Keep the Chains Tight Review: Artist Kiera Brew Kurec Considers Ukrainian Traditions

Why It Matters

The piece demonstrates how contemporary performance can safeguard endangered cultural practices and reinforce diaspora identity, offering a powerful model for cultural preservation in multicultural societies.

Key Takeaways

• Performance uses pysanka eggs to symbolize Ukrainian heritage
• Chain motif visualizes transmission of knowledge across generations
• Durational work highlights labor-intensive ritual as resistance
• Audience participation blurs line between observer and practitioner
• Diasporic art reinforces cultural memory amid geopolitical tensions

Pulse Analysis

The Ukrainian pysanka—an intricately wax‑resist dyed egg—has long served as a portable talisman of protection, renewal, and seasonal ritual. Originating in pre‑Christian spring rites, the craft was co‑opted by the Orthodox calendar and later criminalized under Soviet rule, where thousands of eggs were destroyed and the symbolic language driven underground. In the post‑Soviet era, diaspora communities revived the practice as a marker of identity, teaching it in cultural centers and family gatherings. This resurgence underscores how material culture can become a resilient conduit for collective memory when official narratives attempt erasure.

In "Keep the Chains Tight," Kiera Brew Kurec translates that resilient memory into a durational performance at Sydney’s Randwick Literary Institute. A spiralling chain of candles and wheat frames a pile of black‑beeswax‑coated eggs, while performers in monochrome vests select an egg, melt its wax over a flame, and reveal layered geometric designs. The absence of music forces attention to the tactile rhythm, mirroring the apprenticeship model of pysanka transmission—from master to learner to audience. By staging the ritual as a chain, the work visualises how each gesture links past, present, and future custodians of the craft.

The piece resonates beyond aesthetic intrigue; it offers a template for how contemporary art can safeguard endangered cultural practices. For the Ukrainian community in Australia, the performance affirms a living connection to homeland traditions while inviting broader audiences to witness the labor of remembrance. In a climate where geopolitical conflict threatens cultural erasure, such public enactments reinforce diaspora resilience and stimulate dialogue about heritage preservation. As Australian arts institutions increasingly program multicultural works, Brew Kurec’s approach demonstrates the marketable and socially valuable potential of integrating ritual craft into contemporary performance.