PAZ EN LAS MESAS
CLOUDED LANDS
INSECT FLESH
OPENING 2015
PAST EXHIBITIONS
NO (LIFE)
by Zinaida Lihacheva
by Zinaida Lihacheva
Zinaida Lihacheva created (NO) LIFE!
installation, reflecting on an absurdity and inevitability of death as a result
of one of the most dreadful man-made disasters in human history - Chernobyl
disaster. Having created a large-scale installation made of babies’ cots, using
them as an irresistible metaphor that literally turns up spectators’ consciousness,
as if cots had faces or individuality, the artist refers to the most ignoble
side of this tragedy - coercive abortions, the scale of infant mortality concealment,
inhuman and felonious totalitarian system that entered women’s destinies by
force, making them destroy unborn innocent lives.
Incompetence and inhumanity of this system, absence of transparency, erroneous official data, informational vacuum turned measures called to liquidate the disaster into even bigger tragedy, taking lives of dozens of thousands of alive and unborn children, ruining destinies of hundreds of thousands of women. The system turned them into innumerable, speechless, nameless casualties of the disaster. In her work, the artist strives to rear a topic of concealed tragedy scale and bring it to public. It’s a peculiar memorial that creates a space which immerses a spectator into itself completely.
video ︎︎︎
Incompetence and inhumanity of this system, absence of transparency, erroneous official data, informational vacuum turned measures called to liquidate the disaster into even bigger tragedy, taking lives of dozens of thousands of alive and unborn children, ruining destinies of hundreds of thousands of women. The system turned them into innumerable, speechless, nameless casualties of the disaster. In her work, the artist strives to rear a topic of concealed tragedy scale and bring it to public. It’s a peculiar memorial that creates a space which immerses a spectator into itself completely.
video ︎︎︎
BORSH
If to try to describe what borsch is to make it clear for anyone irrespective of the country of origin, it can be said that borsch is heavy-bodied vegetable soup. Ukrainians have been cooking this soup for more than three hundres years. Even though there are dozens of borsch variations, the beet-root is an irreplacable ingredient of any recepe.
It is not enough to say that borsch is a traditional Ukrainian dish. This dish is archetypical. Cooking borsch for many people is a special ritual. The consistent meditative process of cooking it, cooker`s involvement in this ritual, and ingrediates combination reveal a lot about the bearer of this culinary tradition.
The place of borsch in the battlefield may seem questionable to many. Since the beginning of war in the east of Ukraine in 2014, volonteer movements had been created by Ukrainian women. These women were cooking dry borsch and sending it right to the front since they had natural desire to feed their men. This way, under the influence of new life conditions of the society, traditional dish went through transformations. It is impossible to count how many kilos of dry borsch were sent to the front within the last 4 years.
Borsch is also cooked on the frontline by men.
Traditionally, kitchen has always been woman`s domain. On the frontline of eastern Ukraine, there are also many women nowadays. But they do not cook. They fight. So, borsch is cooked in the field by men, and it is very delicious. Among Ukrainian soldiers there is a guy, nicknamed Santa, whose borsch is well-known for its extremely cool taste. All these changes in cooking tradition can not but reflect the spirit of our times when gender roles cease to exist.
A man is cooking borsch in the video created by the artist Zinaida. This video is her means to share the above mentioned obvervations and also to reveal the enegry the dish radiates, which remains the part of our culture in this constantly changing world, and even during war time.
video ︎︎︎
gallery ︎︎︎
If to try to describe what borsch is to make it clear for anyone irrespective of the country of origin, it can be said that borsch is heavy-bodied vegetable soup. Ukrainians have been cooking this soup for more than three hundres years. Even though there are dozens of borsch variations, the beet-root is an irreplacable ingredient of any recepe.
It is not enough to say that borsch is a traditional Ukrainian dish. This dish is archetypical. Cooking borsch for many people is a special ritual. The consistent meditative process of cooking it, cooker`s involvement in this ritual, and ingrediates combination reveal a lot about the bearer of this culinary tradition.
