Modernism in Kyiv
Makaryk, Irena R.; Tkacz, Virlana
The study of modernism has been largely focused on Western cultural centres such as Paris, Vienna, London, and New York. Extravagantly illustrated with over 300 photos and reproductions, Modernism in Kyiv demonstrates that the Ukrainian capital was a major centre of performing and visual arts as well as literary and cultural activity. While arguing that Kyiv's modernist impulse is most prominently displayed in the experimental work of Les Kurbas, one of the masters of the early Soviet stage, the contributors also examine the history of the city and the artistic production of diverse groups including Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, and Poles.
Until now a silent presence in Western accounts of the cultural topography of modernism, multicultural Kyiv is here restored to its historical, intellectual, and artistic complexity. Excerpts taken from the works of artists, writers, and critics as well as the numerous illustrations help give life to the exciting creativity of this period. The first book-length examination of this subject, Modernism in Kyiv is a breakthrough accomplishment that will become a standard volume in the field.
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About Makaryk, Irena R.; Tkacz, Virlana
Reviews for Modernism in Kyiv
Oksana Zakydalsky, The Ukrainian Weekly 'Impressive, richly illustrated volume...This book is successful in creating a strong impression of early twentieth century Kyiv as a bustling and sophisticated major cultural centre... A careful reading of this book will prove an eye opening experience both for specialists and general readers.'
Marko Robrt Stech
Canadian Slavonic Papers: vol52:3-4:2010
‘This book is a fun read that captures the exuberance of the time, place, and the people that it describes. It is highly recommended to anyone interested in Modernism, in Ukrainian art and literature, to anyone with a desire to live, to experience, to try something new. ’
Natalie Kononenko
Slavic & East European Review; vol 55:02:2011
‘We should be grateful to Makaryk and Tkacz for selecting, editing, and publishing such a rich concordance to the study of international Modernism.’
John E. Bowlt
Slavonica
‘Modernism in Kyiv, a massive, richly illustrated collection of essays, provides a spectacular introduction to the artistic life of this city.’
Robert Crane
Theatre Journal
"Irena Makaryk and Virlana Tkacz’s volume on the dynamic cultural life of Kyiv in the age of modernism represents a momentous achievement in English-language scholarship on Ukrainian culture. The volume recovers the neglected but rich modernist culture of Ukraine for the English-speaking reader, but its significance is, by virtue of the scope and framing of the project, also wider than this: in its attention to transnational cultural dynamics and (neo)colonial frameworks and attitudes, the volume represents a corrective to the metropolitan orientation of scholarship on modernist culture."
Uilleam Blacker, University College London
Harvard Ukrainian Studies