ZMINA: Rebuilding | Ukrainian curator Serge Klymko: “We are in an extended 24 February, which has started and continues endlessly, and there is no point where it can stop.”
The exhibition project ‘A Time in Pieces’ was created for the Kyiv Perennial event - the Berlin version of the 5th Kyiv Biennale, which was reimagined as a collaborative project based on political, social and cultural survival. The exhibition was the final stage of the Kyiv Perennial project. It ran from 24 May to 27 July 2024 in Berlin. We talked to the exhibition's co-curator, Serhii Klymko, about the preparation for the exhibition, the fragmentation of time, and the audience's reactions.
How did the idea for the exhibition come about?
I was thinking about that idea since 2022. I remember the feeling that we all had that 24 February was going on forever. Now it may have changed a bit. But last summer we felt that we were in an extended 24 February, that it started and lasts forever and there is no point where it can stop, and that you are in the infinite now and it is impossible to get rid of it, that you are frozen in it. This is especially true for people who are in quite difficult circumstances.
It's a state where you are trapped in a situation where you can't imagine the future, you don't have the strength to think about the future and you can't imagine anything beyond the present. I wanted to convey this state, which absorbed Ukrainians for at least a few years.
exhibition's co-curator, Serhii Klymko
Could you tell us about the process of selecting the artists?
Initially, we wanted to create a collaboration between European and Ukrainian artists, to ask them to reflect together on this moment in time, on continuity. But it turned out to be difficult to find the right background and interest from foreign artists. That's why we ended up with an exhibition of Ukrainian artists, except for Minna Henriksson from Finland, who works with time and some historical themes. She made a timeline from the end of the Second World War to the present day - how the political processes in Eastern Europe unfolded and the political and historical framework of it all before and after the invasion and what the possible prospects are.
How did the artists work with the image of time being torn and fragmented in their works?
Among the new works, there was Lesia Vasylchenko's Chronosphere. The author was working on it when we invited her, unaware she was working on it. Her work is a relatively long film in eight parts, and they are all about the fragmentation of time but with different contexts. We chose three pieces from it. In one of them, a siren sounds, and children go down the stairs to the basement; the second is the sound of a drone, and the third is an abstract animation. The sculptures in this installation are parts of used frames from the airport; they are screamers that control people's access and thus fragment the space. The idea of this installation was that it was a fragmented space of time, which is torn, scattered, and it was not known whether it would ever be possible to put it back together.
This work worked specifically with our theme with the concept of the exhibition.
Ihor Okuniev also had a new work, but it was a documentation. Because he is in a volunteer battalion. He takes a lot of pictures. And it was a drone grid, which represents a certain expectation, a certain obstacle, a defence that can be attacked at any time, and you never know when it will happen. You are also constantly in a situation of waiting. The colour red is involved because drones don't see red.
Did the artists respond to an open call, or did you find the artists yourself?
No, we don't usually make open calls; these are works and artists that we wanted to work with. We were guided by certain works that had already been created. Some of the works by foreign artists that we tried to select were unavailable, or the selection process was difficult.
The exhibition was part of a larger project called Kyiv Perennial, how did it work with the overall concept of the Biennial?
It was the last exhibition. So, in general, if we were to stretch the time that had been broken, it was the end of the project, which started in the autumn of 23rd and ended with this exhibition in the summer of 24th. So it was also a kind of extended Biennale that went on and on and on.
This project was also carried out in cooperation with Between Bridges and the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program. How did the international interaction influence the realisation of the exhibition?
It was a perfect interaction. You rarely encounter something like that, when everything is so simple and friendly. I was even surprised.
Since we also curated this exhibition with Victor Newman, who was the curator of the Between Bridges gallery, it was a constant dialogue, and it was very productive in the sense that many things were obvious to me, and many things were not obvious to him. It was a dialogue between Ukraine and Europe; we tried to find some points that would be understandable to a foreign audience and, at the same time, adapt the Ukrainian context. To make an international message out of it. It was very productive.
exhibition's co-curator, Serhii Klymko
You mentioned that this cooperation was perfect; how exactly did it manifest itself?
In a friendly atmosphere of cooperation, when the institution is interested in the project. There was no feeling that this was just another project that needed to be finished quickly and moved on to another, to serve this punishment with work. There was a sense of excitement. We worked on the project with intensity, together, and I lived right there during the whole project. It helped a lot because I was in the process and dialogue with the artists, the co-curator, and the production team. It was both convenient and pleasant.
The DAAD supported the artists with scholarships and also provided space for public events. It was also a pleasant cooperation.
How long did it take to prepare for the exhibition itself?
We started in February, and it was a very active preparation from about April.
How did the audience react to the exhibition?
They have a feedback book in the space. And there were a lot of nice, positive responses, so in general, it was a very positive reaction, but of course, for some visitors, it was a rather traumatic experience.
Because the exhibition was not fun at all. It was a sad and melancholic atmosphere of such a frozen time where you don't see any bright prospects, and that this feeling can be eliminated. And the works conveyed this.
exhibition's co-curator, Serhii Klymko
Was there a difference in the perception of Ukrainian and foreign audiences?
I think so, of course, but because for the Ukrainian audience, it is a familiar reality, and there is no conceptual barrier that you have to overcome to really understand the context. But the attentive Berlin audience understood everything. There were no complicated conceptual works, it was quite open and clear. Although we also tried not to make a documentary exhibition, not to make a direct approach to the events, but rather a reflection and an attempt to convey empathic and intimate experience through quality rather than a direct documentary picture. Just by watching the foreign audience, one could guess that it was successful.
Did you face any difficulties during the creation of the exhibition?
Difficulties are more likely and often time related. When there is a time frame, a deadline, and you have to meet it. And usually, because we mostly worked with artists at a distance, it was not easy to coordinate. And the logistics are not the best in Germany. But the timeframe was more of a problem.
Do you see this topic developing in your future projects?
Unfortunately, this topic is still not exhausted, so it will continue to appear and develop. Well, this year, there will also be a Biennale, also in several places. And this Biennale project is ongoing.
We will work and are already working on the next exhibition with at least half of the artists who participated in the previous project. We may collaborate with Between Bridges again, but not this year, but next year.
What topics do you plan to cover this year?
Thematically, we are currently working on a conceptual framework that will work with the concept of the horizon, including the time horizon. The horizon as some unfulfilled expectations or expectations that have not yet come true. Thematically, it will be related to the previous project, but it's hard to say how it will work out.
exhibition's co-curator, Serhii Klymko
Author: Anna Siedykh
ZMINA: Rebuilding is a project co-funded by the EU Creative Europe Programme under a dedicated call for proposals to support Ukrainian displaced people and the Ukrainian Cultural and Creative Sectors. The project is a cooperation between IZOLYATSIA (UA), Trans Europe Halles (SE) and Malý Berlín (SK).