Art Exhibit Shares The Cultural Story Of Ukraine

IraVish stands near her artwork in front of Envision Art Gallery in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

by Ken Allsup
March 31st, 2022

Oskaloosa, Iowa – In the middle part of March, Ukrainian artist Iryna Vyshnevska, known as IraVish, was in Oskaloosa sharing her works of art outside of Envision Art Gallery inside of Penn Central Mall.

IraVish is a resident of Odesa, Ukraine, and has been unable to return since the Russian invasion of her country.

IraVish began her professional career as a journalist, she returned to art, painting in the style of romantic primitivism on tapestry.

As the world watches what is taking place in Ukraine, people came to the exhibit to learn more about the Ukrainian culture.

IraVish said that the painting began as a collection of childhood dreams. The collection has evolved as new thoughts came in and paintings were added.

The collection has evolved into a collection known as ‘Identification Code’ where people explore how “they [people] identify themselves within our community, within our country, within our nationality.”

“We all come from somewhere, whether we are Russian, Ukrainian, but where do we live. How do we identify ourselves,” IraVish added.

The collection started from a question IraVish was asking herself, “Who am I”?

IraVish is a Russian who then moved to the territory of Moldova, where it’s a very different culture from Russia. From there, she moved to Ukraine. She began asking herself, who am I? Am I Russian? Am I Ukrainian? What culture do I actually belong to?

As she asked herself those questions, she realized that a lot more people were asking those questions with the global migration that happens.

“We start to begin to lose our culture, and we take on other cultures, and do we implement them into our new life, or do we evolve?”

As migration happens, the ideas and ideology brought from their former home can start to change their new home, with examples being elections, and it ultimately brings cultural change to their new home.

IraVish says that change can be like a Trojan Horse takeover, and people began to ask what nationality they support.

An example is visible in Ukraine right now, as many Russians that have moved into Ukraine don’t speak Ukrainian.

Her current display, “Identification Code,” has about 40 rugs in the collection and is just a portion of her total work at her home in Odesa.

Her works are under the watchful eye of friends and neighbors while away from home, as she and her husband, who is a Russian-speaking Jew, have decided they would never live under a Russian regime.

IraVish says that she’s okay with losing her home, but she wants to preserve the cultural and historical works of art she’s been able to create.

For now, IraVish is in the United States, living with her daughter. The latter is helping her mother share her work, the story of Ukraine, and assisting people in exploring their own cultural identity.

IraVish thinks it’s crucial to tell people about the peaceful and beautiful Ukraine that it was.

You can find IraVish on social media by clicking on the FOLLOWING LINK – IRAVISH