Ewa Sułek

Project

Research career and academic work

I have received my master’s degree at the Institute of Art History at the University of Warsaw. I have also studied at the University of Cambridge (Faculty of Architecture and the History of Art). My master’s thesis Avant-garde in the service of totalitarian systems. Soviet and German photomontage 1925-1939 examined the process of functioning of avant-garde art in the countries of totalitarian systems, carried out on the example of photomontage in fascist Germany and communist Russia (USSR).

International research experience and cooperation

–    PhD visiting student, Cambridge Ukrainian Studies, Section of Slavonic Studies, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge, UK

–    Donbas Studies Summer School, IZOLYATSIA Platform For Cultural Initiatives, Ukraine.

Research interests

My research interests lay between two scientific disciplines – history of art and political sciences. I conduct research on Ukrainian contemporary art created in the conditions of hybrid war with Russia, and on post-Soviet transformation of both artistic and exhibition spaces. I am particularly interested in institutional strategies of functioning, including their political involvement, as well as curatorial and artistic strategies, the iconography of conflict and the exhibitions’ narratives.

I am also interested in the violence against art that took place in Ukraine in the post-Maidan period, which was related to identity issues.

I am conducting research on the impact of the 2015 decommunization laws on art and culture, including the phenomenon of modern decommunization and “leninopad”, the mass demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine in the period 2013-2016.

Read more

https://ewasulek.academia.edu/

Scientific activities

Publications

1. The Past Living in the Future: Ukrainian Politics of Memory in Visual Arts After the Maidan Revolution, in: Switch (on Paper), 2020.
2. Wymazywanie. Wpływ polityki pamięci na przestrzeń kulturową Ukrainy po roku 2014, in: Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis. Studia Politologica, vol. XII, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Cracow 2020.
3. Sztuka Europy Wschodniej / Art of Eastern Europe / Искусство Восточной Европы, vol. VII, Sztuka ukraińska XX wieku i polsko-ukraińskie związki artystyczne, Polski Instytut Studiów Nad Sztuką Swiata / Polish Institute For World Art Studies, Warsaw 2019

–              editor of the volume (together with prof. Jerzy Malinowski and Agnieszka Pospiszil)

–              author of the article Nacprom. W poszukiwaniu piękna narodowych stereotypów.

4. Borys Michajłow i charkowska szkoła fotografii w Pinchuk Art Centre w Kijowie, in: Sztuka i Krytyka / Art and Criticism, nr 9 (84), Warsaw 2019.
5. Chłopak z pianinem. O sztuce i wojnie na Ukrainie. PWN, Warsaw 2018.
6. Nadchodząca rewolucja – proces czy proroctwo? O narracjach kuratorskich wystaw sztuki ukraińskiej w roku 2014, in: Sztuka i Krytyka / Art and Criticism, nr 5 (68), Warsaw 2018.
7. Estetyka rewolucyjna czy nowa forma nacjonalizmu? Sztuka ulicy w Kijowie w latach 2013-2016, in: Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis. Studia de Arte et Educatione, vol. XII, Kultura wizualna jako dyskursywny element przestrzeni publicznej, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Cracow 2017.

Awards and prizes

IAFOR scholarship, Brighton, UK, 2019.

Conferences

1. The European Conference on Arts and Humanities, IAFOR Academic Forum, Brighton, UK, 2019, conference paper: The past living in the future: Ukrainian politics of memory in visual arts after the Maidan Revolution.
2. The Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society: Arts and Communication, Arts in Society Research Network, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, 2019, conference paper: Leninopad, the last fall of Lenin. On demolition of Soviet monuments in Ukraine.
3. International Conference Place of Memory and Memory of Place, London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Oxford, UK, 2019, conference paper: The past living in the future: Ukrainian politics of memory in visual arts after the Maidan Revolution.
4. Ukraińskie światy dzieciństwa i młodości, Pracownia Badań nad Ukraińską Tożsamością, University of Warsaw, 2019, conference paper: Od Majdanu do porewolucyjnego porządku. Wątki tożsamościowe w sztuce ulicy Kijowa.
5. Polityka a sztuka. Instytucje – twórcy – działania, University of Zielona Góra, 2019, conference paper: Wymazywanie. Polityka pamięci w twórczości ukraińskich artystów po roku 2014.
6. International Conference on Slavonic and East European Studies: Traditions and Transformations, University College London, UK, 2018, conference paper: Leninopad, the last fall of Vladimir Lenin.
7. Sztuka rewolucyjna, Silesian University in Katowice, 2018, conference paper: Estetyka rewolucyjna czy nowa forma nacjonalizmu? Sztuka ulicy w Kijowie 2013-2016.
8. O Ukrainie interdyscyplinarnie, University of Wrocław, 2018, conference paper: Nadchodząca rewolucja: przeczucie czy proroctwo? Wybrane wątki w sztuce ukraińskiej 2000-2013.
9. Kultura i Rewolta, University of Warsaw, 2018, conference paper: Leninopad. Ostatni upadek Lenina.

Internships and research stays

1. PhD visiting student, Cambridge Ukrainian Studies, Section of Slavonic Studies, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge, UK, 8.10-8.12.2019.
2. Donbas Studies Summer School, IZOLYATSIA. Platform For Cultural Initiatives, Kyiv, Ukraine, 24.06-2.07.2019.
3. Curatorial residency “Sorry, no rooms available”, Uzhorod, Ukraine, 24.05-7.06.2018.

Curator of art exhibitions:

Stan zagrożenia / State of Danger, Pracownia Duży Pokój, Warsaw, 13.09-04.10.2019.

Author

Animals Who Ate Their Humans, theatre play about the war in Donbas, ADC Theatre, Corpus Playroom, Cambridge, UK, 10-14.03.2020.