The place of borsch in the battlefield may seem questionable to many. Since the beginning of war in the east of Ukraine in 2014, volonteer movements had been created by Ukrainian women. These women were cooking dry borsch and sending it right to the front since they had natural desire to feed their men. This way, under the influence of new life conditions of the society, traditional dish went through transformations. It is impossible to count how many kilos of dry borsch were sent to the front within the last 4 years.
Borsch is also cooked on the frontline by men.
Traditionally, kitchen has always been woman`s domain. On the frontline of eastern Ukraine, there are also many women nowadays. But they do not cook. They fight. So, borsch is cooked in the field by men, and it is very delicious. Among Ukrainian soldiers there is a guy, nicknamed Santa, whose borsch is well-known for its extremely cool taste. All these changes in cooking tradition can not but reflect the spirit of our times when gender roles cease to exist.
A man is cooking borsch in the video created by the artist Zinaida. This video is her means to share the above mentioned obvervations and also to reveal the enegry the dish radiates, which remains the part of our culture in this constantly changing world, and even during war time.
video ︎︎︎
gallery ︎︎︎
THE LAST SUPPER
by Zinaida Lihacheva
by Zinaida Lihacheva
Multimedia Kyiv based artist (Ukraine) went to existing slaughterhouses, territories of industrial Chernobyl, incomplete parts of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, tand abandoned farms and factories to shoot “The Last Supper”, a film that demonstrates a destroying power of a human being directed at everything alive. Destructive wars, man-made and hard-hitting natural disasters are the events that terrify not only with the number of fatalities and the scale of damages caused to the global community, but also with the reasons behind them.
video ︎︎︎
gallery ︎︎︎
video ︎︎︎
gallery ︎︎︎
SUBSTANCE
by Zinaida Lihacheva
by Zinaida Lihacheva
The substance is a timeless constant. Blood, milk and ashes are the main substances in the ancient symbolism. The blood is an image of a human as the prime life carrier; the milk is a ‘drink of life’ and a sign of the first food and rebirth; the ashes are an epitome of the fragility, evanescence, and perish- able nature of the earthly life.
A history of constant interchange behind these symbols accurately describes what happened to the areas around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, such as the ghost town of Pripyat. Being introduced in a form that is familiar and self-explanatory to modern people, the symbols clearly demonstrate their timeless relevance, thus reminding the quaint images and their meaning and sending viewers back to their origins.
All three symbols are stored in transparent glass vessels; the containers that are easily recognizable and associated with the storage of these matters (namely, a plastic blood bag, a metal milk can, and a ceramic ash urn) stand next to them.
gallery ︎︎︎
A history of constant interchange behind these symbols accurately describes what happened to the areas around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, such as the ghost town of Pripyat. Being introduced in a form that is familiar and self-explanatory to modern people, the symbols clearly demonstrate their timeless relevance, thus reminding the quaint images and their meaning and sending viewers back to their origins.
All three symbols are stored in transparent glass vessels; the containers that are easily recognizable and associated with the storage of these matters (namely, a plastic blood bag, a metal milk can, and a ceramic ash urn) stand next to them.
gallery ︎︎︎
THE SECOND BREAD
by Zinaida Lihacheva
by Zinaida Lihacheva
For ukrainian people varenyky are a second dish after the bread. It have long been prepared for the family table and have more than 100 differences of fillings.
Equally important dish is pelmens, for russian people. The technique of cooking and the primary function - sacriface - are the same as varenyks has. Varenyks looks like the New Moon by the form and it symbolizes the feminine strength. Pelmens, in return, have the Sun form and remind us of the ourunity of blood.
gallery ︎︎︎
Equally important dish is pelmens, for russian people. The technique of cooking and the primary function - sacriface - are the same as varenyks has. Varenyks looks like the New Moon by the form and it symbolizes the feminine strength. Pelmens, in return, have the Sun form and remind us of the ourunity of blood.
gallery ︎︎︎