Kultura 2025. Exploring Ukraine’s visual culture | Full course

What is the role of art and visual culture in shaping and defining identities? How can we ascribe artists and artworks from historical periods and geographies to contemporary nation-states? What is the value of art, especially in the time of war? And can it be weaponised or used as a tool of cultural diplomacy? Within the eight weeks of the Ukrainian Institute London’s Kultura course, we will delve into all these questions and more.

For centuries, Ukrainian art remained marginalised within dominant art historical narratives, its visual culture either suppressed or appropriated by imperial regimes. Yet creativity endured. Across generations, Ukrainians have drawn upon this resilient cultural heritage to redefine identity and assert nationhood. From the frescoes of Kyivan Rus’, Taras Shevchenko’s etchings, and Bruno Schulz’s illustrations to the modernist innovations in decorative arts and architecture, and the dynamic art scene of independent Ukraine, Kultura traces the richness and endurance of Ukraine’s visual culture, past and present.

Kultura offers a unique opportunity to engage with leading experts from around the globe.

• Comprehensive course handbook and materials.
• Engaging discussions with lecturers and fellow students.
• On-demand access to recorded video lectures for flexible learning.

The course is designed with no expectation of prior knowledge of art or Ukrainian history.
Over the span of eight online seminars, leading specialists in the visual culture of Ukraine will guide participants through key themes, movements, and contexts. The programme culminates in an exclusive concluding ninth seminar featuring a live Q&A with Kultura lecturers and three renowned contemporary Ukrainian artists: Oleg Tistol, Pavlo Kerestey and Maryna Skugareva, offering a rare opportunity for direct dialogue and reflection.

The course will be held via Zoom and conducted in English.
Course coordinator: Constance Uzwyshyn, Ukrainian Institute London/University of Cambridge 
Course co-curators: Constance Uzwyshyn and Katia Denysova

Dates

8 weeks: 22 September – 10 November, with a concluding seminar on 13 November 2025
18:30 – 20:00 (London Time) (NB final seminar 18:30 – 20:30)

Fees

Early bird discount available until 7 September!

Full course: £260 general (£180 student) — includes a Certificate of Completion, and full course materials.
One seminar: £35 general (£25 student) — includes course materials and video recording for the seminar attended.

Friends and Benefactors of the Institute are also eligible for a discount. Please check your emails for the checkout code.
Full course: £236 general (£162 student).
One seminar: £31.50 general (£22.50 student).

How to enrol

Click Register to the right to sign up for the full course, or browse individual seminars here.
Should you have any queries, please email us at info@uil.org.uk. We will aim to respond within five working days.

Individual seminars

22 September Kyiv’s Medieval Glory: Things in Heaven and Earth

29 September The Web of Images: Vision, Memory, and Meditation in Early Modern Ukrainian Culture

6 October Taras Shevchenko and Printmaking in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

13 October Folk Impulse in Ukraine’s Modernist Art

20 October Modern Architecture and Planning in Early Soviet Kharkiv

27 October Ukrainian Traces in the Works of Bruno Schulz

3 November Ukrainian Mosaics of the Soviet Period: Between Official Ideology and National Sensibility

10 November Ukrainian Contemporary Art and Feminism: Histories within a History

13 November What is the Value of Art? The Ukrainian Art Market and the Impact of the Russian Full-Scale Invasion