By Ukrainian Institute
https://treasures.ui.org.ua
Halyna Sevruk (1929-2022)
Halyna did not speak Ukrainian and knew little about Ukraine's history and traditions. However, the search for her roots and opposition to the Soviet regime turned her into a prominent figure in Ukrainian culture.
Halyna SevrukUkrainian Institute
Childhood
Halyna was born in 1929 in Uzbekistan where her family hid from the terror of the Bolsheviks. Her father was an architect with Polish roots, and her mother belonged to an aristocratic Ukrainian family. Later the Sevruks returned to Ukraine where they experienced Nazi occupation.
Way of art
Halyna's creative work began in the 1960s during the revival of Ukrainian culture. It was then that Sevruk realized it was impossible to be an artist in Ukraine and not know the local language, literature, and history. She had to self-educate.
Stained glass
In 1964, along with Alla Horska, Opanas Zalyvakha and Lyudmyla Semykina, Halyna Sevruk created a stained glass window "Shevchenko. Mother" for the Kyiv University. The stained glass piece was destroyed immediately by soviet offcials after its installation. Repressions followed.
Halyna SevrukUkrainian Institute
Letter of 139
In 1965–1966, the authorities intensified their pressure on all opposition-minded intellectuals. However, the attack had the opposite effect: the Sixtiers who remained at large resisted even more desperately.
Halyna SevrukUkrainian Institute
Letter of 139
Sevruk's civic stance became clear in 1968 when she signed a letter against repressions and secret trials of Ukrainian intellectuals. For this, Halyna was expelled from the Artists Union and her studio was taken away.
For twenty years her works were not accepted for exhibition.
Return to roots
Looking for means of self-expression, Sevruk turned to ceramics. The artist's portfolio includes stelae, the design of hotels and restaurants, sculptural images of Slavic gods, ceramic works on the themes of the Cossack era and Kyivan Rus.
City on Seven Hills by Halyna SevrukUkrainian Institute
Return to roots
She created a series of more than 500 portraits of historical figures and prominent contemporaries.
Halyna SevrukUkrainian Institute
Photos of the artworks and photos of artist were provided by the Museum of the Sixties as part of an online project "60's. The Lost Treasures"
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