Mental Ecologies of War
Contemporary History of Ukraine
Oksana Kazmina
2023
Date
February 15–March 15, 2023
Contemporary History of Ukraine is a performative walk that examines transpersonal landscapes of memories, and geographically situated ecologies of feelings across various Ukrainian localities. While the walk is mediated via digital environments (personal videos, recorded conversations, google maps, etc.), it is based on various footage and chats with different people with whom Kazmina has friendships, intimacies, partnerships, and shared walks. To a large extent, the walk consists of the footage of the documentary project Underwater on which Kazmina has been working since 2015. This documentary features three Ukrainian artists—Ksenia Platanova, Masha Pronina, Antigonna—who share their strategies of transforming their traumatic experiences into subversive artistic practices. From the nowadays’ perspective of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the work observes the chains and ruptures of collective digitized sensitivity, as well as fragile relations between bodies and territories that are neglected within the logic of informational warfare.*
This performance-screening is part of Infrastructures, Geographies, and Elemental Relations, the first of two chapters of the film program Mental Ecologies of War, curated by Olexii Kuchanskyi and Elena Vogman. The second chapter of the program takes place at e-flux Screening Room on March 18, 2023. See the full program here.
*Contemporary History of Ukraine will start streaming as part of the online launch event on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 1pm ET, remaining online through March 15, 2023.
For more information, contact program@e-flux.com.