Olena Kurzel - Voids and emptiness - sorrynoroomsavailable

Voids and emptiness
Olena Kurzel
Residence Sorry No Rooms Available
April 25 – May 10, 2024, Korydor gallery, Uzhhorod
View of the exposition fragment

Author’s text:
“War haunts everywhere, it prevents one from fully living and functioning. Due to stress, burnout occurs, the desire to communicate, interact with people, and do anything disappears. An emotional pit appears, from which it is difficult to return to a normal state. There are gaps that cannot be filled. The exhibition presents stitched objects, which became for the author an attempt to rethink the medium with which she worked in childhood, through the realities of today. Each of the works is an imprint of processes and feelings that have become an integral part of everyday life – the need to communicate, be active, act. During the two years of russia’s full-scale invasion to the territory of Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold on and not be weak and vulnerable. The exhibition space is a manifestation of weakness, a kind of shell where chaotic feelings are mixed.”

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.

The project of the 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

Several photos from the opening of Olena Kurzel’s exhibition “Voids and emptiness”, Korydor gallery. Photo credit Mykhailo Melnychenko