I hope the sky will not fall on the sea
Karina Synytsia
Residence Sorry No Rooms Available
April 16, 2024 – ongoing now
Room 1416, Hotel Intourist-Zakarpattia
In the program (re)connection UA 2023/24

Author’s text:
“When the sea dried up, deposits of rock salt and gypsum settled there. But after millions of years, underground water out of anger came to the surface to crush these treasures. Voids and sinkholes formed in their place, and the stench gradually began to smell of melt water and underground brines…”
The reference point for the wall painting made in the small hotel room of “Intourist-Zakarpattia” were two things: the canons of the Christian church fresco and the painting dioramas in the natural science museum.
The story in the painting begins with the story of the dry Perm Sea, the bottom of which today is salt deposits under a multi-meter layer of soil. The formation of humanity and the birth of mining are closely intertwined with the reflection on the last book of the New Testament – Revelation of John the Baptist (Apocalypse). The cycle of life from the birth of civilization to its total destruction looms large in this intimate space, just as constant thoughts of horror and danger coexist alongside the ordinary course of life with its everyday problems and joys. The project tells about the daily experience of war, with an expositional emphasis on the difficult process of falling asleep, panic attacks and insomnia experienced by the traumatized.“

Continuing to host Ukrainian artists after the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, the SNRA Residence draws attention to the role of culture and art during the russian-Ukrainian war. Performing the function of the residence, which takes place in the brutalist, architectural hotel complex of the Intourist-Zakarpattia hotel, raises the issue of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Preserving the value of critical memory of history.

Sorry No Rooms Available Residence is supported as part of the (re)connection UA 2023/24 program, implemented by the NGO “Museum of Contemporary Art” and the Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund (UEAF) in partnership with UNESCO and financed through the UNESCO Emergency Heritage Fund.

The (re)connection UA 2023/24 program is aimed at restoring ties between artists and their audiences, supporting artists as actors in preserving the cultural identity of Ukraine, implementing new approaches to the culture of memory, strengthening the stability and adaptability of institutions, communities, artists to the challenges of wartime

#reconnectionua

Photo credit Mykhaylo Melnychenko

View of Karina Synytsia’s exhibition “I hope the sky does not fall on the sea”. Photo credit: Mykhailo Melnychenko, Petro Ryaska

View of Karina Synytsia’s exhibition “I hope the sky does not fall on the sea”. Photo credit: Mykhailo Melnychenko, Petro Ryaska

Recording of a fragment of the opening of Karina Synytsia’s exhibition “I hope the sky does not fall on the sea” and a short video sketch of the exposition. Video credit Petro Ryaska