19 December 2024 – 23 March 2025
This exhibition showcases thirteen artists from the Museum’s permanent collection who acknowledge the versatility and impact of Ukrainian folk art tradition on their artistic practice, while striving for an innovative edge in designs that combine both functionality and beauty. The rich tradition of Ukrainian decorative crafts, including embroidery, weaving, wood carving, glass, and pottery, as well as such folk symbols as the tree of life or pysanky (Easter eggs), find their manifestations in the displayed objects in a thoroughly transformed way, as if looking through a contemporary lens. The featured artists, whether from Ukraine or the diaspora, share a common heritage. Their works represent the wide spectrum of materials typically used in contemporary decorative and applied arts, from textiles to wood, from ceramics to glass and stone.
A key aspect of Beyond Tradition is its diversity of genres: a tapestry is in a dialog with filigreed ceramic bowls; abstract wood sculptures converse with glass vases; a textile artwork is juxtaposed with a stone sculpture with a shattered pysanka. Each artist presents their own unique way of reinterpreting the known cultural tradition to showcase new dimensions in contemporary designs.
