Heartfelt documentation of a traditional Ukrainian ritual heralding the arrival of spring: a startlingly personal project from the photographer and film director known for her work with the Smashing Pumpkins
This is the sixth photobook by Ukrainian American visual artist Yelena Yemchuk (born 1970). Born in Kyiv but based in the United States, Yemchuk makes images that teeter on the threshold between her Eastern European heritage and her daily life in New York; between fiction and reality; between the grand beauty of 1960s cinema and the social and built environments of post-Soviet realms. Through Yemchuk’s gaze, spaces blur to create dreamscapes and metamorphoses. As with all of her work, Malanka is a personal, feminine, surrealist and magical project. The eponymous tradition is a pre-Christian folklore ritual driving out winter and welcoming spring, an ancient custom reminiscent of Persephone’s return in Greek mythology. It is celebrated on January 14, the old New Year in the Julian calendar, by ethnic Romanians in western Ukraine. In 2019 and 2020, Yemchuk traveled to Crasna (Krasnoilsk in Ukrainian) to document the night-long festival. The book includes a poetic essay by Romanian cultural journalist Ioana Pelehat?i.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Yelena Yemchuk: Malanka.'
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Yelena Yemchuk captures magic and spirit of the cultural tradition through a personal, feminine lens.
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Saturday, February 17, from 4 to 6 PM, Arcana Books on the Arts will host Ukrainian American visual artist Yelena Yemchuk for the signing of her new book, Malanka, published by Edition Patrick Frey. continue to blog
Wednesday, March 6 from 6 to 8 PM, Dashwood Books will host Ukrainian American visual artist Yelena Yemchuk for the signing of her new book, Malanka, published by Edition Patrick Frey. continue to blog
Featured spreads are from Ukranian American visual artist Yelena Yemchuk's most recent photobook, Malanka, documenting "Old New Year," a heavily incantatory, night-long, pre-christian, folklore ritual that takes place on January 14 every year. It is celebrated by ethnic Romanians in western Ukraine. For this project, Yemchuk traveled to Crasna (aka Krasnoilsk) in 2019 and 2020, photographing the celebration meant to drive out winter and stimulate spring into existence—an ancient custom reminiscent of Persephone’s return in Greek mythology.
Through Yemchuk’s gaze, spaces blur to create dreamscapes and metamorphoses. As with all of her work, Malanka is a personal, feminine, surrealist and magical project—in this case including a poetic essay by Romanian cultural journalist Ioana Pelehatăi, who traveled to Ukraine in 2023, as war raged to the east. She writes, “The locals shudder at the term ‘carnival,’ but we’ll circle back to that later. For now, I just want to point out that the origins of the term come from carne levare, or ‘remove flesh.’ Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras. The right time and place to renounce the old and bring in the new, to flip hierarchy on its head, to laugh in the face of hegemony. Malanka. Carnival. Maybe. … The Malanka chases out evil spirits and brings in the wealth of the new year. Here, in the old world’s east, death isn’t a boogeyman; it’s an acquaintance. It shows up, and you give it a place at the big table because you can’t make it leave. You respect death, but you don’t love it. Death is a strict mother, or a grandma who raised you.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Pbk, 7.25 x 10 in. / 176 pgs / 121 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $86 ISBN: 9783907236673 PUBLISHER: Edition Patrick Frey AVAILABLE: 3/5/2024 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by Edition Patrick Frey. Text by Ioana Pelehatăi.
Heartfelt documentation of a traditional Ukrainian ritual heralding the arrival of spring: a startlingly personal project from the photographer and film director known for her work with the Smashing Pumpkins
This is the sixth photobook by Ukrainian American visual artist Yelena Yemchuk (born 1970). Born in Kyiv but based in the United States, Yemchuk makes images that teeter on the threshold between her Eastern European heritage and her daily life in New York; between fiction and reality; between the grand beauty of 1960s cinema and the social and built environments of post-Soviet realms. Through Yemchuk’s gaze, spaces blur to create dreamscapes and metamorphoses. As with all of her work, Malanka is a personal, feminine, surrealist and magical project. The eponymous tradition is a pre-Christian folklore ritual driving out winter and welcoming spring, an ancient custom reminiscent of Persephone’s return in Greek mythology. It is celebrated on January 14, the old New Year in the Julian calendar, by ethnic Romanians in western Ukraine. In 2019 and 2020, Yemchuk traveled to Crasna (Krasnoilsk in Ukrainian) to document the night-long festival. The book includes a poetic essay by Romanian cultural journalist Ioana Pelehat?i.
