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- 06.05.2025 (1)
Decolonize ‘Kresy’? The Case of the Boim Chapel in Lviv
The culture of the former eastern ‘borderlands’ of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth called ‘Kresy’ (now parts of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania) has been culturally dominated by the Polish ‘leading culture’ for centuries. Both the fall of the Commonwealth in the 18th century and the rise of national identities since the 19th century have partly put an end to this attitude, which can be labelled as colonial. Even after the emergence of the independent countries of Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus, the majority of research on the art of these regions of common heritage has been conducted from the perspective of the influential (Polish) centre. Consequently, most scholarly publications on the so-called ‘Kresy’ bear the hallmarks of a (post)colonial discourse. As a result, the emerging art histories of these countries have distanced themselves from such an approach while embracing the national paradigm. Consequently, research into the art of these regions is still rarely conducted in a transnational dialogue.
Taking the puzzling Boim Chapel (1597/1609–1615) at the Latin (Catholic) Cathedral of Lviv as an example, this chapter presents an analysis of art historical discourse on the early modern art in this multi-ethnic region of common heritage, today in the territory of Ukraine. Its analysis demonstrates diverse forms of (political, national) appropriations of art by various actors. On this basis, the chapter elaborates on the potentials of writing a transnational, transcultural, entangled art history of these regions, and the obstacles to doing so.
