Welcome to the inaugural exhibition of the BRIDGES project—a cultural journey that illuminates the many ways Ukrainian art has engaged with the world from the sixteenth century to today.
BRIDGES invites you to discover the unexpected intersections of Ukrainian creativity and global influence. From Dürer’s sixteenth-century biblical prints to the Coca-Cola advertisements once banned under Soviet censorship, Ukrainian art has always been more connected to global currents than meets the eye. This project aims to showcase that connectedness—not by erasing cultural identities, but by celebrating the powerful ways they meet, adapt, and transform.
This first exhibition delves into the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a pivotal time when religious imagery traveled across borders, especially via printed books and engravings. Our focus: how the port city of Antwerp became a global hub of religious imagery that also influenced Ukrainian artists.
As Ukraine is increasingly present in the global cultural imagination, we invite you to look both ways—at how the West has shaped Ukrainian art, and how Ukrainian culture reveals deep affinities across continents and centuries.
This is more than a collection of beautiful images. This is a story of shared visions, creative adaptations, and the power of images to transcend borders.
This digital exhibition consists of 16 sections and can be explored in about 30 minutes.