UFDA's Articles: Insights into Ukraine's Art and Culture 69

This year marks the centenary of Pavlo Bedzir’s birth—an occasion to reflect not only on his artistic journey, but also on the man himself, the mentor, and the quiet yet profound influence he had on those around him.

In a new episode of the UFDA podcast, cultural theorist and curator Liona Radchenko talks about what it means to live and work between Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro during a full-scale war.

In a new episode of the UFDA podcast, artist and illustrator Mitia Fenechkin talks about how the full-scale invasion changed his practice, why he chose a pause instead of automatic productivity, and how an art book assembled from “old” drawings became both a personal archive and a fundraising tool.

Petro Bevza's studio is a space where time slows down and attention sharpens. Here, external noise gives way to inner perception, and creativity becomes a gesture of responsibility and action. In this conversation, the artist reflects on his own practice through the lens of a vertical generation as a continuous dialogue with the classics, on paying tribute to the defenders of Ukraine in art, and on the light that sustains a person even in times of destruction.

Майстерня Петра Бевзи — це простір, де час сповільнюється, а увага загострюється. Тут зовнішній шум поступається внутрішньому чуттю, а творчість стає актом відповідальності й дії. У розмові художник розмірковує про власну практику крізь призму вертикального покоління як постійного діалогу із класиками, про шану до захисників України в мистецтві та про світло, яке підтримує людину навіть у часи руйнування.

2025 marked a pivotal year for UFDA — the official launch of our project. It was a year of beginnings, challenges, important decisions, and, most importantly, a year of working together to preserve and promote Ukrainian contemporary art.

In the new episode of the UFDA podcast, historian and curator Leonid Maruschak talks about how the full-scale war has changed museum work and attitudes toward cultural heritage in Ukraine. The conversation touches on the evacuation of collections, bureaucratic dead ends, private archives, the story of Zhanna Kadyrova’s deer from Pokrovsk, as well as the role of initiatives like UFDA in preserving art.

UFDA’s open catalogue of Ukrainian digitized art is growing! Recently, our team digitized new works by Olena Kurzel, which are available for exploring in full resolution.