Neocolonialism, Memory, and Cultural Resistance: Ukrainian Art under Attack

• In Event: Contested Memory and Resistance to Neocolonialism in Ukraine’s Culture I

Abstract

This paper focuses on the substantial decolonial changes that Ukrainian art has undergone in the last three years, following the full-scale invasion, and examines how collective resistance to neocolonialism shaped the reinterpretations of the contested memory of historical colonialism.
The paper encompasses the postcolonial and decolonial stages of Ukrainian art’s development vis-à-vis a broader backdrop of global tectonic shifts, including newly emerging processes of integration and disintegration, as well as the reconsideration of the center-periphery model formed after WWII. Its focus on politically and socially engaged art practices permits tracing important transformations of public memory and collective knowledge through the lens of resilience and a quest for epistemic justice.

Author

• Svitlana Biedarieva, Independent Scholar