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Olena Speranska, curator of the group show Ukrainian Wartime Posters 2022-2025: The Way of Resistance is on view in the Clifford Gallery February 25–May 31.
The Art lecture at Colgate University, The Power of the Image: Trauma, Art and Counter-Propaganda presented by curator Olena Speranska, explored how visual art becomes a powerful instrument for documenting war, processing collective trauma, and resisting disinformation in times of ongoing war. Drawing on firsthand curatorial experience and the Ukrainian Wartime Posters project, it highlighted the role of artists as witnesses, cultural voices, and agents of resilience whose images can mobilize international awareness and solidarity. The lecture underscored that in the contemporary media landscape, artistic imagery is not only a reflection of reality but also a strategic force capable of shaping public memory, challenging propaganda, and defending democratic values.
Matviichuk, through a pre-recorded video, explained the importance of Speranska’s work.
“Let’s make it clear, if Ukrainians stop resisting, Russia will occupy the whole country. We will cease to exist,” Matviichuk said.
“The basis of our existence is our dignity, not victimhood, and dignity is action. We are not hostages of circumstances. We are participants of the historical process, and dignity provides us a chance to continue our fight, even in unbearable conditions.”
Support for the lecture and exhibition at Colgate is provided by the Department of Art, the Colgate Arts Council, the Kraynak Institute for the Study of Freedom and Western Traditions, The Louis Rakin Fund of the Department of Political Science, Core Communities, and Russian and Eurasian Studies.
About Olena Speranska:
Speranska is a prominent Ukrainian art curator and art manager who has been organizing projects of the international symposium of contemporary art BIRUCHIY for 18 years, including the implementation of 20 international art residencies and more than 50 multimedia exhibitions of contemporary art in Ukraine and other countries including the United States, Canada, Italy, Poland, Montenegro, Germany, and the United Kingdom. She is author and curator of the book “Wartime Posters” 2022-2023 featuring a collection of 453 graphic artworks by Ukrainian and French artists, presented as part of an initiative that held 19 open air exhibitions in Ukraine’s frontline city of Zaporizhzhia. She is the author of the educational lecture program for kids, “PRO: contemporary art” that was implemented in Zaporizhzhia in 2019. She is a social activist, serving as Director of the international art residency program BIRUCHIY, Vice-president of the “Contemporary Art Researchers Union” (NGO, Ukraine), and Founder of the “Ukrainian Contemporary Art Platform” (501(c3) non-profit, USA). She curates shows reflecting Ukraine’s collective trauma and spirit, bringing artists’ voices to global audiences while leading cultural diplomacy initiatives, including the “Lublin Triangle” residency uniting Ukrainian, Polish, and Lithuanian artists — despite losing her home to war.
Photo courtesy Charlotte Bristol
