Ukraine: In Search of Lost Identity
© Gera Artemova
Melanka (2011-2015)
“Pictures from Melanka series were taken in Kosmach – very old Hutsul village in the West of Ukraine, in Carpathian mountains, where the ancient traditions are carefully kept and have a big impact on the people’s life.
Melanka is a folk holiday celebrated on January 13th, which is New Year’s Eve by the Julian calendar.
Every year the villagers await the holiday making special preparations - creating masks and costumes. Traditional masks in Kosmach are made of animal skin.
Participants of the holiday wear costumes and masks as they go from house to house in the village, morning till evening, acting out traditional scenes and singing songs. There are several traditional characters in this holiday: the Old Man and the Old Woman, Melanka the Bride and Vasyl the Groom, the Gypsy, the Jew, the Gendarme, the Drunkard, the Bear and lots of Devils. Usually all roles are played by men.” (From Gera Artemova’s statement:)
Fall of Carthage
(Carthage must be destroyed - Video)
From Gera Artemova’s statement:
“The project is based on my interaction with my own children's book “My Kremlin” (published in the USSR in 1974). The book is full of Soviet symbols and propaganda stamps. I couldn't just throw away this ghost of my Soviet childhood and decided to make an art deconstruction.
Working with the material I began to combine the images of two books - “My Kremlin” and the “Book of Tasty and Healthy Food”, which is also kind of symbolic of the Soviet time.
The title of the project appeals to the famous Roman saying "Carthago delenda est" (Carthage must be destroyed). In a way, today it has become an internet meme.
The name "Carthage" embodies not only the enemy empire itself, but also the symbols of Soviet past still alive in the heads of people, the symbols that affect our personal, social and political life.
The project consists of videos and a series of collages. In the video, I turn over the pages of the book that became the basis of the series so that the viewer could get acquainted with it. In the collages, collapse of the empire is visualized. Three collages tell about different aspects of destruction: the fall of symbols, the crush of power, and the destruction of weapons.”
© Gera Artemova
About Gera Artemova
Gera Artemova is a Kiev-based artist and art director. She became engaged in art photography in 2007. This exhibition showcases two bodies of Artemova’s work.