Ukrainian Museum

06/17/2026

06/08/2026

Save the date for an extraordinary evening!

The Ukrainian Museum
50th Anniversary Gala
November 8, 2026

Ukrainian Black Tie
Formal invitation to follow.

For more information, please email um50gala@ukrainianmuseum.

05/29/2026

Behind the Iron Curtain: Making Fashion in Soviet Ukraine, 1945–1991
Public Lecture & Archival Film Screening
Saturday June 6
2 – 4 pm

Far from the stereotype of a grey and monotonous Soviet life, post-war Soviet Ukraine developed a vibrant fashion industry shaped by designers, fashion houses, factories, state institutions, and international ambitions. Join us for apublic lecture and a screening of rare archival documentary films from Ukraine, offering a unique insight into fashion production, visual culture, and identity in Soviet Ukraine between 1945 and 1991.

Our guest speaker will be Dr. Olha Korniienko, a historian of modern Ukraine specializing in fashion and culture. Dr. Korniienko will examine the work of fashion houses, designers, and the broader mechanisms through which fashion functioned within the Soviet system. The presentation will also address how Ukrainian fashion was presentedinternationally, and how questions of national identity emerged in tension with central Soviet authority. The screening features rare archival films from Ukraine, including rarely seen footage of fashion houses in Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv, fashion shows, and more. More information and registration are available at the link in our bio.

05/28/2026

UA

Український Музей висловлює солідарність і співчуття колегам в Україні, які вкотре переживають наслідки руйнівних російських атак на культурні інституції — музеї, архіви, бібліотеки, театри, освітні та історичні будівлі.

Місія програми SAFE, створеної для підтримки фахівців культурної сфери, які в умовах війни зберігають спадщину, працюють із колекціями та архівами, будують виставки та нові формати взаємодії з громадами, є надзвичайно важливою для нас.

Нагадуємо, що до 1 червня триває прийом заявок на грантовий конкурс, ініційований у межах програми SAFE спільно з Асоціацією Музеїв України.

Якщо ви куратор(-ка), освітянин(-ка), дослідник(-ця), дизайнер(-ка) чи міждисциплінарний(-а) практик(-иня), що працює з українськими музеями — ми чекаємо на ваші заявки.
Посилання на заявку  — в біо.

EN

The urgency of SAFE’s mission became painfully tangible again this weekend, when Russia launched another massive strike causing one of the largest recent waves of damage to Ukraine’s cultural institutions — impacting museums, archives, libraries, theaters, educational, and historic buildings.

In solidarity with our colleagues across Ukraine, SAFE supports cultural and museum professionals preserving heritage and sustaining communities under the immense pressures of wartime cultural work — rethinking collections, activating archives, designing exhibitions, and creating new forms of public engagement.

Through June 1, we are accepting applications via SAFE Grants Open Call, launched by the Ukrainian Museum in partnership with the Association of Ukrainian Museums in Kyiv. If you are a curator, educator, researcher, designer, or interdisciplinary practitioner working with Ukrainian museums, this is the moment to apply.

Application link and donation links in bio.

05/24/2026

Last night Russia launched one of the most devastating attacks on Kyiv's cultural institutions since the start of the full-scale war. The National Museum "Chornobyl" — just reopened last month after years of restoration — has been almost completely destroyed. The National Art Museum of Ukraine has been severely damaged and is now closed indefinitely. Also struck: the National Philharmonic, the National Library, the Kyiv Opera, and landmarks within the Ancient Kyiv Historical and Architectural Reserve. This is not collateral damage. This is the deliberate destruction of Ukrainian memory.
https://artslooker.com/en/25108/

05/23/2026

BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN: MAKING FASHION IN SOVIET UKRAINE, 1945–1991
Public Lecture & Archival Film Screening
Saturday, June 6
2 – 4 pm

Far from the stereotype of a grey and monotonous Soviet life, post-war Soviet Ukraine developed a vibrant fashion industry shaped by designers, fashion houses, factories, state institutions, and international ambitions. Join us for a public lecture and a screening of rare archival documentary films from Ukraine, offering a unique insight into fashion production, visual culture, and identity in Soviet Ukraine between 1945 and 1991. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Olha Korniienko, a historian of modern Ukraine specializing in fashion and culture. Dr. Korniienko will examine the work of fashion houses, designers, and the broader mechanisms through which fashion functioned within the Soviet system. The presentation will also address how Ukrainian fashion was presented internationally, and how questions of national identity emerged in tension with central Soviet authority. The screening features rare archival films from Ukraine, including rarely seen footage of fashion houses in Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv, fashion shows, and more. More information and tickets are available in the provided link: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/behind-the-iron-curtain-making-fashion-in-soviet-ukraine-1945--1991
Photo: Ukrainian models in the fashion show at Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada.
Source: Soviet Woman, 1967.
Photographer: E. Krastoshevsky.

