24/10/2024
SUTUGA
Closing of exhibition
Artists: ,
Curator: .k.pk
Closing night: 26/10 start at 5 pm
Curatorial tour: 6 pm
Address:
Sadka 12, Krakow
In Ukrainian, the word ‘sutuga’ means struggle associated with overcoming adversity. In the context of the exhibition of the latest works by Faina Malinovska and Denys Hryshchuk – both Krakow-based artists of Ukrainian origin and founding members of the GRAM Group – the word refers primarily to an act of warfare. Malinovska and Hryshchuk show the devastation that Russian aggression brings to Ukrainian lands with no hope of quick reconstruction. They also reveal the difficulties posed by maintaining social acceptance of prolonged fighting and a sense of unity among the Ukrainian people. The hardship of combat interests Malinovska and Hryshchuk largely as a psychological problem.
This interest in the psychology of war grows out of the personal experiences of both artists, for whom the integration of diverse, often conflicted social roles and experiences proved challenging in the face of war. Working as a military interpreter is not an obvious occupation for someone who has participated for years in movements protesting against the actions of paramilitary nationalist groups, and developing a creative practice is not very obvious for someone who has gone through the experience of prolonged captivity. Perhaps that is why in GRAM Group’s choreographic performances, films and mosaic panels, war appears as something that hinders – or outright interrupts – the work of critical distancing from the past, both for the individual and the collective. It is also something that significantly complicates thinking about tomorrow – and is felt as a tedious, unbearable, endless present.
