Cultural Revolution: Mykhail Semenko, Ukrainian Futurism and the “National” Category

Abstract

This paper examines Mykhail Semenko’s Futurist manifestos that developed an opposition between “national” and “international” art, and specifically called “national” art provincial and retrograde. In promoting the international European avant-garde, Semenko’s essays demonstrate how consistently he championed a contemporary and modern Ukrainian culture in the face of home-grown conservatism.

Keywords

• mykhail semenko
• ukrainian futurism
• cultural revolution
• avant-garde
• ukraine
• future
• futurism
• art