VISUAL ART CALENDAR
October 1
Boris Mikhailov
Partnership with the Ukrainian Museum
On View at the Ukrainian Museum September 13th, 2025 through January 18th, 2026
Special Opening Reception as part of the Ukrainian Cultural Festival October 1st, 6-8pm
More information on the exhibition here.
Boris Mikhailov (b. 1938, Kharkiv, Ukraine) is one of the most influential photographers of his generation, known for a practice that combines cinema, documentary, performance, and writing. Trained as an engineer, he discovered photography by chance and went on to develop a distinctive style that reveals the social and psychological realities of life in Ukraine. Over more than five decades, his
work has critiqued everyday life with tenderness and rigor, often incorporating deliberate accidents, hand-coloration, and image superimposition to expose the abject and the dualities of Soviet existence, as in his landmark series Yesterday’s Sandwich (1960s–70s).
October 2 – 12
DIA/spora
By Igor Martiniouk
On View from October 2nd to 12th at Teatro LATEA
Artist Reception October 2nd, 7pm
Since Russia escalated its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it has destroyed over 1,000 schools, 200,000 homes, and 300 cultural institutions. At least 2,406 children have been killed or injured and 102 cultural artists have been killed, and more than 19,000 children abducted to sever their Ukrainian identities.
DIA/spora does not show images of war. They show New York’s Ukrainian diaspora celebrating Taras Shevchenko’s birthday—reciting poetry in a gym, free from sirens and Shahed drones.
October 14 – 18
Memory Patterns
By Anna Seniuk
On View from October 14th to 18th at Teatro LATEA
Artist Reception October 15th, 5pm
Reception occurs before that evening’s performance of Cassandra by Lesia Ukrainka
Memory Patterns is a mixed-media project combining traditional Ukrainian vytynanka (papercutting) and photography to explore how memory transforms our perception of the past.
Papercuts slice through photographs, extracting fragments — moments that remain, but have shifted in time. The images resist clarity, inviting the viewer to reflect on their own memories, emotions, and interpretations.
October 19 – 25
Blue-Yellow Series
By Gutsulyak Studio
On View from October 19th to October 25th at Teatro LATEA
Artist Reception October 20th, 7pm
The Blue-Yellow Series explores Ukrainian identity through reinterpretations of the national flag. Since the war began, Ukrainians worldwide have become acutely aware of blue and yellow in daily life—now symbols of solidarity, hope, and resilience. The series translates these colors into light wavelengths, pigment formulas, wildflowers, sign language, colorblind icons, and print or digital codes. Its central message, “When no colors are left, the Ukrainian flag is still waving,” affirms identity’s endurance amid crisis.
October 25
I dream of seeing the steppe again
By Darya Tsymbalyuk
6th Street & Avenue B Community Garden, 12pm
In this participatory workshop, Darya Tsymbalyuk shares stories of Kreidova Flora (Chalk Flora), a nature reserve in Donetsk oblast, which is part of the Ukrainian steppe – a prairie ecosystem dominated by grasses. The workshop is based on the work and photo archive of Serhii Lymanskyi, an environmentalist and the director of the reserve, who has preserved and documented this unique place for years. Tsymbalyuk invites everyone to learn about different grassland species of Ukraine, share their stories, and draw a plant on a shared piece of paper, hoping to collectively imagine the steppe in bloom.
October 25
Walking Tour: Ukrainian Roots of American Art
Tour Led by Slava Shpigel
Washington Square Arch, 10am – 12pm
Borshch of Art invites you to attend the third edition of the curated walking tour of the Greenwich Village and East Village neighborhoods of Manhattan. Join us for a stroll as we discover stories about artists and creatives who shaped American art in the 20th century. Experience, enjoy, and
connect with the neighborhood landmarks of the art scene and uncover their untold stories.
October 26 – 30
What the Water Told Me
By Oleksandra Zborovska
On View from October 26th to October 30th at Teatro LATEA
Artist Reception October 27th, 7pm
In the summer of 2023, after the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP by russian soldiers, I traveled back to my hometown of Zaporizhzhia to witness the aftermath firsthand. This project is both documentary and deeply personal. It captures the state of nature at a moment when war has drastically altered the environment. It’s also a reflective dialogue with the places of my childhood. Besides the black-and-white film shots, I used film soaked in the water of the Dnipro River and cyanotypes to make nature co-creator of the images.
October 29 – November 2
Light on the Waves
Exhibition at the Ukrainian Museum
Created by The Museum of Odesa Modern Art (MoOMA)
Curated by Andrii Siguntsov
Light on the Waves is a festival dedicated to the past, present, and future of Odesa’s video art
scene. Bringing together artists, curators, and researchers, the event explores the city’s unique
contributions to experimental media practices and its place in the global discourse on video art.
Since 2010, the Museum of Odesa Modern Art has been systematically researching and archiving video art,
establishing a unique collection that has become a vital part of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Drawing from this
important collection, curators Andriy Siguntsov and Anna Morokhovskaya present the distinctive history of video art in Odesa. They trace its evolution from its experimental beginnings to its recognition as an art form. This narrative, rooted in the 1990s—a period marked by Ukraine’s newfound independence and a vibrant cultural shift—reflects the intertwining of art, society, and politics.
