Yuliia Elyas was born in 1990 in Dnipro, Ukraine. She has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Dnipro National University. In 2016-2019 she studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy at the Department of Fine Arts. In 2022 she obtained a master's degree at the HKU of Fine Arts.
Elyas (co) initiated various long-term collaboration practices with the Second Thought reading group and the Out of touch: Making space from the blue hour project.
In her work, Elyas explores the mechanisms that form social narratives. From museum archives to technology, she is interested in what stories influence the formation of realities and what is the role of artistic intervention in it?
Her work often delves into unique geographies and unconventional temporalities within the realm of ideas.
I am
Her artistic work arises through the intersection of different media, such as performance, animation, installation and new media.
Workshop facilitator & Guest Lecturer, MAFA, HKU, Utrecht University, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Kwost Gallery, BAK.
Designed and facilitated theory workshops, seminars, and writing labs for MA,BA students and displaced artists.
2023 – present
Initiator and co-curator, Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary
Multilingual, transdisciplinary glossary project fostering decolonial discourse from Ukrainian perspectives. https://decolonialglossary.com.ua/
2023 – present Lead of Advocacy team – Policy making, developing support structures for displaced artists, VATAHA.
2023 – 2024
Fellowship for Situated Practice, BAK, Utrecht
Developed the Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary, organized public workshops, and facilitated collective research.
2019 – 2022
Second Thought Reading Group and Out of touch: making space from the blue hour.
Curated and led student-driven reading group exploring radical pedagogy, care, and post-representational theory.
2020 – 2022: Master of Fine Arts, HKU, Utrecht
2017 – 2019: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
2019: "Art and Politics in BAK," Basis Voor Actuele Kunst, Utrecht
2018: Summer School "Posthuman Ethics, Pain and Endurance: How to Lead an Anti Fascist Life in Brutal Times," led by Prof. Rosi Braidotti, Utrecht University
2009 – 2013: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Dnipropetrovsk National University, Ukraine
2024: Adviser to DutchCulture Visitors Programme – translating and advising on building transnational artistic connections between Dutch and Ukrainian contexts
2024: Focus Group Member – Decolonial Guide for Museums for Western Art Institions, initiated by Ukrainian Institute.
2022: Advisor to University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Stedelijk museum – consultation on representation in archival practices and Ukrainian cultural memory.
2021: part of Mutual Support Platform (MAFA, HKU) – collective response to precarity in art education, fostering solidarity and support post graduation
2019-2018: Assistant for Arduino Workshop
2019: Facilitator for Reading Group "Second Thought", Sandberg Institute
2022: Workshop about finding role in crisis for MAFA Students
2022: Guest Lecturer for Art History Course, Utrecht University
2022: Assisted Displaced Ukrainian Students at HKU
2022: Organized Weekly Art Therapy Sessions for Displaced Ukrainians
2023: Writing Workshop for artistic practicesfor MAFA Students
2024: Speculative Writing Workshop, Research Interrupted, BAK, Utrecht
2025: Workshop on modes of belonging, Multimodal Translations amid Violent Discussions, Kwost Gallery, Berlin
2025: Workshop Facilitator "ZZP for People with Temporary Protection Status", Opora foundation.
2025: Europe for Grabs, European Cultural Foundation, Spui.
2025: Europanacht, Paradiso, Amsterdam. Panel discussion on Future of Europe
2025: Interwoven Vrij Paleis, Amsterdam
2024: Casco, Uitfeest – Moments of Resilience
2024: Research Interrupted – (Un)Schooling Resilience; Diagnostics, Resistance, and Restorative Strategies, Workbook Workshop, BAK, Utrecht
2024: What Hinders A Sermon Becomes One, St. Pancratius Church, Heerlen
2024: Lecture-performance, What Comes Up Must Go Down, Stedelijk Museum, Fifth International Khardzhiev Conference
2024: Presentation of the Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary, BAK, Utrecht
2023: Rotterdam, Native Ukrainians, 380 Art
2023: Casco, The Mutual Support Platform – Ties of Aid, Uitfeest
2023: Public Reading, PuntWG
2022: Across the Stedelijk – After Six: More Than Malevich, Stedelijk Museum
2022: Art Rotterdam, 380 Art
2022: Essential labour for survival, Panel Discussion, BAK, Utrecht
2022: Ukraine Fundraiser, The Gray Space in the Middle, Den Haag
2021: Virtual Empathy, Academic Gallery, Utrecht
2021: Spacial Hair Assembly, Plet, Amsterdam
2020: ReContext Histories, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine
2019: Rietveld Uncut, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
2018: Contextualism, Plan B, Amsterdam
2018: Hypography Project Exhibition, Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
Metropolis M
Anne Imhof from the Ukrainian Perspective Link to article
The Decolonial Glossary: A Platform for Critical Discourse on Decolonial Theory in Ukraine Link to article
NEWEAST
Tactical Media Room | Launch of the Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary Link to article
MOST Magazine
Between Knives and Words Link to article
Essential Labor for Survival, presented at PuntWG – Nominated for Thesis Award
In Imagination Guide II: How to Make Rockets Disappear, ed. Darja Lukjanenko – Contribution: I'm Looking at High Skies and It Makes Me Wonder. Published in Under the Lying Stone, Water Does Not Flow (Fundacja Ziemniaki, Stroboskop Art Space, Ksi Prostir) a Special Jury Award for “poetry in design form” at the Best Book Design Competition, organized by the International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv
Elyas (co) initiated various long-term collaboration practices with the Second Thought reading group and the Out of touch: Making space from the blue hour project.
In her work, Elyas explores the mechanisms that form social narratives. From museum archives to technology, she is interested in what stories influence the formation of realities and what is the role of artistic intervention in it?
Her work often delves into unique geographies and unconventional temporalities within the realm of ideas.
I am
Her artistic work arises through the intersection of different media, such as performance, animation, installation and new media.
Workshop facilitator & Guest Lecturer, MAFA, HKU, Utrecht University, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Kwost Gallery, BAK.
Designed and facilitated theory workshops, seminars, and writing labs for MA,BA students and displaced artists.
2023 – present
Initiator and co-curator, Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary
Multilingual, transdisciplinary glossary project fostering decolonial discourse from Ukrainian perspectives. https://decolonialglossary.com.ua/
2023 – present Lead of Advocacy team – Policy making, developing support structures for displaced artists, VATAHA.
2023 – 2024
Fellowship for Situated Practice, BAK, Utrecht
Developed the Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary, organized public workshops, and facilitated collective research.
2019 – 2022
Second Thought Reading Group and Out of touch: making space from the blue hour.
Curated and led student-driven reading group exploring radical pedagogy, care, and post-representational theory.
Education
2020 – 2022: Master of Fine Arts, HKU, Utrecht
2017 – 2019: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
2019: "Art and Politics in BAK," Basis Voor Actuele Kunst, Utrecht
2018: Summer School "Posthuman Ethics, Pain and Endurance: How to Lead an Anti Fascist Life in Brutal Times," led by Prof. Rosi Braidotti, Utrecht University
2009 – 2013: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Dnipropetrovsk National University, Ukraine
Cultural Advisory Roles & Institutional Collaboration
2024: Adviser to DutchCulture Visitors Programme – translating and advising on building transnational artistic connections between Dutch and Ukrainian contexts
2024: Focus Group Member – Decolonial Guide for Museums for Western Art Institions, initiated by Ukrainian Institute.
2022: Advisor to University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Stedelijk museum – consultation on representation in archival practices and Ukrainian cultural memory.
2021: part of Mutual Support Platform (MAFA, HKU) – collective response to precarity in art education, fostering solidarity and support post graduation
Teaching Experience
2019-2018: Assistant for Arduino Workshop
2019: Facilitator for Reading Group "Second Thought", Sandberg Institute
2022: Workshop about finding role in crisis for MAFA Students
2022: Guest Lecturer for Art History Course, Utrecht University
2022: Assisted Displaced Ukrainian Students at HKU
2022: Organized Weekly Art Therapy Sessions for Displaced Ukrainians
2023: Writing Workshop for artistic practicesfor MAFA Students
2024: Speculative Writing Workshop, Research Interrupted, BAK, Utrecht
2025: Workshop on modes of belonging, Multimodal Translations amid Violent Discussions, Kwost Gallery, Berlin
2025: Workshop Facilitator "ZZP for People with Temporary Protection Status", Opora foundation.
Exhibitions
2025: Europe for Grabs, European Cultural Foundation, Spui.
2025: Europanacht, Paradiso, Amsterdam. Panel discussion on Future of Europe
2025: Interwoven Vrij Paleis, Amsterdam
2024: Casco, Uitfeest – Moments of Resilience
2024: Research Interrupted – (Un)Schooling Resilience; Diagnostics, Resistance, and Restorative Strategies, Workbook Workshop, BAK, Utrecht
2024: What Hinders A Sermon Becomes One, St. Pancratius Church, Heerlen
2024: Lecture-performance, What Comes Up Must Go Down, Stedelijk Museum, Fifth International Khardzhiev Conference
2024: Presentation of the Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary, BAK, Utrecht
2023: Rotterdam, Native Ukrainians, 380 Art
2023: Casco, The Mutual Support Platform – Ties of Aid, Uitfeest
2023: Public Reading, PuntWG
2022: Across the Stedelijk – After Six: More Than Malevich, Stedelijk Museum
2022: Art Rotterdam, 380 Art
2022: Essential labour for survival, Panel Discussion, BAK, Utrecht
2022: Ukraine Fundraiser, The Gray Space in the Middle, Den Haag
2021: Virtual Empathy, Academic Gallery, Utrecht
2021: Spacial Hair Assembly, Plet, Amsterdam
2020: ReContext Histories, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine
2019: Rietveld Uncut, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
2018: Contextualism, Plan B, Amsterdam
2018: Hypography Project Exhibition, Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
Articles and Essays
Metropolis M
Anne Imhof from the Ukrainian Perspective Link to article
The Decolonial Glossary: A Platform for Critical Discourse on Decolonial Theory in Ukraine Link to article
NEWEAST
Tactical Media Room | Launch of the Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary Link to article
MOST Magazine
Between Knives and Words Link to article
Books
Essential Labor for Survival, presented at PuntWG – Nominated for Thesis Award
In Imagination Guide II: How to Make Rockets Disappear, ed. Darja Lukjanenko – Contribution: I'm Looking at High Skies and It Makes Me Wonder. Published in Under the Lying Stone, Water Does Not Flow (Fundacja Ziemniaki, Stroboskop Art Space, Ksi Prostir) a Special Jury Award for “poetry in design form” at the Best Book Design Competition, organized by the International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv