(pro)movy
In the whirlwind of violence and destruction of war, everything becomes essential: everyday things and rituals, words of support you say to friends and strangers, the language you speak. All of these simple things shape us and record an inevitable change in the way we perceive the world and a new type of attention to it.
The (pro)movy exhibition is a project by the Ukrainian zine community and artist Maria Matiashova displaying the variability of language. In the exhibition space, language appears to be valuable, full of beauty, and extremely vulnerable at the same time. The reality constantly refers us to the question: "Why do such beautiful words have such a terrible meaning now?". On the other hand, language is a crucial tool for expressing oneself and one's feelings and an important creative method.
The Ukrainian zine community is a project that creates, preserves, and distributes zines. It is a community where you can learn more about new and old zines, meet their authors, and show your work. To promote them, the community organises events and zine readings in various cities. The community is also shaping a digital archive and a physical library to preserve and popularise them.
Maria Matiashova is a Ukrainian artist. She works at the intersection of different media, including video, photography, text, performance, installation and public interventions. She explores personal memory, human relationships and social norms, language, and the impact of digital technologies on human behaviour and social processes, currently working on the subject of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She has participated in group exhibitions in Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland, and Poland. She lives and works in Kyiv.
The (pro)movy exhibition was created for the 11th International Book Arsenal Festival.
At the Laboratory of Contemporary Art “Mala Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal” the exhibition will be held from June 22 to June 25, 2023.