“In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine” recreates the polyphony of artistic approaches and identities in the early twentieth century. The exhibition tells the story of modernist artists and the visual experiments through which they sought to renew Ukraine’s culture and autonomy. The territory of Ukraine was divided between various empires for centuries. Nonetheless, the periods of sovereignty in its history contributed to the development of a distinct identity which, in the nineteenth century, was consolidated into a national consciousness advocated by artists and writers. This a complex history produced a unique cultural profile, born from the fusion of Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, and Jewish communities.

Modernism in Ukraine unfolded against the complicated sociopolitical backdrop: World War I, the collapse of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, the revolutions of 1917, the independence of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (1918–21), and the subsequent absorption of Ukrainian lands by the Soviet Union and the Second Polish Republic. Yet despite the political turmoil, this was a period when Ukrainian culture truly flourished.

“In the Eye of the Storm”, one of the most comprehensive surveys of modern art from Ukraine to date, is a traveling project that has previously been shown in such European cities as Madrid, Vienna, and London. The current edition presents a revamped selection of artworks from three Ukrainian museums – the National Museum of Art, the Museum of Theater, Music and Cinema and the National Museum of Decorative Art – shown in dialogue with pieces from the avant-garde holdings of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź and several private collections.

The exhibition is available from 27.06.2025 to 01.02.2026.

Read more: https://msl.org.pl/en/eye-storm-modernism-ukraine