Art Under Siege: the Legacy of Ukrainian Monumental Art of Alla Horska and Viktor Zaretskiy

Folklore Lunch: Art Under Siege: the Legacy of Ukrainian Monumental Art of Alla Horska and Viktor Zaretskiy

Presented by Anna Morozova, Graduate Student MLCS

February 9,  2024 | 12pm MST | Kule Folklore Centre

In-person presentation. 

"The research is based on a study of Ukrainian Monumental art of the 1960s in a close relationship with socio-political reality and the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2014-....), which led to the destruction of numerous Ukrainian monumental panels. My presentation will focus on the monumental art of Viktor Zaretskiy and Alla Horska, who were dissident artists and members of the Sixtiers movement.

I began my work with Zaretskiy’s archive in 2021 in Kyiv, working with the sketches for his mosaics, including arranging, photographing, dating and much more. Sadly, I later discovered they were destroyed by Russian missiles in 2023. My presentation will focus on key aspects, including the question of whether these monumental artworks served as soviet propaganda or represented a form of rival nationalism. Additionally, I will analyze how dissident artists remember the ways in which Soviet censorship restricted their artwork. Lastly, I will address the unfortunate destruction of artists’ monumental panels due to the war in Ukraine in the years 2022-2023."

Anna Morozova is a Research Assistant at the Kule Folklore Centre, a Graduate Student at the University of Alberta (Media and Cultural Studies), and a manager and tour guide at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, AB. Anna completed her MA in Cultural Studies at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In 2020-2022, Anna was responsible for the management of The Naked Room gallery in Kyiv, while simultaneously processing Horska and Zaretskiy’s archive together with their granddaughter, Olena Zaretska. In 2020, Anna curated the exhibition “#PropertyRights” by Alevtina Kakhidze.

Top image: Destroyed mosaic, photo by Yevgen Nikiforov. Bottom: Anna Morozova. Photo provided by the presenter.

This is an in-person event, however the presentation will be available on our Youtube channel and our website after the event.

For more information, contact: ukrfolk@ualberta.ca 

See the full poster here.

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