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Spotlight Series: Taras Lachowsky
October 31, 2023 @ 8:00 am - March 3, 2024 @ 5:00 pm
The Spotlight Series centres the work of contemporary artists in dialogue with past and present-day lived experiences in the place we call Guelph. Recognizing that the month of November invites reflections of remembrance, the Spotlight Series broadens understandings of war through the lens of two contemporary conflicts, in Ukraine and Iran.
This installation by Ukrainian Canadian artist Taras Lachowsky is on view at the Guelph Civic Museum until March 3, 2024.
Artist Statement
“There is war in Ukraine — no one was expecting it, except the people of Ukraine. The war started with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Ukranians have been expecting, dreading, and praying that war would not happen.
Taras Shechenko (my namesake and Ukraine’s poet laureate) spoke of destroying a nation by destroying its culture. Unimaginable atrocities have taken place. Cultural landmarks and monuments have been destroyed.
I am Ukrainian Canadian and I am experiencing this war on a very personal level, as part of the Ukrainian diaspora. I feel helpless, stunned, and numb.
In my way, I am trying to record and understand something that my parents also lived through. Must Ukrainians of every generation know war?
In my Guelph studio, I make art to balance the destruction, pain, and horror that I have seen from my safe harbour. Peace and democracy must win.”
Artist Biography
Taras Palijh Lachowsky is an Ukrainian Canadian artist, based in Guelph. He explores the histories of Ukrainian culture, past, present, and future. His parents emigrated from Ukraine, through Germany to France and finally to Canada in 1950. Born in Sudbury in 1964, he is the youngest of 10 children.
Lachowsky studied textile and surface design at Sheridan College, then earned a B.A. in Fine Art at the University of Guelph. His recent exhibitions focus on the symbols, patterns, and colours in the Ukrainian cut-paper techniques of Vytynanky, Vishytchy, and Pysanky.
Highlighted Ukrainian Communities in Guelph
Saving Ukrainian Cultural College
Ukrainian Church Guelph Community
