As the graduate resting for this week shows, “Art Resistance against Russia’s ‘Non-Invasion’ of Ukraine”, art has a strong theoretical and political role in times of hardship, among other roles on which I will elaborate.
Kozak argues that Russia engaged in a “simulation of non-invasion” in Ukraine in 2014, following Baudrillard’s theory of simulation found in his book, Simulation and Simulacra (which I highly recommend to fellow graduate students!). As the author explains, “The Russian military-visual complex dissimulated the invasion-- or, in the other words, staged…a spectacle in which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not taking place” (Kozak 69). From our position here in the West, this narrative was extremely effective, and shortly following the annexation of Crimea, news of conflict in Ukraine quickly disappeared in the mainstream U.S. news cycle. What Kozak posits is that performances and installations, all of which I would categorize as artistic interventions, were able to rupture the simulation, and call attention to the reality of the violence and occupation being experienced by Ukrainians. These works were able to successfully subvert the spectacle of non-invasion. In this way, art functions as a political tool in civil disobedience to challenge ideologies, discourses, and regimes.
While #onvacation, “Manifesto 10”, and the installations of Zakharov, in addition to being tools of civil disobedience, are perhaps most obviously criticism of the invasion and occupation of Ukraine by the Russian government. Art’s power for criticism has been leveraged throughout history, Miguel de Cervantes in El Quixote, took aim at the Catholic Church and it’s Inquisitional arm during his historical moment, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to criticize McCarthyism during the Cold War, and Pablo Picasso’s, Guernica criticized (in addition to testifying to the pain and horror of) the bombing of the Basque village of Guernica by the Franco regime. Often, art does not have to be a weapon wielded directly at unjust institutions and events, like the works featured in Kozak’s article, it is enough to create, participate in, or maintain a discourse that seeks to criticize.
However, art need not be a critique of tools for civil disobedience. In, “As They Saw It: Ukrainian Children Witnessing the Horrors of War,” the artwork of Ukrainian children who are witnessing and living the current reality in Ukraine demonstrates how art functions as testimony to a historical moment, an important piece of the archive of collective and personal history. Polina, for example, aged 12, has drown a silhouette facing away from the spectator, one cannot see the child’s face, but instead what they see outside of the window: helicopters, tanks, bomb, and fire on the urban landscape. To accompany the image, only one sentence: “Mom, there is a war in our window!!!.” Polina’s art shows her unique vantage point of the war, and is a vessel for personal and collective memory of the war.
Additionally, in many of these pieces, we can see that art is a place in which the future dwells and a place for hope. Anastasia 10, captures the image of a Russian aircraft carrier off the shores of Ukrainian Odessa. A Russian jet pierces through the night and heads toward the shore but between it and its target is a winged white figure. The artist explains, “Mom, I’ll tell you a secret: every city has its Guardian Angel and it is he who protects the city from enemies! Mother, I believe that the Angel of Odessa prevents the landing party and the invaders from carrying out their plans! I believe that the time will soon come and Odessa and the whole of Ukraine, liberated from the invaders, will prosper!” For Anastasia and many of the other child artists included in the article, their art is a place to inscribe their hopes for the conflict and their desire for peace. The art of the present is a project and a hope for the future.
Art, can also be, an escape, and a maintenance of the “humane,” as some of us have seen in our Theatre and Genocide course. In the Ukraine crisis, ProEnglish, a Kyiv theatre, has taken on the task of performing theatre from a bunker during active bombing, of which Yana Meerzon said in her article for Critical Stages: “during the times of war, calamities, naturals disasters and any humanitarian crisis, performance arts remain the place of refuge.” Which is exactly what we have seen from the ProEnglish theatre. And in said class we have already seen theatre produced by the Kulturbund in Nazi Germany and have discussed cabaret’s performed in the concentration camps all of which provided a humane refuge and escape for the victims of Nazi Germany.
Art in times of conflict is a useful tool, it can be a vehicle for civil disobedience and political activism in the face of violence, it can be a scathing criticism, however, in its most humanistic sense, art is the present’s hope for the future, and a refuge in which we may find shelter.
Works Cited
Kozak, Nazar. “Art Resistance against Russia’s ‘Non-Invasion’ of Ukraine.” East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, 2022, pp. 67–104., https://doi.org/10.21226/ewjus585.
Kantawala, Ami. “As They Saw It: Ukrainian Children Witnessing the Horrors of War.” Art Education, vol. 75, no. 4, 2022, pp. 4–7., https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2022.2070401.
Meerzon, Yana. “‘Art Is Not an Escape; It Is a Statement of Life." Interview with Alex Borovenskiy.” Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques, Critical Stages, 4 July 2022, https://www.critical-stages.org/25/art-is-not-an-escape-it-is-a-statement-of-life-interview-with-alex-borovenskiy-proenglish-theatre-kyiv/.
I will not stop writing or saying it, I love your analysis of the readings and the way you bring it so that one as an outside reader can better understand. As you mention art is much more than a statement it is also an escape from humanity, releasing all those emotions that we often endure. As well as a tool to combat those difficult times. I love it and amazing job, Nikita!
Thank you, Nikita, for drawing our attention to Baudrillard’s theory of simulation again. Yes, I agree with you that his theory in the collection of three short essays intituled ‘the Gulf War did not take place‘ is necessary for us as grads. I also would like to share Desert Rain production, produced by Blast Theory company, based on Baudrillard’s theory. You cleverly brought evidence of Kozak’s article and the project of Ukrainian kid's painting to articulate your position. I really enjoyed your reading Nikita
Nikita, I love how you went into depth which each piece and described each piece that way we don't even have to be looking at the piece to visualize it, understand it and feel the emotions within it. I do appreciate your somewhat being devil's advocate by seeing as a way to mislead or disobey, rather than only being beauty. Great job.
Nikita, I thought the perspective of using art/ performance to both mislead and reveal the truth. I've never thought of the juxtaposition between the use of art for truth and for deception. I also thought that focusing on the story of the girl and the Angel was a great representation of art being used as a tool for hope. Art (even from a child) can stand for something so much larger than itself.