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MoMA’s New Gallery ‘In Solidarity’ Reveals Work By Ukrainian-Born Artists

MoMA in Manhattan's new gallery In Solidarity
MoMA [Image by jrmrt on Pixabay]

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Manhattan has dedicated a special gallery to the work of artists born in Ukraine. Titled “In Solidarity,” the gallery debuted in late March on the museum’s fifth floor. Meanwhile, Gallery 507 includes work in multiple mediums of artists from varying backgrounds.

In Solidarity at MoMA

The work at the museum includes the photography of renowned New York street photographer, Weegee, AKA Arthur Fellig. The photographer was born in what was then Austria-Hungary, and later Poland, and eventually Ukraine.

Meanwhile, it also includes work by the avant-garde Russian painter Kazimir Malevich, who was born in Kyiv. Gallery 507 also displays work by the Russian sculptor Louise Nevelson, who was also born in Kyiv and is known for her monochromatic wood installations.

Meanwhile, in an area of the world where international borders often shift, it isn’t surprising that many of the featured artists have Russian, Polish and Soviet roots. However, it was the decision of the curatorial team that those origins not be noted on the display copy.

MoMA’s chief curator of painting and sculpture, Ann Temkin told ARTNews about their choice. She said, “Nationality, which so happens to be where a person’s passport is, doesn’t give the full picture.”

The gallery’s wall text explains that some of the featured artists grew up in Kyiv. Meanwhile, others ended up in creative cities like Paris, Moscow and Berlin. More, especially those of Jewish descent seeking refuge, headed to New York.

However, all the artists are brought together in MoMA “as a statement of solidarity with, and in tribute to, the people of Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s museums taking action to preserve art

Since Russia first started its latest invasion of Ukraine, museums across the country have been working to secure their treasures. Curators hastily took down exhibitions and moved art and other artifacts to safety. Meanwhile, various artifacts were moved to underground bomb shelters, while other pieces were placed in safe hands overseas.

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Director Tanya Pylypchuk of the literary museum in Kharkiv told Time that the most valuable part of the collection was moved to a bunker shortly after the war began. This work included documentation that proved that Ukraine wanted to be part of Europe, not Russia.

“Such materials were banned in the Soviet Union…. Modern Russia also does not accept this version of Ukrainian history.”

Meanwhile, Ihor Poshyvailo, director of the Maidan Museum in Kyiv told Time that this is a war against Ukraine’s history and culture.

Ukrainian citizens protecting art and culture

The museums are not alone, as Ukrainian communities are also moving to protect their heritage and artistic future. This included concerned citizens in Lviv, who wrapped the city’s historic statues in plastic. Another was a curator who managed to take the unique art created for the 2022 Venice Biennale across the border to Poland in her own car.

Ironically, it isn’t just Ukrainian art that is being protected. During March, when the city was under siege, employees at the Kharkiv Art Museum risked their own lives. They did so to protect a 25,000-item collection, largely by Russian artists, safe from the shelling.

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At the time, Maryna Filatova, the museum’s foreign art department head, told Reuters that it was “simply irony of fate” that they should be saving the work of Russian artists from their own nation.

While the situation in Ukraine is ongoing, visitors are encouraged to visit MoMA to view the iconic work on display in the In Solidarity gallery.

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