Art That Preserves Tradition: An Exhibition from the Grynyov Art Collection for Ukrainian Cossack Day
On Friday, October 2, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., the History Museum of NURE will host the opening of the art exhibition “Of Cossack Stock,” dedicated to the Day of Defenders of Ukraine.
To mark Ukrainian Cossack Day and the Day of Defenders and Defendresses of Ukraine, the exhibition presents works from the Grynyov family collection, united by the themes of Ukrainian cultural tradition, historical memory, and national identity.
The exhibition brings together different artistic approaches to interpreting Ukrainian identity through landscapes, folk traditions, scenes of everyday life, and literary heritage.
A separate part of the exhibition features works created as part of the plein-air project “Following in Vasylkivskyi’s Footsteps.” The artists explored places associated with the work and artistic heritage of Serhii Vasylkivskyi, continuing the tradition of Ukrainian landscape painting while offering a contemporary interpretation of the native land. These works present the Ukrainian landscape not only as a natural environment but also as a space of historical and cultural memory.
Another thematic section features paintings by Viktor Ihumentsev, whose works draw on Ukrainian folk traditions, customs, and imagery. In his art, folklore is presented not as a museum artifact but as a living part of Ukrainian visual culture that continues to evolve and be reinterpreted in contemporary art.
The third component of the exhibition consists of graphic works — book illustrations for works by Ukrainian writers. Through the art of the book, the artists turn to another important dimension of cultural heritage — Ukrainian literature. Illustration becomes a bridge between the written word and the visual image, offering new perspectives on familiar literary stories and characters.
The exhibition brings together works from different genres and generations, yet they all address a common theme — the preservation and interpretation of Ukrainian cultural memory. A landscape, a folk tradition, a literary character, or an image of everyday life becomes part of a broader story about a culture passed from one generation to the next.
The Grynyov Art Collection demonstrates the diversity of artistic ways to speak about Ukrainian tradition — and, at the same time, the importance of preserving it today.
About the Grynyov Art Collection
The Grynyov family has been collecting Ukrainian art of the 20th and 21st centuries since the 1990s. Today, the collection comprises approximately 5,000 works, representing a broad spectrum of Ukrainian artistic life.
In March 2022, part of the collection located in Kharkiv was at risk of destruction due to Russian shelling of the city. Through the efforts of the collection’s team, approximately 2,000 works were evacuated. Some of them were subsequently temporarily relocated outside Ukraine. Today, these works are exhibited in various European countries, drawing attention to Ukrainian art and the scale of the destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage caused by Russian aggression.
Approximately 4,000 works from the collection remain in Ukraine and have been distributed among different cities for preservation. The exhibition at NURE has been assembled from this part of the collection.
Exhibition opening: October 2, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., History Museum of NURE.
