PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform presents book 
“Why There are Great Female Artists in Ukrainian Art”

On Saturday, 25 May, the PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform will present book “Why There are Great Female Artists in Ukrainian Art”. The publication is one of the first attempts to tell the history of Ukrainian art through the gender optics, starting from late 19^th to artistic explorations of the early 21^st century. This history comprises hidden pages of biographies of Ukrainian art female figures where, along with prominent personalities, may be seen the names of those who were forgotten or little known to the larger public.

The presentation will take place at 12:00 at the Book Arsenal (Ukrainian Visual Book space, level 2 at the Mystetsky Arsenal).

The book reveals how over time, possibilities for artistic manifestation of female and male artists have been changing, how obstacles on the path to the professional recognition were overcome and in what way the realization of the corporal experience in their work has been transforming. Especially valuable are the collected archival materials on the woman’s role and place in art.

The book comprises texts on Kateryna Bilokur, Oksana Chepelyk, Oleksandra Ekster, Ksenia Hnylytska, Tetyana Iliakhova, Zhanna Kadyrova, Alevtyna Kakhidze, Lesya Khomenko, Alina Kleytman, Marta Kuzma, Lada Nakonechna, Maria Prymachenko, Oksana Pavlenko, Vlada Ralko, Larysa Rezun-Zvezdochetova, Ada Rybachuk, Valeria Trubina, Yulia Ukader, Tetyana Yablonska, Anna Zvyagintseva and other.

Bjorn Geldhof, artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre: “This publication illustrates the path of female artists towards recognition, but it is not merely reduced to gender history. The subject of research in this book is examined through the prism of conceptualizing the corporal experience. The authors have attempted to embrace various facets of the experience of Ukrainian female artists of the last century. They have given the floor to those who have been made keep silent, and introduced in the due context practices of female artists who are speaking up now”.

The book has been shortlisted in this year’s competition for the best book design initiated by the Goethe-Institut Ukraine jointly with the International Book Arsenal Festival and the Chytomo culture and publication project.

The publication is available for sale at the Book Arsenal (Resident book store stand, В2.07), at Palatka book store and on the web-page of the social brand Fashion AID.

Publishing house: PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform

Artistic concept: Alyona Solomadina

Editing author: Kateryna Yakovlenko

Texts by: Lidia Apollonova, Kateryna Badyanova, Lizaveta Herman, Halyna Hleba, Olena Hodenko, Tatiana Kochubinska, Kateryna Mischenko, Vlada Ralko, Valeria Schiller, Kateryna Yakovlenko, Tatiana Zhmurko.

Publication of books and holding research exhibitions is a strategic activity of the art centre to explore the local artistic context, foster professional debate and invest in the intellectual product. An important element to this process is creation and development of a library at the art centre that allows experts and public access to materials, including archival items the work of the Research Platform is based upon.