International Exhibition Practices of Contemporary Ukrainian Art: New Functional Dimensions in the Case of The Exhibition “Ukraine. Under a Different Sky”

Abstract

The cultural analysis of the exhibition of contemporary Ukrainian art Ukraine. Under a Different Sky (Warsaw, 2022–2023) reveals a complex phenomenon of the archive of memory and the theme of decoloniality. The study aims to identify the phenomenon of exhibition practices in contemporary Ukrainian art that embody the functions of a memory archive, decolonial expression, and cultural interaction, as exemplified by the exhibition Ukraine. Under a Different Sky. The research demonstrates that the exhibition operates as a documentary project of visual art and as a form of international engagement with performative elements. It seeks to comprehend the collective memory of tragic events and to represent Ukraine’s independent cultural subjectivity within the global context of creative processes. The methodological foundation integrates established principles of systematism, historicism, universal interconnection, and objectivity; cultural, art historical, and historical approaches; general scientific methods such as analytical, phenomenological, and explanatory; and methods of observation, comparison, and modeling. These approaches define the specifics of postcolonial and decolonial studies as well as the concept of soft power in cultural relations. The study employs a qualitative case study and discourse analysis of curatorial texts, artistic statements, and critical reviews. A comparative analysis considers other exhibition projects in London, Berlin, and Kaunas, which collectively illustrate a network-based strategy of Ukraine’s international representation through art exhibition practices. The research novelty lies in interpreting the exhibition as a mechanism of decolonial affirmation through cultural interaction, which helps the international community comprehend the ongoing Russian–Ukrainian war and express solidarity with the Ukrainian nation. For the first time, the study demonstrates that the dynamics of displaying antiwar artworks—beyond their educational, ideological, aesthetic, and social-regulative roles—also activate communicative, psychotherapeutic, suggestive, informational, modeling, and prognostic functions, while evoking catharsis and fascination. This dynamic reveals the interplay between the traumatic experience of war and active cultural and creative self-expression. The study concludes that the analyzed international exhibition Ukraine. Under a Different Sky, by Ukrainian artists, emerged not only as an artistic event but also as a representative form of cultural self-expression of the nation—a call from Ukraine to the global community to stop the Russian terrorist state. Through artistic means, each work in the exhibition contributes to forming a shared narrative about the Ukrainian people’s national liberation war against the occupier while simultaneously serving as a testimony to this struggle.