The Making of the Holodomor Memorial

This exhibition at the Kibel Gallery seeks to engage design students and the public with the process of making a public memorial and to present larger, multi-disciplinary issues related to memory, loss, place, and truth. The exhibition showcases the design process and meanings of the National Holodomor Memorial located in Washington, D.C. designed by Larysa Kurylas (B.Arch ’80). The exhibition begins with an introductory section to the history of man-made 1932-33 Holodomor famine in Ukraine. It then splits into three parts; first part illustrates the steps in creating the memorial via a timeline beginning with 2006 law to create the commemorative work on federal land, to the site selection, design competition, agency review, refinement of selected scheme, fabrication of sculpture, and site construction, ending with the 2015 dedication of the memorial. Design challenges and responses were especially highlighted in the timeline.