The exhibition ‘In the eye of the hurricane. vanguard in Ukraine1900-1930‘ has generated understandable expectation internationally for obvious reasons. On the one hand, due to its relevance when it comes to giving Ukrainian art legitimacy beyond the Soviet context in which it had been included until now, just at the moment of war and territorial, cultural and historical appropriation in which we find ourselves. ; on the other, because of the speed with which it has managed to materialize successfully in such adverse circumstances. A few days after the invasion of Russia, Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, strongly linked to the art of the country through her father, proposed to make this exhibition as kamikaze as essential. The museum already had works by Ukrainian authors who were registered within the Russian avant-garde, so it was time to give them their own identity and claim them above labels that until now had constrained them.
President Volodímir Zelensky and his office were involved from the beginning and, for this reason, he had a few words through a recorded message, at the opening press conference of this exhibition that, in addition, It serves to safeguard the country’s heritage from attacks and looting that are taking placesince they will be kept at the Thyssen Museum until April 30, 2023 and then they will continue in Europe at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.
Thus, through 70 works, it will be possible to pay tribute to the Ukrainian artists who precisely exercised their creation during another convulsive period that takes us from the outbreak of the First World War, to the revolutions of 1917, passing through the independence of Ukraine and the subsequent creation of the Soviet Ukraine subjected to a repressive Stalinism. Death, constant destruction, but also an impulse for constant experimentation, resistance and denunciation in which isms, folklore, local traditions and Byzantine influence are mixed, and which include artists such as Oleksandr Bohomazov, Vasyl Yermilov, Anatol Petrytskyi, Sonia Delauney, Alexandra Exter o Malevich.
A film could be made with the inside story of this exhibition. “Every Monday kyiv is bombed in the morning, it is the alarm clock with which the city wakes up, so we had organized the departure convoy on Tuesday,” Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza recounted during the press conference. “But on Monday there were no bombs, so we thought they had changed their strategy.” When the paintings had been packed and they were advancing on their journey, the attacks began. The drivers had to avoid them until they reached the border with Poland, where they received the warning of a missile. It was a false alarm, but the collapse was complete between the flow of refugees and the general panic. It took hours to resume the journey while everyone held their breath.
Finally, the heroic mission has had a happy ending and the works of art are safe. “Putin, just like what happened with Stalin, not only wants to appropriate Ukraine, but also its narrative, and that includes the destruction of its heritage,” the baroness continued, to which the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltev, has added how important this sample is since Russia has always wanted to steal the identity of its country. “In a way, it is a cultural genocide, now that it is 90 years since the Holomor genocide, in which so many people died. Culture does not kill, but it steals identity”.