Installation view: You Shouldn't Have to See This, 2024
From Ukraine: Dare to Dream, Collateral Event of the 60th La Biennale di Venezia
Photo: Valentyna Rostovikova, PRYZM photography
2024
You Shouldn't Have to See This
Six-channel video installation, LED-screens variable size, no audio, 7’ 30” loop
In their new work, Yarema Malashchuk and Roman Khimei filmed Ukrainian children who were deported to Russia and later returned to Ukraine. You Shouldn't Have to See This
Six-channel video installation, LED-screens variable size, no audio, 7’ 30” loop
Russia has been deporting children from Ukraine to its territories since 2014, since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Estimates of the numbers of such cases range from 20,000 to over one million. Malashchuk and Khimei draw attention to this war crime and at the same time portray childhood during the war.
Importantly, in the digital age, many people can witness wars and other tragic events through images. The act of observation can lead to a false sense of involvement, or a form of satisfaction derived from the esthetic qualities of the images. Authors often take advantage of this and violate the boundaries of privacy.
In their work You Shouldn't Have to See This, the artists problematize this conflict of representation. Every such image is primarily evidence of a crime, and only potentially a work of art (which should never have been created).
Installation view: You Shouldn't Have to See This, 2024
From Ukraine: Dare to Dream, Collateral Event of the 60th La Biennale di Venezia
Photo: Valentyna Rostovikova, PRYZM photography
Installation view: You Shouldn't Have to See This, 2024
From Ukraine: Dare to Dream, Collateral Event of the 60th La Biennale di Venezia
Photo: Valentyna Rostovikova, PRYZM photography
Installation view: You Shouldn't Have to See This, 2024
From Ukraine: Dare to Dream, Collateral Event of the 60th La Biennale di Venezia
Photo: Valentyna Rostovikova, PRYZM photography
Installation view: You Shouldn't Have to See This, 2024
From Ukraine: Dare to Dream, Collateral Event of the 60th La Biennale di Venezia
Photo: Valentyna Rostovikova, PRYZM photography
Filmed by
Yarema Malashchuk and Roman Khimei
Created with a support by
Office of the President of Ukraine
PinchukArtCentre
Save Ukraine Rescue Network
Colorist
Vadym Khudoliy
Production managers
Valeriia Sochyvets, Ilona Demchenko
Special thanks to
Bjorn Geldhof
Yarema Malashchuk and Roman Khimei
Created with a support by
Office of the President of Ukraine
PinchukArtCentre
Save Ukraine Rescue Network
Colorist
Vadym Khudoliy
Production managers
Valeriia Sochyvets, Ilona Demchenko
Special thanks to
Bjorn Geldhof