Karina Synytsia

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE
TO REPAIR CRACKS
IN A DRY LAYERGaleria Labirynt. Lublin, Poland, 2024.
Made During The Residency
“Lublin Station”

Curators:
Waldemar Tatarczuk,
Gabriela Gawęda “With this project, I would like to address both the past and the future at the same time. I would like to talk about Ukrainian art, which was not allowed to live, and the voices of a generation that was destroyed (which happened in the thirties, and then in the sixties and it's happening now).  The memory of destroyed things is the best manifestation of the memory of terror, as it is now with the repressed Boichukists. I am thinking with fear: will my voice and the voices of my friends, colleagues also be silenced? What are the chances that the memory of the war will live on (same as us)?“ 

Mykhailo Boichuk was a Ukrainian monumentalist painter. He and his followers drew inspiration from Byzantine art and Ukrainian folk art. Together they aimed to create a national style that was deeply rooted in everyday life in the Ukrainian countryside. 

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, observing the changes in attitude of the Bolshevik authorities, the Boichukists tried to adhere to the canon of Socialist Realism. However, their style was perceived by the Soviet government as insufficiently 'socialist'. Because of the ideological and artistic principles of the Boichukists, they were murdered during Joseph Stalin's Great Terror. The exhibition “It is impossible to repair cracks in a dry layer” shows the repetitive nature of history and its impact on the formation of national identity. 

Using the example of the Boichukists, Karina Synytsia draws attention to the loss of the historical heritage of Ukrainian art, which is largely due to the ongoing Russian invasion and, before that, the domination of the Soviet Union. The artist says that the times of imperialism are not a thing of the past. On the contrary, they are still present and rooted in Russian attacks on Ukrainian cultural distinctiveness. She fears that, as in the case of the Boichukists—her voice and those of her peers may be forgotten by future generations.
 Full curatorial text Project include 5 paintings,
2 looped animations and photos
2026 © Karina Synytsia. All rights reserved.
Design & Layout: Denys-Kamyl Levadny