Vasylyna Buryanyk

Vasylyna Buryanyk (b. 1985) is a Ukrainian textile artist who is an Artists at Risk (AR)-UNESCO Resident at RAS Paris, France.

In her artistic practice and research, Buryanyk has actively worked to combat environmental and social issues, both on a local and global scale, using transparent nylon fabrics. The process of creating her panels and installations is meditative, which gives her the time and opportunity to contemplate the acute problems of the world.

In 2004, Buryanyk completed a degree in Decorative and Applied Art at the A. Erdely College of Arts in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. She then graduated from the National Academy of Arts’ Faculty of Decorative and Applied Art in Lviv, Ukraine, in 2010. Buryanyk has taken part in various residencies in Turkey, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Over the past few years, Buryanyk’s textile works have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Gaude Polonia Scholarship Program of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, which is intended for young creators of culture and translators of Polish literature from Central and Eastern Europe (2013 Warsaw, Poland). She was a Laureate at the 2019 National Biennial of Young Art in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and was nominated at the 17th International Triennial of Tapestry in 2022 in Lodz, Poland, as well as for the M17 Sculpture Prize from the M17 Contemporary Art Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine.

In Buryanyk’s words:

“At the time of the start of my cooperation with AR, more than 150 days had passed since I had been able to function as an artist. This is the longest time I have had to spend without work, so I am very grateful for such a valuable opportunity as the residency and the grant.

In July 2022, I started creating a project and also had the opportunity to purchase all the necessary materials for new textile experiments. At the same time, I started preparing for one of the biggest textile events this year, 17H ITT in Lodz, and recently I was able to become a participant of this Triennial (all my logistical costs related to this participation were also possible thanks to the AR-UNESCO grant). It was an extremely important exhibition for me, because the jury selected 54 works for it from 500 applications from all over the world, and I was able to present my country at it.

I sincerely thank you for all the help and support, for the inspiring tour of the UNESCO territory, for the highly professional team that prepared and filmed the interview with me (which I look forward to), and for the fact that in the future exhibition of my project “Petroleum” I will be able to mention UNESCO and AR as my partners.”

Vasylyna Buryanyk is an ARTISTS at RISK (AR)-UNESCO Resident at AR-RAS Paris with the support of the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund and the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals. AR-Paris is part of the AR-Network, which is curated by Perpetuum Mobile (PM). It is coordinated by the AR-Secretariat, which is co-funded by the Swedish Arts Council and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.