The publishing house of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography have released a catalogue titled Ukrainian Dreamers: The Kharkiv School of Photography.
The book is listed on the website of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP) and will go on sale on 10 November 2026.
The catalogue follows the exhibition of the same name, organised by the Lithuanian and Ukrainian institutions in spring 2026.
As the Lithuanian National Museum of Art noted, creative ties between photographers from Kharkiv and Lithuania date back to the Soviet era:
"During the Soviet period, Lithuania, home to the only state photographers' union in the USSR, served as an important point of reference for Kharkiv artists seeking to establish photography's status as an art form. The exhibition of Kharkiv photographers in Vilnius is therefore a long-awaited tribute to these creative connections."
The publication explores the history and development of the Kharkiv School of Photography, an artistic community spanning four generations of Ukrainian artists from the 1960s to the present day.
"Kharkiv photographers have continually pushed the boundaries of photographic art, transforming it into a powerful means of aesthetic self-expression and social criticism," the publication's description states.
The catalogue contains six scholarly essays on the Kharkiv School of Photography, along with an illustrated chronology of the movement.
The authors examine the development of photography under Soviet censorship, during Ukraine's independence, throughout periods of revolution and against the backdrop of Russian military aggression.
The publication was edited by Nadiia Bernard-Kovalchuk, Olena Chervonyk, Arūnas Gelūnas, Serhii Lebedynskyi, Agnė Narušytė, Oleksandra Osadcha and Sandra Joy Russell. The catalogue was designed by Vytautas Volbekas.
The project was funded by Lithuania's Ministry of Culture, with the Ukrainian Institute, House of Europe and the Cultural Diplomacy Foundation participating as partners.
