History in Hell. Artist talk by Nikita Kadan

Nikita Kadan. Everybody Wants to Live by the Sea

Friday, 21 October 2016, 19:00

The artist will speak about his 2013–16 projects, such as Everybody Wants to Live by the Sea, Gazelka, Limits of Responsibility, The Possessed Can Testify in Court, The Chronicle series.

These works refer to such issues as expansion of historical museum by contemporary art means; war of various ideological narratives in the common space of historical narrative; recognition of the self as a living archive of different, sometimes dissonant, versions of memory; possibility of the critical museum.

“It is crucial to decide: are you combining information, artifacts, evidence from the past in order to overtake future? Are you responsible for a particular project of the future, so you twist and manipulate the past, shown in the museum, in the name of this future? Is your responsibility not related to the future, but you are, by contrast, highly responsible before the museum matter? Is this matter instrumentalized for external purposes? Or is its truth and sameness a goal in itself? Maybe, the museum is a goal in itself?” – Nikita Kadan in conversation with Larysa Babiy.

Admission is free

Nikita Kadan was born in Kyiv in 1982. In 2007 he graduated from the National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture. He is a member of R.E.P. group and curatorial and activist group Hudrada. He participated in the 14th Istanbul Biennial, 56th Venice Biennial (Ukrainian pavilion). His works are part of such collections as Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), M HKA (Antwerp), MUMOK (Vienna), Military History Museum (Dresden), Galeria Arsenal (Bialystok). He lives and works in Kyiv.

The talk will take place within the framework of A Visit from Ghosts exhibition.

Supported by: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung

ERSTE Stiftung and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation