Gonchar K. Ukrainian Pictorial Folklore in the Contemporary Culture Creationprocess: Traditions and Innovations.

The thesis is devoted to the analysis of the emergence and development of the pictorial folklore that has evolved at the intersection of folk and professional art. The problem of interplay between these arts in the end 19th and 20th centuries as well as on the threshold of the 20th and 21st centuries was highlighted. It is proved that after announcing the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine a creativity outburst had taken a place among local artists. As a result, numerous pieces of art emerged as a combination of traditions and innovations in a new art form. For the first time a comprehensive study of typology, techniques of form creation and art stylistics of art works and objects, generated by new practices, was conducted. The author's concept of the artist as a factor of style creation in pictorial folklore was highlighted. The exhibitional and curatorial projects, which represented art objects as a new art form, were analyzed and the role of pictorial folklore in contemporary culture creation process was defined.