"Soldiers: Invasion"

In August, a large experimental space became available in the Khanenko Museum due to the russian invasion and evacuation of the collection. In this space, the museum of classical art, Oleg Kalashnik’s soldiers, reflections on the invasion of Serhiy Zhadan and Yevgeny Stasinevych merged together.

These elements, just like the artists themselves, are in a revolutionary interaction with space — both political and artistic. They relate to it, not obey it. In the framework of this project, invasion as an act occurs on several levels. The first level is obvious — it is a political act of russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The second level is the invasion of modern art into the classical Khanenko Museum, where only an empty space remained due to the evacuation of the collection. Due to the forced balance of these two acts, external and internal, the exhibits of the exhibition look as if they were conceived for these halls.

These exhibits, human-sized soldiers, seemed to freeze when the viewer entered the hall. They are placed on pedestals and even behind glass like classic museum exhibits, and the only difference is that both the viewer and themselves are frozen in anticipation of a return to harmony. On both levels — both in the space around the museum and inside of it.