Photography exhibition
'Taras Polataiko'. In search of the old Czernowitz
The artist Taras Polataiko will be present at the opening and will speak with Prof. Dr Alexander Wöll and Matthias Richter about his artistic exploration of history, memory and the hidden traces of his home town, Czernowitz (Chernivtsi).
In his work, Taras Polataiko explores memory, identity, history and the consequences of political upheavals, violence and disasters. He gained international recognition for projects focusing on Ukrainian history, cultural memory and the aftermath of both historical and contemporary conflicts.
His work is particularly closely linked to his hometown of Czernowitz (Chernivtsi). There, he sets out in search of the hidden layers of the city’s history and brings forgotten or repressed sites of memory back into the public eye. Like an archaeologist, he unearths the cultural sediments of Chernivtsi – a city once shaped by the Habsburgs and imbued with many cultures – and brings them back into the public sphere.
As early as 2008, Polataiko addressed the historical suppression of the Ukrainian language and culture in his work ‘Kyiv Classical’. The starting point was the Ems Decree of 1876, which severely restricted the use of Ukrainian. Through his artistic intervention in Bad Ems, he made the disappearance of a memorial itself the subject of art, thereby drawing attention to mechanisms of erasure and cultural appropriation that continue to have an impact to this day.
The exhibition features selected video works, photographs, performances and documentation of artistic interventions. They offer an insight into the multi-layered body of work by an artist who conceives of memory not as a static archive, but as a living process of rediscovery, questioning and retelling.
The focus is on works that engage with the history of Chernivtsi, the traces of imperial rule, the culture of remembrance, and the question of how the past remains visible or disappears within the urban landscape and in the collective memory.
Exhibition dates: 20 November 2026 to the end of January 2027
His work is particularly closely linked to his hometown of Czernowitz (Chernivtsi). There, he sets out in search of the hidden layers of the city’s history and brings forgotten or repressed sites of memory back into the public eye. Like an archaeologist, he unearths the cultural sediments of Chernivtsi – a city once shaped by the Habsburgs and imbued with many cultures – and brings them back into the public sphere.
As early as 2008, Polataiko addressed the historical suppression of the Ukrainian language and culture in his work ‘Kyiv Classical’. The starting point was the Ems Decree of 1876, which severely restricted the use of Ukrainian. Through his artistic intervention in Bad Ems, he made the disappearance of a memorial itself the subject of art, thereby drawing attention to mechanisms of erasure and cultural appropriation that continue to have an impact to this day.
The exhibition features selected video works, photographs, performances and documentation of artistic interventions. They offer an insight into the multi-layered body of work by an artist who conceives of memory not as a static archive, but as a living process of rediscovery, questioning and retelling.
The focus is on works that engage with the history of Chernivtsi, the traces of imperial rule, the culture of remembrance, and the question of how the past remains visible or disappears within the urban landscape and in the collective memory.
Exhibition dates: 20 November 2026 to the end of January 2027
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