We look forward to welcoming you to the BAPCR talk by Valeriia Kravchenko, Marharyta Khrebtenko and Ahneta Shashkova, who will present a three-part talk on Ukrainian Icon Painting.
This talk will begin by introducing the Ukrainian Icon: a unique phenomenon that originates from the times of Kyivan Rus in the 10th century, and comes from the Byzantine icon painting tradition. Evolving through the centuries, the tradition has over time acquired a national and uniquely Ukrainian character. Drawing from personal experience as an icon painter practitioner, Valeriia Kravchenko will discuss the place of icon painting tradition in modern Ukraine, the challenges that it has within the historic Churches in Ukraine such as the Russian Orthodox Church, and its impact on Ukrainian identity.
In the second part of the talk, Marharyta Khrebtenko will discuss the features of Ukrainian Baroque icon painting technique and their role in Ukrainian self identification as a nation, focusing on the Left Bank of Ukraine’s icon paintings of the second half of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century. This was the land of Ukrainian warriors – Cossacks – also called the Hetmanate, named after their military commander the Hetman. Marharyta will chart this important period in the history of Ukrainian icon painting and the way in which it inspired many Ukrainian artists, writers, and political figures to defend the right to national self-identification during the difficult times of the struggle for independence.
In the final section, Ahneta Shashkova will focus on the attribution and conservation of icons by Ivan Yizhakevych from the 1940’s and 1950’s, held within the collections of three functioning Kyiv churches. These icons are rich in unusual techniques and characterised by numerous changes made by the artist. Yizhakevych’s unique record of Ukrainian genetic memory through the use of relatives and fellow villagers as models will be discussed, alongside his co-authorship of some works with his student and friend F. Konovalyuk.
Valeriia Kravchenko is a trained icon painter and conservator-restorer from Dnipro, Ukraine. She holds a Master’s in the Conservation and Restoration of Easel Paintings from the Kyiv National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Ukraine and a Bachelor’s from the Lviv National Academy of Arts. She trained as a fine artist with a specialism in icon painting at Dnipro Theatrical-Art College. Valeriia designs and paints original icons for commission, including gilded gesso relief. Through her passion for making art more accessible and inclusive, Valeriia collaborated with design teams in Dnipro to make museum collections accessible to the blind and partially sighted. Since 2017 Valeriia has been a partner in the UA-UK Cultural Heritage Initiative, a grassroots movement to promote collaboration & networking between UK and Ukrainian conservators.
Marharyta Khrebtenko is a trained conservator of easel paintings from Kyiv, Ukraine. She obtained a BA and MA degrees in conservation-restoration at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 2014 Marharyta has been working at the National Research and Conservation Centre of Ukraine in the Ukrainian Icon Paintings department. While working on conservation treatments she became interested in studying the history, construction, gilding and painting techniques of icons. In 2021 she obtained a PhD degree for the thesis “Iconography in Left-Bank Ukraine and Kyiv Region in the second half of the 17th – first half of the 18th century. Technique, technology and restoration features.”
Ahneta Shashkova is a trained conservator-restorer and artist from Kyiv, Ukraine. She holds ВA and MA degrees from the Kyiv National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. She had also finished her postgraduate doctoral studies at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, but did not have time to defend her thesis due to the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine. The topic of her thesis is “Iсons of I.S. Izhakevych 1940-1950. Features of attribution and restoration”. She trained as a fine artist with a specialism in decorative art at Dnipro Theatrical-Art College. She is a trained master of Petrykyvka, a decorative painting technique, which was included in UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2013.
Entry is free of charge to members of the BAPCR (but please email [email protected] to let Gemma know that you will be attending either in person or via Zoom). Non-members can attend via Zoom (£5 per person) or in person at the Art Workers Guild, London (£10 per person). Wine and soft drinks will be available to purchase before and after the talk at the Art Workers Guild.
