Date & Location
February 26 - May 13, 2024
Kyiv, Ukraine
February 26 - May 13, 2024
Kyiv, Ukraine
Within LOMYKAMIN’. Women's Resistance in Crimea exhibition at the Crimea Platform office.
Despite the ingrained stereotypes, war has always been everyone's concern. Gender does not shield from bullets, rockets, and the violence of occupiers. In the current war of russia against Ukraine, thousands of women defend their country against the aggressor. Female warriors, medics, and volunteers heroically protect their homeland. However, in war, numerous other roles and experiences emerge – especially women – which we will discuss in this exhibition.
Ten years ago, the russian federation invaded Ukraine, temporarily and illegally occupying Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Two years ago, it escalated into a full-scale invasion of other territories of the independent state. Thousands were killed, millions lost their homes, and hundreds of thousands found themselves in temporary occupation. What has been the experience of women during these events? The exhibition listens to women's voices and seeks to find answers, even when it's just silence.
The social sculpture «Raft CrimeA» is a long-term project, which was started in August 2016 and is still continuing. Under this project, some ten performances, several exhibitions and the lection-performance were organized. In Kyiv, Ukraine, from 16 to 19 August, among luxury restaurants and yachts, temporarily appeared the migratory Parliament of the Displaced «Raft CrimeA» – a life raft with neon sign.
On board the raft lived the Ukrainian artist Maria Kulikovska – a native Crimean, who received the status of the «displaced person» on 18 March 2014. The survival of the artist was dependent on compassion of other people that became the specific act through which Maria wanted to stress vulnerability of people that lost their homes and to appeal to the community to empathize with them. The «Raft CrimeA» was and is an alive dot on the map, which had become the place for meetings.
After that, Maria continued this project abroad, where she held eight more performances.
