Formation of Media Art in Ukraine: Sociocultural Context

The purpose of the article is to analyse the main trends and features of the formation of media art in Ukraine in the context of modern culture. The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary synthesis of sociocultural analytics, historical and logical approaches to the analysis of sociocultural factors of the formation of media art, the method of interpreting texts for the systematisation of historiography, a systemic approach and universal scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, juxtaposition and comparison, induction and deduction. Scientific novelty. For the first time, socio-cultural factors that determined the features of the formation of Ukrainian media art were identified, systematised and analysed. Conclusions. The full-fledged formation of media art in Ukraine took place in the 90s, when it became one of the priority areas of artistic creativity. A powerful impetus for the dynamic development of media art was the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence. An important factor in its formation was the institutional support from international cultural and artistic foundations, private patrons, the organisation of numerous exhibitions and festivals, the growth of the technical capacity of contemporary art galleries to adequately exhibit works of media art. In a relatively short period of time, Ukrainian media art caught up and in its best manifestations reached the world level as a powerful means of artistic expression, creative experiments and original forms of artistic representation of socially important ideas. With the spread of high-speed Internet and open-access programmes, the introduction of NFT and artificial intelligence technologies, a new stage in the development of media art begins. Its characteristic feature is the expansion of the social base, primarily due to the younger generations of artists and recipients who were born and formed in the space of digital culture.