05/20/2026

Thank you for joining us for the Opening of the luminous Zhyve Polotno / A Living Canvas!

The exhibition reflects the richness of a collection that has grown through the years — a wonderful testament to the Museum’s 50-year history, to the support of our members and community, and to the artists who have made it possible.

A LIVING CANVAS pays tribute to the curatorial team that shaped it and to the institutional memory its members embody: Dr. Myroslava M. Mudrak, Professor Emerita of Art History at The Ohio State University, who has defined the critical frameworks through which Ukrainian modernism is understood; Lubow Wolynetz, the Museum’s Folk Art Curator, whose deep knowledge of the collection’s textile and decorative holdings is unparalleled; founding Director Maria Shust, under whose leadership the Museum’s foundational identity was formed;
Dr. Olha Yarema-Wynar, Textile Conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for over 20 years; and Dr. Maria Rewakowicz , current Head of Collections, whose stewardship has continued
the Museum’s mission to preserve and expand the permanent collection. These five are not only the architects of the exhibition; they are part of the story it brings to life.

Sasha Tochilovsky and Sofia Fani Gutman — the design of this show is breathtaking.

We dedicate the effort of our team to the memory of Alex Neprel.

05/19/2026

PETRYKIVKA PAINTING WORKSHOP
with Kateryna Kryvolap

Join us for a two-hour workshop in the art of Petrykivka, a phenomenon of Ukrainian ornamental folk art which is recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The workshop will be led by Kateryna Kryvolap, a Ukrainian-Canadian artist whose work is inspired by the rich decorative traditions of Petrykivka art, a painting style known since the 17th century. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn the fundamental techniques of this unique art form, including the traditional brush techniques and floral motifs, and create their own composition on canvas. No prior experience is required and each participant will leave with a finished artwork. There are two dates to choose from, Saturday June 13 at 2 – 4 pm or Sunday June 14 at 2 – 4 pm. More information and tickets are available on the provided link to the event webpage: https://www.theukrainianmuseum.org/petrykivka-painting-workshop-with-kateryna-kryvolap/

05/13/2026

ЖИВЕ ПОЛОТНО / A LIVING CANVAS: The Ukrainian Museum at 50
MEMBERS-ONLY PREVIEW
May 16, 6–8 pm

Before A LIVING CANVAS opens to the public on May 17, members are invited to celebrate first. Join us for an evening among the works — and among the community that has sustained this Museum for fifty years. More information about the preview event and a link for members to RSVP are available in the provided link: https://mailchi.mp/ukrainianmuseum/two-new-exhibitions-opening-on-may-16-a-living-canvas-and-earth-june-2173796

Artwork:
Halyna Mazepa
Dance
1956, oil on board
Gift of Ilarion and Svitlana Cholhan

05/12/2026

ЖИВЕ ПОЛОТНО / A LIVING CANVAS opens May 17, with a special members’ preview on May 16. Please see the link in our bio to register.

A century ago, fine and folk arts were considered separate entities. Rigid academic conventions designated their practitioners as, on the one hand, “artists” and, on the other, “applied artists” or artisans or craftspeople. The unique character of Ukrainian modern art lies precisely in the fact that these two worlds were always closely allied in the nation’s cultural consciousness. Despite the hierarchies imposed by European academics, most Ukrainians recognized no real division between these two powerful forms of human expression.

A Living Canvas traces the continuities inherent in a native Ukrainian aesthetic. It focuses on formal elements that illustrate the deep affinities between the fine and folk art creations of Ukrainian masters — works that, collectively, express a worldview of hope and expectation, an ever-present quality of the Ukrainian sensibility.