Maria Kulikovska

Maria Kulikovska
Born
Maria Kulikovska

(1988-02-11) 11 February 1988
Kerch, Crimea, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
EducationDe Montfort University, Leicester, UK (PhD Degree in Drama, Performance and Fine Arts), Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm, Sweden (MA in Fine Arts), National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Kyiv, Ukraine (MA in Architecture)
Known forSculpture, Performance art, Drawings, Paintings
Websitemariakulikovska.net Edit this at Wikidata

Maria Kulikovska (born 1988) is a Ukrainian multimedia and performance artist. She has been forced to flee her home twice – first from Crimea in 2014 during the Russian annexation, and then once again from Kyiv in 2022 when the war erupted. Through her work, she explores the perpetuation, transformation, and decay of her body—reflecting the fragility of life through her lived experience.[1] Kulikovska currently lives and works between London, Stockholm and Kyiv.[2] Her works have been exhibited in collections such as Mystetskyi Arsenal Museum, Ukraine; Francisco Carolinum Linz, Austria; and FENIX Museum of Migration, Netherlands.

Biography

Maria Kulikovska graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv and Konstfack University in Stockholm.[3] In 2017, she was selected for a residency at the Liverpool Biennial[4] and held her first solo institutional exhibition at the Francisco Carolinum Linz, Austria in September 2022.[5] Since then, her work has been presented internationally, including in New York, London, Hong Kong, Zurich, Germany, Vienna, and Norway, among others.

In April 2022, Kulikovska was invited to the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin to stage her durational performance 254,[6] during which the artist laid motionless on the steps of the museum covered by a Ukrainian flag. This work was first performed, unauthorized, in 2014 during the opening of Manifesta 10 in St. Petersburg, Russia.[7] Its title, 254, refers to the number that Kulikovska received while fleeing to Kyiv after the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.[8]

Education

2024–28  PhD, Drama, Performance and Fine Arts, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK — AHRC Midlands4Cities Doctoral Award

2018–20  MFA, Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm, Sweden — Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts Award

2016–17  Postgraduate course, Modernist Legacies and Constructions of Whiteness, Royal Institute of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden

2007–13  Master of Architecture, National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Kyiv, Ukraine (worked as architect in China and Switzerland before returning to art practice)

Selected works

Exhibitions

Solo and two-person exhibitions

  • Bullets of Flowers — Solo Thematic Pavilion (curated by Eszter Csillag), Malta Biennale 2026, Birgu Old Armoury, Malta (2026)
  • To Regenerate the Lost, Double Q Gallery, Hong Kong (2025)[9]
  • Once Leda Found an Egg – Blue Like a Hyacinth, Mriya Gallery, New York, USA (2025)[10]
  • My Body is a Battlefield, Jøssingfjord Vitenmuseum, Flekkefjord, Norway (2023)
  • Resilience: Voices of Ukraine (with Artem Volokitin), Double Q Gallery, Hong Kong (2023)[11]
  • Die Tafel 2, Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg, (2023)[12]
  • My Body is a Battlefield, Francisco Carolinum Linz, Austria (2022)[13]
  • My Skin is My Business, Odesa Fine Arts Museum, Odesa, Ukraine (2019)[14]
  • PREVIEW – Eva Kot’átková and Maria Kulikovska, Art Collection Telekom, National Museum of Sculpture, Królikarnia Palace, Warsaw, Poland (2016)

Group exhibitions

  •  A European Collection: Masterpieces from the Khanenko Museum, Museen der Stadt Aschaffenburg, Germany
  • I am a problem here.?, M17 Contemporary Art Center, Kyiv, Ukraine (2025)[15]
  • Resilience Formula, M17 Contemporary Art Center, Kyiv, Ukraine (2024)[16]
  • Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories. Ukrainian Art 1912–2023, Albertinum, Dresden, Germany (2023)[17]
  • ART ON THE BATTLEFRONT, Albertina Modern, Vienna, Austria (2023)[18]
  • Don’t Dream Dreams, MG+ Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2023)[19]
  • 254 (Performance), Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany (2022)[8]
  • What is the Proper Way to Display a Flag?, Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen, Germany (2022)[20]
  • The Borders of Reality, Ukrainian Pavilion, NordArt, Büdelsdorf, Germany (2021)[21]
  • Amazing Stories of Crimea, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine (2019)[22]
  • Permanent Revolution. Ukrainian Art Today, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary (2018)[23]
  • UK/RAINE: Emerging Artists from the UK and Ukraine, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2015)[24]
  • Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2014)[25]
  • Gender, Izolyatsia Art Centre, Donetsk, Ukraine (2012)[26]
  • Independent, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine (2011)[22]

Public collections

Awards and recognition

Awards and nominations

  • Nord Art Public Choice Award, Germany (2021)[33]
  • Cosmopolitan International nominee for cultural impact in Ukraine (2018–2019)
  • UK/RAINE nominee for sculpture award, Saatchi Gallery, UK (2015)[34]
  • Pinchuk Art Prize nominee, Ukraine (2013)[35]
  • MUHi competition nominee, Shcherbenko Art Art Centre, Ukraine (2010)[36]

