What do we talk about when we talk about Crimea? Sea or steppe? The Yalta Conference of 1945 or the Scythian state of antiquity? The Artek Camp for Young Pioneers or the Soviet genocide of the Crimean Tatars in 1944? Vacations by the sea or lost homes? What we see depends on who is looking. The experiences of encountering Crimea can be so different that it might seem people are remembering different continents. Why is this so?

The Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea has been a meeting point of different civilizations for millennia. It is the homeland of the Crimean Tatars, who once had their own state there; now, they are once again experiencing colonial pressure. It is a peninsula saturated with fighting, tension, love, and hope. The exhibition presents contemporary Ukrainian artists’ reflections on the feeling of loss of Crimea after the Russian occupation of the peninsula in 2014.

Participants include artists of different generations; some of them were born in Crimea, others experienced Crimea as part of their travels. Sevilâ Nariman-qizi and Emine Ziyatdin contemplate different dimensions of Crimean Tatar identity amidst the loss of home, and Rustem Skybin adds the theme of resistance and protection of one’s native land. Yuri Yefanov transforms the memory of his hometown, Hurzuf, which is unreachable today, into a digital simulation of public space, not so much recording the past as creating possible scenarios of the future. With gratitude and sadness, Anton Shebetko speaks about the LGBT+ community in the rural settlement of Simeiz that used to gather on the local “wild beaches” and in Yezhy café; this world of freedom does not exist the way it did before 2014. The paintings and graphic works of Roman Mykhailov, Elmira Shemsedinova, and Oleksii Borysov in different ways refer the viewer to the image of the Crimean horizon, something it is important to examine closely. Vitaliy Kokhan’s kinetic sculpture captures the flickering between one symbol for the peninsula’s significance as a tourist destination and another for the sorrow, resilience, and courage of the Crimean Tatar culture. Oleg Tistol’s ironic reflections on the stereotypical symbols of seaside holidays are embodied in a work from his series Southern Coast of Crimea. Meanwhile, a somewhat phantasmagoric landscape by Pavlo Makov is one of the artist’s earliest pieces to address a major throughline in his practice, the theme of place, and its interpretation from cartographic, topographical, and metaphorical perspectives. Vlodko Kaufman and Khalil Khalilov’s meditative video attests to the Crimean Tatars desire to return home despite the imperial efforts to erase the very memory of their existence.

Ukrainian artists reflect on what Crimea is for Ukraine. In the Ujazdowski Castle, we ask: what is Crimea for Europe? Adam Mickiewicz once sorrowfully looked at the remains of Crimean Tatar fortresses, feeling their reality turn into the past and remembering his own homeland. Today, what does Europe think about when it thinks about Crimea? And what does Crimea think about?

TEAM

Curators: Kateryna Semenyuk, Oksana Dovgopolova, Alim Aliev

Project management: Yuliia Sai, Kseniia Paltsun, Anastasiya Paseka

Project management on behalf of the Ukrainian Institute: Anastasiia Manuliak

Communications: Kateryna Iholkina, Oleksandra Holoborodko, Kateryna Shylo, Agnieszka Tiutiunik, Agnieszka Niedzielak-Kowalska, Karolina Gawrońska

Texts for the brochure: Lizaveta German

Exhibition design: Oleksandr Burlaka

Graphic design: 3Z Studio

ORGANIZERS

Past / Future / Art is a memory culture platform established by the Cultural Practices NGO in Odesa, Ukraine, in 2019. It focuses on memorial, research, and art projects and develops strategies for commemorating significant phenomena of Ukrainian history, initiating public discussions to engage broader audiences in working through the past. Starting February 24, 2022, when Russia’s full-scale invasion began, the project shifted focus to memorialization of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The Ukrainian Institute is a state institution for cultural diplomacy, established to improve the understanding and perception of Ukraine and Ukrainians around the world. The Institute is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its activities aim to strengthen Ukraine’s international subjectivity through cultural diplomacy, establish international cultural ties between people and institutions, and shape a positive international image of Ukraine.

The Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art develops, presents, and promotes art in all its forms. It is a place of bold reflection on cultural and artistic practices, as well as on the state of society—in the face of challenges, opportunities, and crises.

PARTNERS

Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Poland

SUPPORT

The exhibition What We Talk About When We Talk About Crimea is supported by the multi-donor program Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, funded by aid from the governments of Canada, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. PFRU’s objective is to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience in the face of Russian aggression by delivering essential support to local communities in collaboration with the Ukrainian government, civil society, and the private sector.