Anna Manankina – Elephant in the Room
Exhibition opening: 2.6.2020 at 7 p.m.
Exhibition duration: 3.6. – 19.6. 2020
Opening hours: MON – FRI, 16.00 – 18.00
Šopa Gallery, Hlavná 40, Košice
Objects and creatures are being decomposed the same way as our familiar picture of the world is falling apart. No Green Eden only spread of multihued contaminations, hybridity, monstrosity and wonder.
Within the K.A.I.R. residency, Anna Manankina has decided to focus on the mental aspects of the book Three Ecologies by Felix Guattari. He emphasizes the concept of ecology as a tool for analysis and pragmatic suggestion for the future. In Three Ecologies, Guattari outlines three tendencies as mental, social and environmental ecologies which have a crucial role in the transformation of society.
The human psyche has its own “immune” system. It perceives the reality in such a way that our life is acceptable – we believe in a better future, focusing on the filled part of the glass, ignoring the empty one. The ability of the psyche to dilute the perception of reality with illusions helps us to survive, protecting us from the possible trauma of tough reality.
We live in a world where about 150,000 people die every day. COVID-19 (so far) has not made a significant difference in necro-statistics however, the flow of information concerning pandemic has made us pay attention to death. Death has become more visible and near. Media keeps us actively informed, carefully calculating each move. COVID-19 made death and chaos apparent and indicated their presence in our lives. The pandemic is a reminder of death, bursting the bubble of our attention and making it impossible to ignore the reality.
Losing a loved one is deeply connected with grief. As grief takes many forms, it differs greatly between individuals and cultures. Although ‘to grieve’ is rarely considered as something concerning losses in the natural world. Ecological grief additionally illuminates how more-than-humans are integral to our mental wellness, our communities, our cultures, and for our ability to thrive in a human-dominated world.
Nevertheless, collective experiences of ecological grief may coalesce into a strengthened sense of love and commitment to the places, ecosystems and species that inspire, nurture and sustain us. However, being open to the pain of ecological loss may be what is needed to prevent such losses from occurring in the first place.
Anna Manankina is a Ukrainian interdisciplinary media artist who spent three months on a residency within the KAIR Kosice Artist in Residence. In her work covers a wide range of issues: from geopolitical situations and power structures to purely intimate spheres of life which address the topic of violence, gender identity, the position of women in the artistic and social context. At the same time, she works with the manual printing techniques such as linocut, etching, monotype and creates self-published art books.
Manankina graduated from Kharkiv Academy of Design and Arts. Manankina graduated from Kharkiv Academy of Design and Arts. She was a finalist of the cultural exchange program Exter, supported by the Ukrainian Institute and finalist of Non-stop media biennale for young artists. Besides that, she worked on a collaborative project with the ROTOR Gallery in Graz, Austria and was part of the residence of REMAIN Trans-Media Academy Hellerau in Dresden and the Polish residence of Fundacja ZPK in Lublin, NAWZAEM in Poznan. She studied in the American Art Incubator program in collaboration with the Izoliatsya platform in Kyiv. She worked on collective projects with the curator group of the Municipal Gallery in Kharkiv. Her works were exhibited in Warsaw, Lublin, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa.
The residency program and the program of this gallery are supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council. Slovak Arts Council is the main partner of the project. The residency is organized in cooperation with Nazar Voitovich Art Residence.