The dissertation is dedicated to the study of intercultural dialogue in the art of murals in Kyiv in the 21st century in the context of changes in visual culture under the influence of globalization. It is claimed that muralism, as a form of urban art, becomes a component of intercultural dialogue that takes place along different vectors, serves as a factor in the development of society groups, and contributes to the expansion of cultural space. This fact reveals a wide field for this research and makes it relevant.
It is claimed that the globalizing processes of the world in the 20th and 21st centuries are equally manifested in the economy, politics, ecology, modern means of communication, and art. Changes in different areas of human life, occurring under the influence of globalization, become the result of metamorphoses in the worldview not only of individual personalities or social groups but also of societies as a whole. Globalization sharpens the issue of interaction between different civilizations and intensifies the problems of similarity and differences in ethnic cultures. Other countries, like Ukraine, standing at the crossroads between multiculturalism or ethnocentrism, face questions of self-identification and choosing a path.
The research publication considers culture as an information system for spreading norms and values, which embody socially significant experience in artistic images, determine and regulate the vector of human activity in various life situations, open the way to research the exchange of information between cultures, and to intercultural dialogue. The latter has a high intensity of influence on modern murals, in particular, on the flourishing of mural art in Kyiv since 2004.
The dissertation examines the history of the development of muralism in Kyiv against the backdrop of historical, geopolitical, and socio-cultural changes - from the emergence of graffiti in the 1990s to the formation of creative communities of mural artists on the eve of the Orange Revolution and the rapid development of mural art in the 2010s. It is during this period that their work enters the global context, establishing an intensive creative dialogue with artists from other cultures. The authors of Kyiv's murals were guided by ideas of active social position aimed at harmonizing the sprawling new developments of the 1990s and 2000s, bringing the capital closer to Western examples of "creative cities" (such as creative Berlin). The murals of the capital, created since 2004, have become unique and recognizable not only in Ukraine but throughout the world, which attests to the individual responsibility of artists and cultural figures.
At the research publication, the differences between murals and other art forms such as monumental painting, graffiti art, and supergraphics are highlighted. It is noted that murals are large, stylistically and technically diverse works of art located in urban areas on the walls of buildings or fences, created with the permission of the authorities, which distinguishes them from graffiti art (which is mostly associated with vandalistic subcultural expressions). In some ways, muralism is similar to monumental art, but it is devoid of ideological influence and is oriented towards society.
The dissertation research analyzed the peculiarities of Kyiv murals and conducted a statistical distribution of their themes. It was found that the majority of Kyiv murals are dedicated to images of Ukraine or the West. The themes of the examined works indicate the relevance of intercultural dialogue for the authors and society, as well as reflection on the impact of globalization processes on culture. The image of Ukraine in the works of Western muralists on the territory of the Ukrainian capital is an image of the Other, localized in the territory of the Other-friendly, thus doomed to a specific grotesque and adaptation in an environment not suited for it. As for the "image of the West" in the understanding of Kyiv muralists, it is important to note that the mural genre (like graffiti, performance, happening, etc.) was introduced from Western practice. Western stylistic and partly thematic experience has become an important part of visual language and, together with local traditions, plays a significant role in visual intercultural dialogue / polylogue.
