The exhibition "In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine 1900–1930" opens at the Royal Academy of Arts in London

On June 29, the Royal Academy of Arts in London unveils a unique and comprehensive exhibition, "In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine 1900–1930s". It is a rare opportunity to delve into the rich history of Ukrainian art, with 65 works by renowned artists such as Alexander Arkhipenko, Sonya Delaunay, Alexandra Ekster, and Kazimir Malevich. Notably, the exhibition also features the contributions of Mykhailo Boychuk, Alexander Bogomazov, and Vasyl Yermilov, who played a significant role in shaping the European art scene in the early 20th century.

The exhibition will have six sections. The first is devoted to cubofuturism; the second explores the role of theatre design as one of the most vivid manifestations of modernism in Ukraine, with the works of Oleksandra Ekster, Vadym Meller, and Anatoly Petrytskyi. The third section of the Royal Academy of Arts is dedicated to the direction of Kultur Lige, which united young Jewish artists. The following sections examine the period of early Soviet Ukraine and the art centres of Kharkiv and the Kyiv Art Institute. There will also be a section called "The Last Generation", which will tell about the period of the early 1930s when the Soviet Union liquidated all independent art groups and established socialist realism as the only official artistic style. One of the exhibition's objectives is to show that Ukrainian modernism is an essential chapter of European modernism but has yet to be well-known in the West.

The exhibition presents works from the collection of the National Art Museum of Ukraine and the Museum of Theater, Music and Cinema of Ukraine. Its curators are art critic Kostyantyn Akinsha, Doctor of Philosophy Katya Denisova, curator of the 19th and early 20th century art department of the National Art Museum of Ukraine Olena Kashuba-Volvach, and Anne Dumas, curator of the Royal Academy of Arts.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid organises the project in cooperation with the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Vienna Belvedere, and the Museums for Ukraine organisation.

The exhibition will run from June 29 to October 13. The Natalia Cola Foundation will support the project.