Pioneering women in Ukraine

This exhibition aims to tell the stories of women who have accomplished something unique in the past and those who are doing this now, those who have built up their communities and unlocked new pathways for the next generations of women. Today, some of these trailblazers are getting more public recognition in Ukraine: for example, women’s movement’s founder Nataliya Kobrynska and feminist scholar Solomiya Pavlychko. Other figures remain obscure. We chose seven heroines from Ukraine’s past whose stories we would like to make widely known, and seven contemporaries who tell their own stories during interviews. The fifteenth text presents an imaginary portrait of the “unknown Ukrainian woman”. The project’s aims are reflected in the design of the exhibition, which utilises vytynanka, a form of artistic papercutting that has long been a way of creative self- expression for women.In vytynanka, the image is created through the combination of filled and empty spaces, a brilliant metaphor for women’s history which is shaped by endless blind spots. To a certain extent, the selection of figures for this project is arbitrary. Although we consciously chose the heroines from diverse ethnic backgrounds and professions, the exhibition claims to be neither representative nor canon-shaping. We hope that this is just one among many activities celebrating women’s achievements.