Alevtina Kakhidze: Plants and People / William Kentridge: I am not me, the horse is not mine

The Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok, Poland is presenting the exhibitions Alevtina Kakhidze: Plants and People and William Kentridge: I am not me, the horse is not mine, both curated by Monika Szewczyk.

Alevtina Kakhidze is a Ukrainian artist of Ukrainian-Georgian descent. Her work primarily focuses on performance and drawing, but she also creates videos, installations, and texts. She lives in Muzychi, Ukraine, 26 kilometers from Kyiv, and grew up in the Donetsk region.

Kakhidze documents these dramatic events with the distance and objectivity of a scientist analyzing a system—or rather, multiple systems: legal, educational, colonial, consumerist, and systems of violence. She actively engages in contemporary discourses, often provoking significant debate. Her drawings created after February 24, 2022, frequently reflect on the cultural dynamics between Russia and Ukraine, going beyond the immediate realities of war to explore deeper themes within the history and culture of both nations, highlighting Russian colonialism and imperialism.

I am not me, the horse is not mine is a large-scale video installation by the acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge, composed of eight six-minute films, each accompanied by a soundtrack by Philip Miller. They weave a narrative linked to the Soviet avant-garde, tracing its evolution from the films of the 1920s and 1930s—to its catastrophic demise in the mid-1930s.

Kentridge’s characteristic blend of techniques, including stop-motion animation, live-action sequences, archival footage, moving collage, and shadow play, underscores his intellectual depth, creativity, and artistic freedom. His work, deeply influenced by the social and political events he witnessed during apartheid in South Africa, has sharpened his ability to keenly examine the intricate dynamics of Soviet identity. Created in 2008, this installation holds particular relevance amid the current discourse on the decolonization of Russia.

Pairing the exhibitions of Alevtina Kakhidze and William Kentridge at the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok is not an accidental decision. Their shows are united by decolonial thought reworking the cultural legacy of countries from the orbit of the former Soviet Union. Both of them also consistently reflect on their condition as humans and artists. This unique status—the intersection of art and those who create it—serves as both a starting point and a medium for their work, as much as any other material (perhaps even more so). They have long embraced their roles, yet they continue to question, marvel at, and test the transformative power of art.