We are Ukrainians. Citizens of Ukraine have taken up arms and are fighting for freedom, democracy and human dignity, switched from cosy living to non-stop volunteering in order to help others to survive and to resist. We are different, but we have one goal – to defeat the evil that came to our land to destroy life. Our contribution to the documenta fifteen is to think together with its international community, with the people of Kassel and Europeans in general about the reasons of the aggressive war that the Russian Federation unleashed against the civilized world, about the blind spots of the Europeans on the map and in the history of Europe, about freedom, decoloniality and the danger of forgetting the past.
We will have talks about weapons, westsplaining, identity, decoloniality, nationalism, freedom, totalitarianism, collectivity, where the audience can come and publicly express your points on these topics. We also hope that philosophers, artists and researchers are not only able to write about us, but are also willing to discuss these topics with us in person.
To apply for participating in discussions, please fill the form
We propose to documenta fifteen visitors and participants:
Talk with Ukrainians, not about them!
“Citizenship Ukraine” is a 3-day programme curated by 4 Ukrainian cultural organisations as part of ZK/Us eco-system at documenta fifteen . Artists and activists from Mariupol, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Kherson will spend the154th, 155th, and 156th day of full-scale russian war against Ukraine in Kassel, welcoming everyone to visit “Citizenship Ukraine”.
Having been directly affected by the Russian invasion, the participants from Ukraine will share the experience of home loss and relocation – some of them went through this for the second time – as well as transforming the cultural work to adapt to the new reality. Exhibitions, workshops, discussions, film screenings, and presentations will showcase Ukrainian grassroot initiatives on Citizenship Ukraine at Hiroshima-Ufer and other locations
We invite you to talk with us, listen to us, and learn more about Ukraine and Ukrainians.
Participants:
Platform Tu (Mariupol), Kultura Medialna (Dnipro), Garage 127 (Kharkiv), Totem (Kherson). The programme is part of the contribution of ZK\U (Berlin) to documenta fifteen and funded by the Lumbung Network and the Federal Foreign Office.
Moderator of discussions:
Larysa Venediktova.
Invited guests:
Heike Winkel, Inga Pylypchuk, Yulia Kryvych, Olesya Onikeyenko, Maxim Nakonechny, Oleksandr Sosnovsky
Schedule
Location:
ruruHaus Reno (entrance from Treppenstraße): Ob. Königsstraße 43, 34117 Kassel
Day 1 (27/07) – 154th day of resistance
16:00 – Art outside/inside occupation. “Checkpoint” phenomenon
Exhibition by Totem, Kherson
The majority of artists were forced to leave Kherson leaving occupation without any “green coridors”. Today they are refugees in different countries but we are trying to preserve ourselves as a community together with those who stay in the occupied city. We hope to return. Kherson Inside/Outside shows creative dialog between artists-refugees and evacuated artist from Kherson. The occupied city in the South of Ukraine.
17:00 – The blind spot of Europeans
Discussion by Platform Tu, Mariupol
Does the world see the true scale and nature of Russia’s war against Ukraine? Do Europeans understand what exactly Ukrainians are resisting? How did the Soviet totalitarian past end up in the blind spot of Europeans? Is Russia’s current war against Ukraine just Soviet totalitarianism trying to take revenge? What should we do with the totalitarian past so that it cannot destroy us? What should we do with it now? We propose to discuss these questions at the “Blind spot of Europeans” talk.
Guests: Marianna Matveychuk, Heike Winkel, moderator Larysa Venediktova
19:00 – Garage 127
Presentation by Garage 127, Kharkiv
Pop-up exhibition of the 127 garage community, and a presentation of a space that no longer works. 127 garage is a self-organized space in Kharkiv, opened in 2019 in a garage. From the very beginning, we set the goal of forming a cultural community and building an information structure of modern art in Kharkiv and Ukraine. After February 24, due to the invasion of Russia, all people from our community were forced to flee to different parts of the country and Europe. We want to show and tell what they are doing now, how they work and how they try to live despite the war going on in our country.
Day 2 (28/07) – 155th day of resistance
15:00 – LIVE project
Exhibition by Totem, Kherson
The project/exhibition documents and shows stories of civilians in Ukraine, who were affected by the war in different ways but stay strong to defend Ukraine and peace. The exhibition shows that modern warriors in Ukraine are not only soldiers but also ordinary people, who became extraordinary through the war. 20 Ukrainian artists and photographers united to make LIVE exhibition. For this moment 37 stories had been collected, and this work in progress.
The LIVE exhibition touches upon the phenomenon of becoming used to war and its aftermath. When we are not constantly participating in or directly witnessing the traumatic events, we tend toward the phenomenon of “normalization”
17:00 – He\she\them\it: the correct pronounce of identities and freedoms
Documentary theater “Expertise” by Platform Tu, Mariupol
“Ukrainian patriot, stop, lay down your arms, otherwise children will continue to die”. This Jesuit rhetorical formula, first uttered by the spiritual leaders of the Russian Federation and picked up by some European opinion leaders, testifies to a serious crisis of the main political course of recent decades adopted on the continent. How much does a Russian missle fired at a parrot nursery in Ukrainian village Bashtanka cost? What did it make sense? Maybe a political one? Economic? Social? Where should the terror machine, which does not think in the criteria of politic or economic rationality, stop? Who is the subject of armed resistance in Ukraine? How does war bring history back on the stage? We will talk about that in the framework of the shift to politics of values.
Guests: Larysa Venediktova, Inga Pylypchuk, Diana Berg, Maxim Nakonechny, Oleksandr Sosnovsky
19:00 – Organization of non-traditional orientations
Films screening by Platform Tu, Mariupol
The history of Platform Tu, the queer art-space that existed for 6 years in Mariupol and has become the shelter for the neighbourhood when the city was exterminated and occupied in 2022, told in 4 short videos. Artistic perspective with “Z.mist” movie portraying the art-residency in Mariupol by Oksana Kazmina (20′), teenagers’ perspective with “Sect” film depicting the creative teenagers from vulnerable groups by Maria Pronina (7′), and russian propaganda perspective with news piece from the 1st channel in russia about Platform Tu after russians have occupied and looted our space in Mariupol. Finally, the movie “Mariupol” will be shown – the work of Vlad Pyatin, local teenager, who filmed the city during seige in spring 2022 (5′). After the screening we will talk abot arts at war, freedom of being ourselves, and how propaganda can turn anything upside down
Guests: Diana Berg, Vira Protskyh, Anastasiya Hrechkina, Iryna Berezneva, Juta Korgun, Masha Pronina
Day 3 (29/07) – 156th day of resistance
15:00 – Workshop: Solidarity during the challenging historical period
Workshop by Platform Tu, Mariupol
Workshop by Mariupol artist Masha Pronina on DIY collages and stickers. We will be making signs for evacuational vehicles that are used in Ukraine in order to mark the car, so that russians won’t shoot. Aimed to reflect the unique experience of nowadays Ukraine, the artist along with the participnts will address the topics of filtration, occupation, deportation, evacuation, surviving under shelling and in shelters, and other phenomena that Ukrainians are forced to undergo because of full-scle russian invalion. The workshop will be accompanied with the popup-exhibition of her recent works series addressing the war and reconstruction of Soviet Union. Assistants for the lead artists will be teenagers from Mariupol who survived seige and bombing of the city
Guests: Lead artist Masha Pronina, + assistants – teenagers from Mariupol
17:00 – The phenomena of decolonisation and westsplaining
Discussion by Kultura Medialna, Dnipro
Westsplaining describes a widespread attitude of historical ignorance and a sense of moral and political superiority of Western European audiences towards their Eastern European neighbors.
The region is portrayed as a brutal and uncivilized fringe of Europe
It is a reaction to current threats with a one-sided cultural-historical explanation that ultimately only serves to justify one’s own passivity.
Some even speak of a war “over” Ukraine, suggesting the negotiability of Ukrainian sovereignty and territory.
A discussion of why demands for a peaceful resolution of the war are all too easy and cheap when one can live in peace oneself.
Guests: Larysa Venediktova, Yulia Kryvych, Marcus Heep
21:00 – Live music by Olesia Onykiienko from Womens Sound
Live music from Kultura Medialna, Dnipro
Since the start of full-scale war Olesia Onykiienko (NFNR) stays in Ukraine and actively helps the defenders of Ukraine, collecting donations and arranging supplies from abroad.
“This war we are going through in Ukraine has already contributed to the blossom of dignity, strength, courage, humanity, sacrifice in the world. Yes, it shows wild cruelty that was impossible to imagine before, but it also shows the indescribable beauty of people, not only Ukrainians, but people around the world who support Ukraine, help with what they can, care for us, the beauty of all those who stood up to fight evil, sacrificing personal comfort and own peace. Every day, in parallel with the ugliness of this war and the occupiers, I observe the powerful beauty of human souls. To this power my performance is dedicated“
Guests: Womens Sound