonenko, Vasyl. On Crossed Swords: Selected Works, 3rd ed. Arranged by V. L. Kostyuchenko. Kyiv. Pulsary University Publishing House, 2004.
[13]	The Paris Statement: A Europe we can believe in. https://thetrueeurope.eu/a-europe-we-can-believe-in/
[14]	Welsch, Wolfgang. Das weite Feld der Dekonstruktion. In Gert Kаhler (Ed.), Schrаge Architektur und aufrechter Gang. Dekonstruktion: Bauen in einer Welt ohne Sinn? Braunschweig, Wiesbaden, 1993.
[15]	Yudin, A. Max Horkheimer: from Marxism to negative philosophy. In Max Horkheimer. Eclipse of the mind. Criticism of the instrumental mind. Moscow: Kanon, Rehabilitation, 2011, р. 219.

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APA Style

Maryna Protas, Natalia Bulavina. (2022). Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift. American Journal of Art and Design, 7(4), 116-123. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13

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Maryna Protas; Natalia Bulavina. Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift. Am. J. Art Des. 2022, 7(4), 116-123. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13

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AMA Style

Maryna Protas, Natalia Bulavina. Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift. Am J Art Des. 2022;7(4):116-123. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13,
  author = {Maryna Protas and Natalia Bulavina},
  title = {Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift},
  journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
  volume = {7},
  number = {4},
  pages = {116-123},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20220704.13},
  abstract = {For contemporary Ukrainian art, the time of war has become an occasion for the development of its vision of the national idea as a defining episteme, the process of approval of which began around the time of Ukraine gaining its independence in the 1990s, but was then suspended by the uncritical adaptation of the postmodern cultural-industrial paradigm, which was perceived a marker of belonging to the European family of developed democracies, while obviously ignoring the colonial-rudimentary patterns of Eurocentrism. The war has launched a transformation of cultural stratagems, during which certain types of older narratives typical of Ukrainian culture of the past decades and even centuries have been returning and becoming increasingly more important thanks to them re-actualizing the aesthetics that opposes those paradigms that tolerate a technocratic way of being marked by a commodified cognition, which also plays a significant role in nowadays’ Russian pan-imperial ideology. The decolonial metamorphoses of the art epistemes of the Ukrainian visual arts during the war may testify to essential changes in solving the crisis state of artistic and cultural theories and practices. The experience of Ukrainian artists proves that in stressful conditions, the nation has been able to consolidate its efforts and self-organize around the main imperatives of transcendental aesthetics, where the priority of artistic, creative ecstasy in the fulfillment of life-affirming meanings helps to defend the state sovereignty. This makes it possible to conclude that a new humanistic vector of the future civilizational development of culture might be being born: the one in which contemporary narratives of progress-based postmodernism lose their power, as well as the militaristically-chauvinist authoritarianism that is being aggressively planted in the Russian Federation.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift
AU  - Maryna Protas
AU  - Natalia Bulavina
Y1  - 2022/10/17
PY  - 2022
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EP  - 123
PB  - Science Publishing Group
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AB  - For contemporary Ukrainian art, the time of war has become an occasion for the development of its vision of the national idea as a defining episteme, the process of approval of which began around the time of Ukraine gaining its independence in the 1990s, but was then suspended by the uncritical adaptation of the postmodern cultural-industrial paradigm, which was perceived a marker of belonging to the European family of developed democracies, while obviously ignoring the colonial-rudimentary patterns of Eurocentrism. The war has launched a transformation of cultural stratagems, during which certain types of older narratives typical of Ukrainian culture of the past decades and even centuries have been returning and becoming increasingly more important thanks to them re-actualizing the aesthetics that opposes those paradigms that tolerate a technocratic way of being marked by a commodified cognition, which also plays a significant role in nowadays’ Russian pan-imperial ideology. The decolonial metamorphoses of the art epistemes of the Ukrainian visual arts during the war may testify to essential changes in solving the crisis state of artistic and cultural theories and practices. The experience of Ukrainian artists proves that in stressful conditions, the nation has been able to consolidate its efforts and self-organize around the main imperatives of transcendental aesthetics, where the priority of artistic, creative ecstasy in the fulfillment of life-affirming meanings helps to defend the state sovereignty. This makes it possible to conclude that a new humanistic vector of the future civilizational development of culture might be being born: the one in which contemporary narratives of progress-based postmodernism lose their power, as well as the militaristically-chauvinist authoritarianism that is being aggressively planted in the Russian Federation.
VL  - 7
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Author Information

Maryna Protas

Department of Curatorial Exhibition Activities and Cultural Exchange, Modern Art Research Institute of National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Natalia Bulavina

Department of Curatorial Exhibition Activities and Cultural Exchange, Modern Art Research Institute of National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

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APA Style

Maryna Protas, Natalia Bulavina. (2022). Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift. American Journal of Art and Design, 7(4), 116-123. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13

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ACS Style

Maryna Protas; Natalia Bulavina. Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift. Am. J. Art Des. 2022, 7(4), 116-123. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13

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AMA Style

Maryna Protas, Natalia Bulavina. Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift. Am J Art Des. 2022;7(4):116-123. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13,
  author = {Maryna Protas and Natalia Bulavina},
  title = {Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift},
  journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
  volume = {7},
  number = {4},
  pages = {116-123},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20220704.13},
  abstract = {For contemporary Ukrainian art, the time of war has become an occasion for the development of its vision of the national idea as a defining episteme, the process of approval of which began around the time of Ukraine gaining its independence in the 1990s, but was then suspended by the uncritical adaptation of the postmodern cultural-industrial paradigm, which was perceived a marker of belonging to the European family of developed democracies, while obviously ignoring the colonial-rudimentary patterns of Eurocentrism. The war has launched a transformation of cultural stratagems, during which certain types of older narratives typical of Ukrainian culture of the past decades and even centuries have been returning and becoming increasingly more important thanks to them re-actualizing the aesthetics that opposes those paradigms that tolerate a technocratic way of being marked by a commodified cognition, which also plays a significant role in nowadays’ Russian pan-imperial ideology. The decolonial metamorphoses of the art epistemes of the Ukrainian visual arts during the war may testify to essential changes in solving the crisis state of artistic and cultural theories and practices. The experience of Ukrainian artists proves that in stressful conditions, the nation has been able to consolidate its efforts and self-organize around the main imperatives of transcendental aesthetics, where the priority of artistic, creative ecstasy in the fulfillment of life-affirming meanings helps to defend the state sovereignty. This makes it possible to conclude that a new humanistic vector of the future civilizational development of culture might be being born: the one in which contemporary narratives of progress-based postmodernism lose their power, as well as the militaristically-chauvinist authoritarianism that is being aggressively planted in the Russian Federation.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Ukrainian Art in the Time of the War: An Art Episteme Shift
AU  - Maryna Protas
AU  - Natalia Bulavina
Y1  - 2022/10/17
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13
T2  - American Journal of Art and Design
JF  - American Journal of Art and Design
JO  - American Journal of Art and Design
SP  - 116
EP  - 123
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-7802
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20220704.13
AB  - For contemporary Ukrainian art, the time of war has become an occasion for the development of its vision of the national idea as a defining episteme, the process of approval of which began around the time of Ukraine gaining its independence in the 1990s, but was then suspended by the uncritical adaptation of the postmodern cultural-industrial paradigm, which was perceived a marker of belonging to the European family of developed democracies, while obviously ignoring the colonial-rudimentary patterns of Eurocentrism. The war has launched a transformation of cultural stratagems, during which certain types of older narratives typical of Ukrainian culture of the past decades and even centuries have been returning and becoming increasingly more important thanks to them re-actualizing the aesthetics that opposes those paradigms that tolerate a technocratic way of being marked by a commodified cognition, which also plays a significant role in nowadays’ Russian pan-imperial ideology. The decolonial metamorphoses of the art epistemes of the Ukrainian visual arts during the war may testify to essential changes in solving the crisis state of artistic and cultural theories and practices. The experience of Ukrainian artists proves that in stressful conditions, the nation has been able to consolidate its efforts and self-organize around the main imperatives of transcendental aesthetics, where the priority of artistic, creative ecstasy in the fulfillment of life-affirming meanings helps to defend the state sovereignty. This makes it possible to conclude that a new humanistic vector of the future civilizational development of culture might be being born: the one in which contemporary narratives of progress-based postmodernism lose their power, as well as the militaristically-chauvinist authoritarianism that is being aggressively planted in the Russian Federation.
VL  - 7
IS  - 4
ER  -

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