Contemporary Ukrainian Visual Culture on the Way to the International Cultural Space

Vil Bakirov; Dmytrii Petrenko

doi:10.35765/pk.2023.410202.08

Vil Bakirov V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5110-3403
Dmytrii Petrenko V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6771-2916

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2023.410202.08

Keywords: Ukrainian visual culture, contemporary art, conceptual photography, installation, documentary and fiction films

Abstract

The article is devoted to the visual culture of Ukraine since independence. It pays special attention to the trends and phenomena of contemporary Ukrainian visual culture that have entered the context of world culture through recognition on international cultural platforms (competitions, festivals, biennials, etc.). The considerations concern the development of various trends in contemporary Ukrainian art, which use various artistic media: photography, installation, performance and film. In particular, Ukrainian conceptual photography was the most interestingly represented by several generations of photographers of the Kharkiv School, who combined radical bodily imagery and social criticism. The Ukrainian installation is represented by the works of artists of the REP (Revolutionary Experimental Space) group, which is focused on the unity of art and politics and considers artistic creation as a political act. An interesting sub-direction of the installation is the video installation, which delivers an original combination of contemporary Ukrainian artists with site-specific art and artistic means of reflecting on the traumas inflicted on Ukrainian society by the war. The article pays special attention to the development of contemporary Ukrainian cinema. The author demonstrates the connection between the work of contemporary Ukrainian filmmakers and the traditions of Ukrainian poetic cinema. In addition, other trends in Ukrainian cinema are identified: the experimental search for a new film language, the development of documentary cinema, on top of the convergence of fiction and non-fiction artistic languages in the work of contemporary Ukrainian filmmakers. The dominant issues of contemporary Ukrainian films selected for screening at leading European film festivals are identified: inclusiveness, reflection on Ukrainian history, war trauma, psychological rehabilitation of combatants, etc.

Author Biographies

Vil Bakirov, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Doctor of Sociology, Professor, Rector of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine) from 1998 to 2021. Professor of the Department of Applied Sociology and Social Communications at the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, President of the Sociological Association of Ukraine. Research in the field of theoretical sociology, sociology of culture, sociology of education, social communications. Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, President of the Sociological Association of Ukraine.

Dmytrii Petrenko, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Head of the Department of Cultural Theory and Philosophy of Science at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine). Research interests: visual culture studies, theory and history of contemporary Ukrainian art, theory and history of cinema, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of culture.

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