Ukrainian Folk Art & Alexandra Exter

Ukrainian folk art has been an inspiration for many modern artists. In the Ukrainian villages of Verbivka and Skoptsky, well-known Ukrainian modernists such as Kazimir Malevich, Alexandra Exter, and Yevhenia Prybylska worked together with local folk artists in workshops to create a new kind of Ukrainian embroidery based on modern suprematist, or abstract, designs. Exter’s fascination with and admiration for Ukrainian folk art began even before these workshops and were reflected in her work. Join us at The Ukrainian Museum for a presentation by Kyiv art historian and creator of the account “Ukrainian Art History” on X (formerly Twitter), Oksana Semenik, who will discuss Exter’s lesser-known paintings inspired by Ukrainian folk art, the village workshops that Exter organized, and her dress designs, which combine Ukrainian traditional costume and embroidery with the fashion of the 1920s. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Oksana Semenik is an art historian, journalist, researcher, and creator of the account “Ukrainian Art History” on X (formerly Twitter). She currently works as a researcher at The Ukrainian Museum in New York. She’s also the author of the podcast Our Art on Radio Culture, which discusses Ukrainian art history on the national broadcast company Suspilne. Semenik continues researching the Chornobyl catastrophe and its impact on Ukrainian art and is writing a book about Maria Prymachenko. She studied art history at Taras Shevchenko Kyiv University and Rutgers University, and was a non-residential Fellow of the University of Toronto in 2023.

Host or Publisher The Ukrainian Museum