State of Emergence. FOG
Dasha Chekushkova - Diana Khailova - Borys Kashapov - Olena Pronkina - Uliana Shchabel
curated by Lesia Kulchinska
opening: Thu, 9 June 6-10 pm

09.06-22.07.2022

 

When the fog comes, familiar shapes disappear, sounds distort. Vision is no more a reliable source. You may remember that something or someone is around, unclear if near or far away; you may feel the presence or the movement, listen to the rustle and guess the source, touch the surface and suppose the matter. A specific navigating system is needed to make sense in the fog. Once the usual guides are not available anymore, the space opens its previously unnoticed issues, activating the dull senses, speaking to faded memories or hidden anticipations.

FOG is a second chapter of the State of Emergence project, launched by Lesia Kulchynska and Catinca Tabacaru on April 14th, 50 days after the beginning of Russia's war on Ukraine. State of Emergence is aimed at exploring the processes of novel emergence in the midst of the state of emergency. 

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FOG brings together 5 artists that have been based in Ukraine when the war started. Uliana Shchabel is a native citizen of Lviv, a city that became shelter for many people from other Ukrainian cities that have been occupied or violently destroyed by the Russian army. Four other artists have ties to the territory named Russia today. Dasha Chekushkova’s roots go back to Udmurtia, a region of the Russian Federation inhabited by indigenous people who have been colonized by the Russian Empire in the XVI century because of the advantages of their land. Diana Khalilova was born in Dagestan, a Caucasian region that was conquered by the Russian Empire in the XIX century, and has a long history of struggle for independence. Borys Kashapov’s family comes from a Tatar village absorbed by the Russian empire between XVI and XVIII centuries. Olena Pronkina is originally from Uzbekistan, which has also been a part of the Russian Empire in the XIX century and is still under the strong influence of Russia. 

It is by the law of chance, somehow induced by war, that all these artists come together in this show in Bucharest. They share the experience of oblivion, of the lost languages, vanished histories, and erased identities, or the threat of it. Surprisingly, in the fog of the war, ignored contours started to show through, inviting us to reconsider the whole picture that seemed so familiar. (Lesia Kulchinska)


Dasha Chekushkova, Olena Pronkina and Uliana Shchabel were also part of the Watermelon Residency by Sandwich in Bucharest and Bechet (April - May), while Borys Kashapov took part in the project as long-distance resident.

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*event part of  @DOI_JOI

 

Watermelon Residency is co-funded, this year, by The European Cultural Foundation, through the Culture of Solidarity Fund - Ukraine edition, and was organized in partnership with Catinca Tabacaru and Suprainfinit galleries.

 

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