The history of mankind is closely connected with textiles, which have influenced the development of technology, business, politics and culture. Textiles, having become a zone of bold and creative searches, expand their technical, material and figurative boundaries, and excite the creative imagination.
During the last two weeks of August 2024, students majoring in 182 Light Industry Technology, 015 Professional Education and 053 Psychology with teachers from the Department of Fashion and Style, the Department of Fashion Technology and the Department of Professional Education in Technology and Design visited the exhibition “MATTER MATTERS. Ukrainian Art Textiles”, which tells the modern generation about the meanings woven into Ukrainian art textiles in the language of weaving and illustrates their transformation in response to the challenges of the times.
The exhibition, which occupies five floors of the National Center “Ukrainian House” and is thematically divided into many halls, includes more than 120 artworks by about 60 authors. “Ukrainian Art Textiles” represents the practices of Ukrainian artists over the past 100 years - from traditional tapestry to experimental works made of various textile materials and techniques. The exhibition brings together works by Ukrainian artists who worked with textiles in the public space; works that developed the line of Ukrainian style in the interior and costume; textile practices dedicated to topical issues of our time. Embroideries of repressed Ukrainians made in the camps and colonies of the Gulag are exhibited separately.
The exposition space becomes a wordless search for answers to many questions that each visitor formulates for himself. The exhibition provokes reflections on Ukrainian identity, tragic events of Ukrainian history, political confrontations, ecology, gender issues, evokes many feelings and makes us think about family values and the sacred art of our ancestors.
The exhibition presents tapestries of various sizes and techniques, woven from warm, cozy natural fibers and more, with thematic and ornamental compositions or without a clear image, Among them are the monumental paintings “Wedding” by Ivan and Maria Lytovchenko, “Curtain” measuring 12.6 m×6 m by Maria Ralko, “Native Polissya” by Oleh Mashkevych, “Roses and Grapes” by Oleksandr Dubovyk, “Pastoral” by Oleksandr Dubovyk, “Revelation” by Svitlana Selezneva; sketches of tapestries, including a monumental cardboard sketch by the 1960s artist Ivan-Valentyn Zadorozhny for the tapestry “Family”; carpets and sketches for them, including Stepan Hanzha's “Our Soul Does Not Die, Our Will Does Not Die”; textile sculptures, embossing, etc.
Also, among the examples of textile practice are collages and costumes by the famous Lyudmyla Semykina; textile panels, sketches, hats and belts by the 1960s artist and fashion designer Lyubov Panchenko, who is a legend of Ukrainian national art; experimental digital projection “Border” made of paper and threads - a sounded video work; textile work “Meeting in a Dream” by a contemporary artist Kostiantyn Zorkin. Among the exhibits are embroidered items and other works by Ukrainian political prisoners. Each work of the author has its own “handwriting” - it is a part of the artist's soul, intertwined with threads of his thoughts, dreams, joys, experiences and feelings, a secret story of the soul with a complex plot that makes you think. Reading the composition, contemplating the texture of materials, colors, and lines brings incredible pleasure.
The exhibition was interesting for its diversity of works, deep respect for traditions, search for innovation in art, its own palette, love for the native world, the desire to show the beauty of the native land and convey the uniqueness and originality of the Ukrainian people.
We are grateful to the curators and organizers of the exhibition for the deeply Ukrainian, inspiring and sensual, and also piercingly topical project “MATTER MATTERS. Ukrainian Art Textile”!
05.09.2024
