arthistoricum.net

The objective of this chapter is to point out and interpret recent developments in LGBTQ+ art and activism in Ukraine, especially during the current war, based on a contextual analysis of selected artworks by Ukrainian artists, curators, and institutions. We present a minoritarian, queer perspective on the war and also include remarks on queer history and politics in Ukraine. Our focus is on how, after the invasion by Putin’s homophobic dictatorship, a change of attitudes took place in current Ukrainian visual culture toward queerness, queer soldiers, and the issue of masculinity. We demonstrate the trajectories of artivism and queer existence and visuality in a country involved in two wars: the internal culture war over LGBTQ+ rights, and the military war against a foreign invader. Military queerness is the subjectivity that we investigate as an allegory of freedom and oppression. Moreover, we ponder the role of art in these dire times: art as a weapon and counterpropaganda, but also as an instrument of charity, therapy, and community support.
Looking at activist and artistic attitudes, we propose interpreting contemporary Ukrainian visual culture through the utopias of art and queerness. Believing in the power of art at a time when Russian bombs are destroying cities can only be matched by queer utopias that have been developing since the beginning of the invasion. Ukraine, like almost all post-Soviet states, has been a very conservative and homophobic country with a high level of anti-queer violence. Yet activists have decided to change the narrative and project a different vision through the theory of anti-colonialism. Maksym Eristavi considers queerphobia to be a Russian colonial import to Ukraine since the 18^th century. In this view, homophobia is not Ukrainian but Russian, and Ukraine and its decolonization struggle are fundamentally queer.
Another topical issue is the question of masculinity, which seems to be as necessary for national survival as the utopia of Ukrainian queerness for the LGBTQ+ community trapped by the invasion of a homophobic army. This is a story of violence and masculinity reflected in contemporary Ukrainian art. The hypermasculinity of Ukrainian men in art and visual propaganda plays an important role in the images that circulate during the struggle with Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Moreover, we emphasize the fever of queer archiving work carried out by Ukrainian artists and curators who decide to curate and exhibit the visual documents of the non-heteronormative history of their country as a way of fighting the destruction brought by the war and Russian queerphobia. It is fascinating and mysterious how the passion of queer art history goes back to medieval Ukraine, and to such holy military martyrs and saints as Boris and Gleb, Serge and Bacchus. “Resistance” is the word most often used when contemporary Ukrainian art has been shown globally since 2022. For Ukrainian artists, activists, and researchers, queering their culture is not only an act of resistance but also a fight in the battle of ongoing war.
Our art historical and curatorial interpretations of the current situation of queer rights and art are deepened by reports from journalists and human rights organizations on the plight of queer Ukrainians during the invasion and occupation. We argue that visual artists play a central role in the Ukrainian queer movement and resistance and that they reflect and participate in the constantly changing social situation of the LGBTQ+ minority during the war, in which sexual politics plays a crucial role. The contemporary and historical artists discussed here include Mykhailo Skop, Rebel Queers, Angelika Ustymenko, Alex King, Anton Shebetko, Katya Libkind, Bohdan Bunchak, Valentyn Radchenko, Viktor Borovyk, AntiGonna, Volodymyr Kostyrko, Yevhen Ravski, Jan Bachynsky, Andrii Dostliev, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Myasoedov, Vsevolod Maksymovych, Sergei Parajanov and Lesyia Ukrainka.