Residencies and fellowships

  • HIAP Art Residence and Ukraine Solidarity Residences Program, Finland (2022–2023)[37]
  • OÖ LandesKultur GmbH Art Residence Award, Austria (2022)[38]
  • Passinger Fabrik Culture Center with Munich Culture Ministry residency grant, Germany (2018)[39]
  • Liverpool Biennial Art Residence with the British Institute, UK (2017)[40]
  • Ruta Runa Art Residency Award with the Swedish Institute, Ukraine–Sweden (2013)
  • AKKU and Uster Culture Ministry Art Residence Award, Switzerland (2012–2013)[39]

References

  1. ↑ "Maria Kulikovska". Double Q Gallery. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  2. ↑ "Maria Kulikovska". Double Q Gallery. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  3. ↑ "Maria Kulikovska - EN". lomykamin.crimea-platform.org. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  4. ↑ "SWAP: UK/Ukraine Residency Programme | Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art". archive.biennial.com. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  5. ↑ "Table of Negotiations?". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  6. ↑ Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu. ""254" Performance". www.smb.museum. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  7. ↑ "254. Action". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  8. 1 2 Hatton, Brian (July–August 2022). "Letter from Berlin 254". Art Monthly. No. 458. pp. 39–40. ProQuest 2683116825. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
  9. ↑ "Maria Kulikovska: To Regenerate the Lost | 3 December 2025 – 31 January 2026 - Overview". Double Q Gallery. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  10. ↑ "Once Leda Found an Egg — Blue Like a Hyacinth". Office Magazine. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  11. ↑ "Maria Kulikovska & Artem Volokitin | Resilience: Voices of Ukraine | 16 March - 22 April 2023 - Overview". Double Q Gallery. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  12. ↑ Weinheimer, Paul (15 March 2023). "Unverdauliche Kunst: In der Freien Akademie der Künste in Hamburg erlaubt die ukrainische Künstlerin Maria Kulikovska tiefe Einblicke in ihre eigenen Flucht-Erfahrungen: "Table 2" heißt die hochemotionale Installation" [Indigestible art: At the Free Academy of Arts in Hamburg, the Ukrainian artist Maria Kulikovska allows deep insights into her own experiences of fleeing her homeland: "Table 2" is the name of the highly emotional installation.]. Die Tageszeitung. ProQuest 2786544667 – via ProQuest. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
  13. ↑ "My Body is a Battlefield - Maria Kulikovska". Art Collection Telekom. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  14. ↑ "My Skin is My Business". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  15. ↑ "I am a problem here.? | M17 Contemporary Art Center". m17.kiev.ua. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  16. ↑ "Resilience Formula | M17 Contemporary Art Center". m17.kiev.ua. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  17. ↑ "Albertinum: Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories. Ukrainian Art 1912–2023". Albertinum. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  18. ↑ "Künstlerhaus". www.kuenstlerhaus.at. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  19. ↑ "EXHIBITION | Don't Dream Dreams | A Selection from the Art Collection Telekom and Two Commissioned Works | MG+MSUM". Moderna galerija. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  20. ↑ "What is the Proper Way to Display a Flag?". Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  21. ↑ "The Borders of Reality". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  22. 1 2 "Stardust". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "Permanent Revolution. Ukrainian Art Today | Ludwig Museum". www.ludwigmuseum.hu. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  24. ↑ "UK/RAINE : EMERGING ARTISTS FROM THE UK AND UKRAINE". www.newexhibitions.com. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  25. ↑ "Premonition : Ukrainian Art Now". www.newexhibitions.com. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  26. ↑ "Gender". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  27. ↑ "Простріляний бюст з квітами та гільзами | Adamovskiy Foundation". adamovskiy.foundation (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  28. ↑ "Kulikovska, Maria". Art Collection Telekom. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  29. ↑ "Maria Kulikovska's Watercolors Join the Permanent Collection of Fenix – the New Museum of Migration". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  30. ↑ "Double Q Gallery". Double Q Gallery. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  31. ↑ "#ARSENALCOLLECTION: ACQUISITIONS OF 2019 – Мистецький арсенал". Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  32. ↑ "Марія Куліковська «Моя шкіра — моя справа» — Одеський національний художній музей". www.ofam.ua. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  33. ↑ "NordArt Prize & Public Choice Award". www.nordart.de. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  34. ↑ "Saatchi Gallery Announced the Shortlist for UK/raine Contest". Bird In Flight. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  35. ↑ "PinchukArtCentre Prize 2013". PinchukArtCentre. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  36. ↑ "Fragment of the MUHi 2009-2021 book | Щербенко Арт Центр | Художники | Щербенко Арт Центр" (in Russian). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  37. ↑ "MKUV Studio – Maria Kulikovska and Uleg Vinnichenko | HIAP". www.hiap.fi. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  38. ↑ "OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH - ooekultur.at". www.ooekultur.at. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  39. 1 2 "About". mariakulikovska.net. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  40. ↑ "Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art". archive.biennial.com. Retrieved 13 February 2026.

Further reading

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