Yevgenia Belorusets, Victories of the Defeated 5 from the series Victories of the Defeated, photographs and text, 2014-2017. Courtesy of the artist and Fridman Gallery, New York.
School of Art Gallery presents Women at War
Women at War
The School of Art Gallery is honoured to present Women at War, featuring works by a selection of the leading contemporary women artists working in Ukraine, and provides context for the current war, as represented in art across media.
February 29 to April 27, 2024
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 29, 5:00-8:00 pm\
Yevgenia Belorusets, Oksana Chepelyk, Olia Fedorova, Alena Grom, Zhanna Kadyrova, Alevtina Kakhidze, Dana Kavelina, Lesia Khomenko, Vlada Ralko, Anna Scherbyna, Kateryna Yermolaeva, and Alla Horska (1929–70). Curated by Monika Fabijanska. Produced by Fridman Gallery, New York, in collaboration with Voloshyn Gallery, Kyiv
Women at War features works by leading contemporary women artists working in Ukraine, and provides context for the current war. Several works in the exhibition were made after February 24, 2022, when Russia began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine; others date from the eight years of war following the annexation of Crimea and the creation of separatist Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” in Donbas in 2014.
War is central to history. History has been written (and painted) by men. This exhibition provides a platform for women narrators of history and also examines gendered perspectives of war. Many artists in this exhibition struggle with the notion of victimhood and pose the question in what way women have agency during war.
Curated by a New York-based curator Monika Fabijanska, this exhibition was organized by Fridman Gallery in New York, www.fridmangallery.com, in collaboration with Voloshyn Gallery – a prominent art gallery in Kyiv, www.voloshyngallery.com, and presented at Fridman Gallery in New York in July-August 2022. It was organized as a response to the full-scale invasion of Russia on Ukraine, and brought to New York the works by outstanding artists, some of whom stayed in Ukraine, while some found temporary refuge in the West. Several of the works presented in Women at War had been featured in museum exhibitions and biennials internationally.
Women at War traveled to the Eastern Connecticut State University; Wesleyan University, CT; and Stanford in Washington, D.C. From Florida State University Museum of Fine Art in Tallahassee, it will travel to the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Chicago Cultural Center, and San Diego State University.
The exhibition, curated by Monika Fabijanska, was listed among ten best art exhibitions of 2022 by both The Washington Post and Frieze. It is accompanied by a catalog.
This exhibition is presented at the School of Art Gallery in partnership with the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, University of Manitoba, with sponsorship from the Shevchenko Foundation. Additional funding provided by the University of Manitoba’s Arthur V. Mauro Institute for Peace & Justice, Centre for Defence and Security Studies; Department of German and Slavic Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies Program, through the Margaret Laurence Endowment Fund.
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Public Programming:
Monika Fabijanska Curatorial Talk: Women at War
Thursday, February 29, 12:00-1:30 pm
364 ARTlab
Exhibition Tour: Women at War with Monika Fabijanska
Friday, March 1, 12:00-1:00 pm
School of Art Gallery
Professors Iraida and Michael Tarnawecky 2024 Distinguished Lecture: Ihor Ostash: Ukrainian Cultural Heritage in the Time of Russian Aggression
Monday, March 11, 7:00-8:30 pm
136 ARTlab
Ukrainian Language Exhibition Tours: Women at War
Thursday, March 14, 12:00-1:00 pm
Thursday, March 21, 6:00-7:00 pm
School of Art Gallery
Monika Fabijanska, Olia Fedorova, and Alevtina Kakhidze in Conversation
Wednesday, March 20, 12:00-1:30 pm CST
Live-streaming on YouTube
Screening: The Short Films of Dana Kavelina
Thursday, March 21, 7:00-8:30 pm
136 ARTlab
Lesia Khomenko Artist Talk
Wednesday, March 27, 12:00-1:00 pm
368 ARTlab