Gallery Portal 11 presents “UKRAINE: THE GENOCIDE OF CULTURE” Memory Of Stone. Cossack Crosses. Steppe Stone Statues. Tatar Cemeteries in Crimea
the personal exhibition by Mariia Levytska. 05.09.2025 – 14.09.2025.
Ancient Cossack crosses, steppe stone babas, and old Crimean Tatar cemeteries are the living witnesses to history, the holders of symbols and mindset codes of the Ukrainian lands. Their demise entails loosing public memory and breaking bonds between generations.
This exhibition highlights a personal flashback of the artist:
“I remember I was 10 years old.. An ancient abandoned Tatar cemetery in Crimea… The Tatars had been deported, and no one cared about these stones. Broken slabs were scattered around a small well with brackish water… I would lower a bucket into the well. I examined those incomprehensible, mysterious inscriptions… Then I did not know the word DEPORTATION…”.
This project is not just a form of art, but also a means of conserving cultural memory and resisting historical ousting. Through her artistic images, the author restores those stones, symbols, and voices that might otherwise have disappeared forever.
This issue resonates with particular urgency today, as war and occupation result in the destruction of Ukraine’s unique heritage.
Mariia Levytska, People’s Artist of Ukraine, is a theater set and costume designer. She was born in Kyiv and graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture of Ukraine, Faculty of Painting, Department of Scenography, the workshop by Danylo Lider. She began her creative career as a set and costume designer with Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio. Since 1989, Mariia Levytska holds the position of Director of Scenography at the National Opera of Ukraine named after T. H. Shevchenko. She is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine, as well as a full member (academician) of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine. She is awarded the Order of Princess Olga (II class), the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (2003), the Kyiv Pectoral Theater Award (1995), and the “Person of the Year — 2000” award. In 2016 M.Levytska was awarded the highest state honor of the Italian Republic that can be given to foreign citizens — the Order of the Star of Italy. In 2025, she received the Grand Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine.
Mariia Levytska has created sets and costumes for over 160 operas, ballets, and dramatic performances in Ukraine, Japan, Canada, Slovenia, and Poland.
11 Triokhsviatytelska str. Kyiv, Ukraine
Friday-Sunday 11 am – 7 pm.
+38 (063) 397 34 57
artportal11@gmail.com; portal11.com.ua
facebook: galleryportal11;
Instagram: gallery_portal11
