Ukraine is under siege following a full-scale military invasion by Russia on 24 February 2022

On May 3, 2017, IZOLYATSIA opened a temporary installation Ritual of Self-Nature by Isa Carrillo at the former site of the Lenin monument in Kyiv. Theproject by the Mexican artists won apopular voteorganised by IZOLYATSIA as part of the Social Contract 2017 project. The opening included speeches by Kateryna Filyuk – curator of the Social Contract project; Diana Popova – head of the Department for Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration; Yevgeniia Moliar – jury member of the Social Contract 2017 competition; and Oleksandr Vynogradov – Communications Manager, IZOLYATSIA.

The installation will be on display until May 17, and a public programme is scheduled for this period. On May 13, 12 to 6 PM, a workshop in growing rosemary, mint, thyme and other herbs constituting the Ritual of Self-Nature will be given next to the installation. On May 17, upon the installation’s closure, the plants will be given away to the passers-by wishing to adopt them.

The idea of the Ritual of Self-Nature is using the healing powers of nature. Isa Carrillo proposes to neutralise the ideological tension around the vacant pedestal by ‘taking over’ the monument by living plants. The pedestal of the Lenin’s monument is covered by over a thousand living plants: rosemary, mint, thyme, basil, etc. On the one hand, the plants mask the stone column, while on the other hand, they work at purifying the site that is associated not only with the Soviet leader, but also with a gallows that was placed here during the Nazi occupation.  

Social Contract (curator Kateryna Filyuk) is a project by IZOLYATSIA aimed at creating a discussion platform for art community, society and authorities on the status and functions of commemorative objects in urban space, using the case of the Lenin statue in Kyiv as an example.

Supported by the Department for Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration

With the kind support of 

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