On 27 March 2025, at a meeting of the Academic Council of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University, a report on the implementation of the research topic of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design “Artistic Practices of Ukraine in the European Cultural Space” (registration number 0116U003293) was approved.

The results of the research in four areas for the reporting period were presented by the project leader Olha Shkolna, Head of the Department of Fine Arts, Doctor of Art Studies, Professor.

During the implementation of the research topic:

• at the first (preparatory/initial) stage, the research concept was developed and empirical bases were formed in four research areas: Architecture and Monumental and Decorative Arts, Fine Arts and Art History Expertise, Decorative and Applied Arts and Design, Artificial Intelligence and Immersive Technologies;
• at the second (main/research) stage, the research concept was implemented:

in the first line, the architecture of Elizabethan and Jacobean England was studied; the mirror interiors of Iran and the Caucasus, the mirror interiors of Tbilisi, the mirror interiors of Tarkhan Mouravi, the origin of ganche compositions with oynavand-uima in the interiors of Uzbekistan and Georgia were compared; for the first time, a separate type of monumental and decorative art related to the Dnipro region was introduced into scientific circulation, and the style of interiors of coworking centres in Ukraine was compared; for the first time, the thematic priorities of contemporary mural art in Europe were identified;

in the second line - the influence of ancient Egyptian cosmogonies on the iconography of medieval saints is clarified; it is proved that Taras Shevchenko's ideas for the series of etchings ‘Picturesque Ukraine’ were implemented by his followers, in particular I. Yizhakevych; the influence of ancient Egyptian cosmogonies on the iconography of medieval saints was outlined; the features of the cultural identity of Ukrainians of Transcarpathia in the second half of the twentieth century were characterized through their paintings of the period;

the third area was the identification and analysis of technologies for the manufacture of colts, Sufi kashkuls and Slavic boats, coral and amber in traditional Ukrainian jewellery, painted eggs of the world, Murano beads in Ukrainian jewellery, glass jewellery from the collections of Crimea, yagnuski, balamut, morchychi, gazebos and portmanteaus; theoretical and methodological foundations of their study were developed; it was established that the master jewellers of Kyivan Rus were Alipiy, Marko Pechernyk, Lazar Bohsha, Nykodym, Kuzma, Maxymos, T. Н.; for the first time, the chronology of the production of ‘painted necklace’ from Ukrainian museum collections was determined; Venetian beads from the collection of the Lviv Museum of Ethnography and Art Crafts were reattributed; for the first time, the connection between variants of forms and decor of dishes with the ‘printing’ of Hlynske faience production (collection of the Museum of Ethnography and Art Crafts, nineteenth century) with English fine ceramics of Davenport of the nineteenth century was proved; for the first time the connection with the Byzantine furniture tradition of Georgian modern thrones and polytrons was proved; the specificity of the products of Ukrainian Persian carpenters of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries in comparison with modern Iranian traditional carpets was proved; for the first time the influence of Moorish art on goldsmithing in Europe in the late Middle Ages and early modern times in the segment of Morczycs, Morettos, and Blackamurs was proved;

in the fourth line - the artistic and figurative features of works designed with the help of digital technologies of the 2010s - 2020s were emphasised. For the first time, the influence of artificial intelligence and immersive technologies on contemporary artistic practices in Ukraine was revealed; the change in the paradigm of fine art to visual art was proved by introducing elements of 3D, virtual, augmented, extended and modified reality into contemporary forms of painting; for the first time, augmented reality works in contemporary Ukrainian mural art were characterised; the artistic and figurative features of works of fine and decorative art developed in VR, NFT tokens were revealed; glass works designed with the help of artificial intelligence, as well as the implemented projects of crystal sculpture in 2024, were analysed for the first time.

The results of the theoretical and analytical research have been practically implemented through the updating of educational programmes (“Fine Arts”, “Digital Ethnomusic”, “Graphic Design”) and academic disciplines (“History of Decorative and Applied Arts”, “History of Fine Arts”, “Conceptual and Categorical Apparatus in the Fine Arts”, “Cultural and Artistic Traditions of the Far East in the European Space”, “Methodology, Psychology and Pedagogy of Artistic Creativity”, “History of Decorative and Applied Arts”, “Digital Art and Vi-Art Technologies”, “Contemporary Art and Three-Dimensional Art Objects”, “AI in the Fine Arts” for students of the first (bachelor's) and second (master's) levels of higher education of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design; reflected in the topics of a number of graduation projects of applicants.

The results of the research areas have been tested at the following levels:

• international - in the framework of cooperation with Shevchenko Museum in Toronto, open lectures by Olha Shkolna (Canada) were held; the 1st International Scientific and Practical Conference “Transformation of the Humanitarian Sphere and Cultural Space under the Influence of War” was held; the results of the research were tested at 20 international scientific and practical conferences; an international grant application was submitted: Jean Monnet FAIR Principles in artistic research project: European experience of openness, innovation, and inclusion within the framework of the EU Erasmus+ Programme (ERASMUS-JMO-2025-HEI-TCH-RSCH (ID 101238592). participated in international research and art projects (Turkey (Antalya), Canada (Toronto)); they participated in international art competitions and plein airs; published 30 scientific articles indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases;
• all-Ukrainian - participation in about 110 conferences; holding 20 roundtables, guest lectures, etc.; publishing 200 articles in professional art history journals and other scientific publications; publishing 3 monographs, 3 textbooks, 2 collections of abstracts of scientific and practical conferences;
• university - 7 PhD theses were defended by applicants at the third (educational and scientific) level of higher education.

     Further steps in the research of the scientific topic and its implementation are as  

     follows:

• development of decorative and applied arts and proto-design in Kyivan Rus and Ukraine (artistic porcelain, faience, art glass, art metal, art wood, pottery, jewellery, artistic weaving, tapestry, carpet weaving);
• theoretical and methodological foundations of art studies in Ukraine and the world;
• cultural values and cultural heritage in cheritology;
• architecture and art of the countries of Western, Central and Middle Asia, the Middle East and Africa in contemporary interior design;
• Judaic studies and visual art of the Arab world;
• architecture and decorative and applied arts of England;
• industrial and graphic design, environmental design, digital art and information technology in contemporary theory and practice;
• fine arts of Ukraine, Europe and America of the eighteenth and early twenty-first centuries;
• initiating and coordinating research in the fields of art studies, cultural studies, museum studies, monument studies and design;
• introducing modern art technologies into the creative practice of educational institutions;
• holding and participating in international and national scientific and practical conferences, seminars, congresses, briefings, round tables, symposia, colloquia, etc;
• promoting the development of the school's research centres in artistic institutions of Ukraine; reviewing monographs, textbooks, manuals, and dissertation research;

• participation in the work of expert and specialised academic councils, working groups of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine. 

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