Ukraine House in Denmark Presents “My Body is a Battlefield. Copenhagen” by Mariia Kulykivska

The exhibition unveils Kulykivska’s latest sculptural work — Pregnant Figure — from the forthcoming series After Death Comes Life. Cast from the artist’s own body five months before the full-scale Russian invasion, the sculpture contains bullet casings, fragments of mines, and dried flowers from Ukrainian battlefields and fields — symbols of death and rebirth united within one form.

Through this coexistence of fragility and power, pain and hope, Mariia Kulykivska transforms the body into a battlefield — a space of memory, vulnerability, and resilience. Her work is a reflection on how life continues to emerge even amid destruction, how mourning turns into renewal, and how art becomes a vessel for survival.

Mariia Kulykivska (b. 1988, Kerch, Crimea, Ukraine) is a multimedia artist, architect, performer, and curator whose work examines displacement, embodiment, and the transformative power of fragility as forms of resistance. Working across sculpture, watercolor, performance, and political action, she treats the human body as both a political and poetic material.

Following the occupation of Crimea in 2014, Kulykivska became a nomadic artist, working across Scandinavia, Europe, and Ukraine. She is currently based between Kyiv and London, where she is pursuing her PhD research.

Her works have been exhibited internationally in major museums and biennials, including Neue Nationalgalerie (Berlin), Accelerator (Stockholm), Saatchi Gallery (London), Ludwig Museum (Budapest), Albertinum (Dresden), and Mystetskyi Arsenal (Kyiv), and are represented in collections such as the Fenix Museum of Migration (Rotterdam) and Francisco Carolinum Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Linz).

Opening Program

18 November 2025

15:00 – Exhibition Opening
Welcome remarks by Nataliia Popovych, Chairperson of Ukraine House in Denmark, and Nataliia Tkachenko, founder of Spilne Art

15:15 – Exhibition Introduction
Overview of My Body is a Battlefield. Copenhagen and the artistic collaboration

15:30 – Artist Talk with Mariia Kulykivska
Discussion on displacement, self-casting, and the dialogue between art, war, and womanhood

16:15 – Reception
Informal gathering and refreshments

Exhibition Details

Organizers: Spilne Art, Ukraine House in Denmark
Venue: Outside of Ukraine House in Denmark, Gammel Dok, Strandgade 27B, 1401 Copenhagen
Dates: 18 November – 26 December 2025

Acknowledgements

This exhibition has been made possible through the support of Ukrainian businesses Ajax Systems and MHP, and the state leadership of Tetyana Berezhna and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Their partnership exemplifies how collaboration between the state, art, and business strengthens Ukraine’s cultural voice internationally. We are also thankful to Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen for their support of this open-air installation in public space.