In Support of Glass Art in Ukraine
Rago is honored to present Unbreakable Ukraine, a selection of contemporary glasswork from Ukrainian artists. This collection was organized by Jeff Hillam, who visited Lviv in September of 2022, and aims to bring awareness and support to the hot shop at the Glass Museum in Lviv shared by the Lviv National Academy of Arts.
All proceeds will support the hot shop and the artists in their efforts to thrive and create in spite of war.
"Though Lviv was safe at the time of our visit, the signs of wartime preparation were everywhere. Blockade equipment littered the roadways, ready to be used at a moment's notice. We encountered military checkpoints and public displays of national solidarity along the way. Old churches had metal sheets installed over their stained glass windows to ensure that bombings would not shatter their beauty. Statues were covered and shielded with canvas and rope, to protect the city's cultural heritage. But what stood out brightly in contrast to the darkness of these visuals, was the steadfast Ukrainian determination to maintain normalcy, optimism and hope."
Jeff Hillam
Learn more about the Glass Museum in Lviv and the Lviv National Academy of Arts.
Born in 1939 in the Transcarpathian region in Ukraine, Andriy Bokotey holds the honorary People’s Artist of Ukraine title and is the laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine. He is an academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine and a Professor at Lviv National Academy of Arts, where he was also the Rector during 2000-2015.
Andriy Bokotey’s academic career began at the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Art (now Lviv National Academy of Arts) where he graduated from the Department of Ceramics in 1965. He belongs to the artists whose creative activity in the second half of the 20th century led to the development and spread of the international studio glass movement. The first exhibition of studio glass art in the territory of the former Soviet Union took place in 1980 in Moscow, created by a group of five artists, including Andriy Bokotey. His participation in symposiums in Novy Bor (Czech Republic) in 1986, alongside pioneers of the studio movement from around the world, gave rise to the organization of one of the world's largest International Blown Glass Symposiums in Lviv (1989), which continues to this day.
Founder of the Glass Museum in Lviv (1992) and Andriy Bokotey Award for Young Glass Artists (2018), Bokotey has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Ukraine, the USA, China, and European countries. His works can be found in some of the most important contemporary glass collections as well.