Our Lady at the Mourning Day 2010

Editor: Here we have Volodymyr Loboda's mixed-media collage, *Our Lady at the Mourning Day*, created in 2010. The composition is quite striking with its juxtaposition of bright colours against the dark figures. It almost feels like a visual representation of grief and resilience existing side by side. What are your thoughts on it? Curator: It is very evocative, isn’t it? Beyond the visual contrast, I think Loboda is making a powerful statement about identity and collective memory. The fragmented, collage aesthetic could represent the fractured nature of cultural or personal history, perhaps even echoing the dislocations and hybridity experienced in post-Soviet states. Notice how the Madonna-like figure is deconstructed and reassembled. Does this suggest something about the way traditional icons and beliefs are being re-evaluated, challenged, or perhaps re-invented in a contemporary context? Editor: That's interesting, I hadn't considered the post-Soviet context. The use of pop-art colours makes me wonder if he's also playing with ideas of consumerism impacting those cultural beliefs? Curator: Precisely! The bright, almost garish colours, combined with the sacred imagery, certainly opens up avenues for thinking about the commodification of spirituality and the impact of Western aesthetics on formerly isolated societies. Could the "mourning day" be related to loss, both on a personal level but also on a socio-political one, in terms of the cultural shifts occurring in Ukraine at the time? Editor: Definitely. Seeing it within that socio-political frame really shifts my perspective. Curator: Right, by intertwining personal expression with larger cultural anxieties and historical events, Loboda pushes us to contemplate the complex interplay between faith, identity, and societal transformation. Editor: Thank you, this was really enlightening, I wouldn't have considered these viewpoints at first glance.