GLENDALE, CA - Between War and Nostalgia: A Ukrainian Trajectory is a group exhibition that considers and reflects on Ukraine’s recent history and its emergence as a post-Soviet nation while grappling with invasion and war. The artists in the exhibit stare directly at Russia’s assaults on their homeland and the ravages it has wreaked on their communities, psyche, and property while articulating their relationship to their homeland through memory, family, and return. Collectively, the artists construct a vision of Ukrainian resilience and defiance.
Between War and Nostalgia: A Ukrainian Trajectory will be on view from December 21, 2024, through March 9, 2025, at ReflectSpace Gallery, inside Glendale Central Library, located at 222 East Harvard, Glendale, CA. Visit here to learn more.
Event Details:
Exhibition Dates: December 21, 2024 - March 9, 2025
Artist Reception: Saturday, January 4, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Historical Background:
When the Russian Empire annexed much of Ukraine in 1793, it launched a long history of occupation and resistance between these two nations. Over the centuries, Russia has repressed and attempted to erase Ukrainian culture, language, and identity in occupied territories. Under Soviet rule, Stalin’s genocidal death-by-starvation policy resulted in the Holodomor (1932-33) and the deaths of millions of Ukrainians. After the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, Ukraine declared independence and moved closer to Europe, increasing tensions with Russia.
The current war began in February 2014. Following Ukraine's revolution to oust their pro-Russian president, Russia occupied and then annexed Crimea, a historically contested region between the two countries. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine—the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II. The war has ebbed and flowed over various Eastern Ukrainian borders and has caused over 30,000 civilian deaths and almost 10 million refugees.
About the Exhibit:
Against this backdrop, the artists in Between War and Nostalgia willfully straddle multiple borders between Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora. Four Ukraine-based artists—Oleksandr Glyadelov, Maksym Mazur, Mariia Matiienko, and Andrii Pidlisnyi—have witnessed the occupation, independence and the horrors of war, and their work is unflinching expression of their experiences. Whether documentary or conceptual, the artists address their lived experiences. Jennifer Remenchik, Yuri Boykov, and Christy Roberts Berkowitz are based in Los Angeles and have deep connections to Ukraine, either historically or through more recent returns. Their work speaks to the nuances of diasporic life: reflections on distance from the homeland and grappling with memory.
In the PassageWay Gallery, photographic work co-curated by Glenn Ruga, founder and director of Social Documentary Network, spans a wide range of Ukrainian life from the urban every day, to ravages of war, to farm life.
Taken together, the artists in Between War and Nostalgia present a personal and panoramic view of Ukraine today—its defiance and nuanced lived experience.
Between War and Nostalgia: A Ukrainian Trajectory is co-curated by Ara & Anahid Oshagan and Glenn Ruga.
ReflectSpace artists:
Yuri Boykov
Oleksandr Glyadelov
Mariia Matiienko
Maksym Mazur
Andrii Pidlisnyi
Jennifer Remenchik
Christy Roberts Berkowitz
PassageWay photographers:
Yunus Emre Caylak
Alena Grom
Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaac
Stella Kilinina
Patrick Patterson
Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez