Festival Art Souterrain

Maria Prymachenko’s paintings are distinguished by their vibrant colours and the joy they convey. Her work blends traditional Ukrainian motifs, references to folklore, aspects of her everyday life, and the fantastical creatures she imagines. In her scenes, the forms of animals and humans merge to create new beings that inhabit a space oscillating between dreams and rural life. Her artistic practice originates from her domestic surroundings, contributing to their transformation. Over the years, she increasingly used brighter colours to counter the darkness of the catastrophes that subtly permeated her work.

A major figure in Ukrainian art, Prymachenko (1909-1997) saw her life marked by war, famine, and the Chornobyl disaster 50 kilometres from her home. After contracting poliomyelitis as a child, she turned to self-taught art, opting for embroidery, ceramics, and crafting traditional Ukrainian eggs known as pysanky. She famously painted the facade of her house and soon expanded to painting houses in her neighbourhood. Later, she devoted herself more seriously to painting after the National Art Museum of Ukraine invited her to stay in Kyiv. She exhibited at the 1937 Universal Exhibition in Paris alongside Pablo Picasso. Although she remained on the fringes of the major artistic institutions, her work nonetheless became a symbol of peace and great renown. Despite her growing fame, she remained loyal to her community and continued to donate her work to those close to her. She also opened an informal school to teach art to the children of her village, including her son Fedir and grandson Ivan.

Prymachenko passed away in 1997 in her hometown of Bolotnya. She received many posthumous honours, including stamps celebrating her work and a Ukrainian coin featuring her likeness. In 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded her the title of National Legend. That same year, her work was showcased at the prestigious Venice Biennale.

This presentation is made possible through the collaboration of the Ukrainian Embassy in Canada and the Maria Prymachenko Foundation in Kyiv. It aims to celebrate the legacy of a remarkable Ukrainian artist and support the Ukrainian-Canadian community affected by the ongoing war that devastated their homeland. According to the 2016 Canadian census, there are approximately 1.36 million people of Ukrainian descent in Canada, making up nearly 4% of the Canadian population. This figure does not include the 300,000 refugees who arrived in 2022.