Matviy Vaisberg,The Wall 28/01–08/03/2014, no. 24. Courtesy of the artist.

Matviy Vaisberg,The Wall 28/01–08/03/2014, no. 24. Courtesy of the artist.

Peer-reviewed articles What art knows about democracy The aesthetics of the Revolution in Ukraine 2013–2014

Based in part on interviews and fieldwork, this article analyzes how artworks produced during the Ukrainian Revolution (2013–2014) present the political emergence of the Ukrainian people as a collective fused by bonds of solidarity. At first characterized by a strong universal thrust, presenting a boundless democratic anticipation, this solidarity was subsequently contained by religious-political traditions and specific forms of self-sacrificing and masculinist nationalism, often projected as a revolutionary utopia in its own right, which has been operationalized in the defense against Russia’s invasion. To substantiate the argument, the text analyzes numerous artworks from the Ukrainian Revolution. These interpretations demonstrate how aesthetic acts contribute to the production of bonds of solidarity that transcend existing modes of political and cultural representation of Ukraine.

Published in the printed edition of Baltic Worlds BW 2024: 1-2. pages 58-73
Published on balticworlds.com on April 23, 2024

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abstract

Based in part on interviews and fieldwork, this article analyzes how artworks produced during the Ukrainian Revolution (2013–2014) present the political emergence of the Ukrainian people as a collective fused by bonds of solidarity. At first characterized by a strong universal thrust, presenting a boundless democratic anticipation, this solidarity was subsequently contained by religious-political traditions and specific forms of self-sacrificing and masculinist nationalism, often projected as a revolutionary utopia in its own right, which has been operationalized in the defense against Russia’s invasion. To substantiate the argument, the text analyzes numerous artworks from the Ukrainian Revolution. These interpretations demonstrate how aesthetic acts contribute to the production of bonds of solidarity that transcend existing modes of political and cultural representation of Ukraine.
Keywords: Political aesthetics, art and revolution, crowds, Ukraine, social movements in art and culture

Read the full article as a pdf, download OA.

The article is part of a theme on Maidan 10 years after, to be downloaded here.>>

Stefan Jonsson

  • by Stefan Jonsson

    Professor in Ethnic Studies and Head of the Division of Migration, Ethnicity and Society (REMESO) at Linköping University, Sweden.

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