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Modernism in Ukraine - a guest in Chemnitz

The Special Focus on the Triennial of Modernism 2022 and its opening event was dedicated to the roots and heritage of modernism in Ukraine. In view of the ongoing war and the special significance of the architectural heritage, the exhibition and its themes were continued after 2022. A sixth part of the exhibition was realised in 2024. Thanks to appropriate funding, there are now plans to take the individual parts of the exhibition on tour. The first stop will be Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025, where three parts of the exhibition will be on display from 18 November 2024 to 19 January 2025. The exhibition series was the start of a transnational cooperation that is to be further expanded as part of the initiative for a "European Triennial of Modernism (ETOM)" with changing partners and within the "Strategic Triangle for Modernism" founded jointly with DOCOMOMO International and ICOMOS. It is available as a travelling exhibition that can be shown in its entirety or in parts, depending on the occasion and venue. Here is an overview of the next stops:
Foto: Stanislav Ostrous, 2022

Event information

Date & Time

until

18. NOVEMBER 2024 UNTIL 18 JANUARY 2025:

EXHIBITION "MODERNISM IN UKRAINE" ON SHOW IN CHEMNITZ

Three chapters of the six-part exhibition series on architectural modernism in Ukraine are now on display at the Wirkbau in Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025. The exemplary exhibition parts 3, 4 and 6, each with around two dozen exhibition panels, show

  • the work of architects of Jewish origin in Lviv,
  • the imposing ensemble of Svoboda Square with the Derzhprom building in Kharkiv and
  • a selection of the designs for the Ukrainian State Theatre that were created in 1930 as part of an international competition.

All three thematic sections emphasise the importance of Ukraine in the development of modernist architecture and raise awareness of the shared European heritage of this turbulent era and the devastation of the war in Ukraine.

The exhibition series, funded by the federal government, was created in cooperation with Ukrainian and Polish academics. It was developed as part of the "Triennale der Moderne" festival in 2022 and shown for the first time in Berlin. The current installation in Chemnitz is supported by the Federal Foreign Office, Kul'tura e.V. and the Ukrainian Institute in Germany. After Chemnitz, the exhibition will travel on to Kharkiv.

Special programmes will take place on 6 December 2024 and 18 January 2025, during which the Ukrainian scholar Svitlana Smolenska will guide visitors through the parts of the exhibition she has developed and the curators of the project will also be represented.

  • Lecture / exhibition tour: 6.12.2024, 4-6 pm
    • Olga Pischl, Steglitz-Zehlendorf town twinning association : Greeting and outlook
    • Ben Buschfeld, buschfeld.com: 
      Introduction about the exhibition and its context (in German and/or English)
    • Prof. Dr Svitlana Smolenska: 
      Guided author's tour to chapters 4 + 6 (in English and/or Ukrainian)
  • Finissage / exhibition tour: Sat, 18.1.2025, 2-7 pm
    • Curators tour (in German and/or English):
      Robert K. Huber (and/or Ben Buschfeld)
    • Prof. Dr Svitlana Smolenska: 
      Guided author's tour to chapters 4 + 6 (in English and/or Ukrainian)

Venue: Wirkbauhouse A, Lothringer Str. 11, 09111 Chemnitz 
Opening times: 18 Nov - 14 Dec 2024 and 16 - 18 Jan 2025, Thu-Sat, 2-6 pm, 
Finissage with guided tour by curators/authors: 18 January 2025, 2-6 pm
Special opening: Sun 19 January 2025, 2-6 pm

More Dates

more information

Sponsoring

Funded by the Federal Ministry 
for Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB).

[The work of Svitlana Smolenska was funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.

The Special Focus - Modernism in Ukraine is organised in cooperation between 
Triennial of Modernism with Docomomo International and ICOMOS.

European Capital of Culture The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media Free State of Saxony European Capital of Culture

This project is cofinanced by tax funds on the basis of the parliamentary budget of the state of Saxony and by federal funds from the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media), as well as funds from the City of Chemnitz.