Court Experiment - an exhibition
Hudrada collective
SIZ Gallery, Strossmayerova 7c, Rijeka February 7th - 28th 2013. Exhibition opening: February 7th 2012, 8.00* pm (*Mingle with the artists over refreshments at the opening party Gallery working hours: 10am - 2pm (Mon-Fri) or by appointment: +385915216934
From 19 pm members of the Ukrainian multidisciplinary
curatorial collective Hudrada will be
presenting cases of court prosecution that initiated this project and the
context of the works in the exhibition. During the opening of the exhibition
there will be a performance by Alexandr Wolodarsky who has been persecuted by the court and
imprisoned for art performance outside the Ukrainian parliament.
Exhibition Court Experiment was first
realized in 2010. The reason behind it was a series of lawsuits against members
of the Hudrada collective for their
actions as political activists. This type of initiative, designed to pressure
activists into creating consent with the legal system, is symptomatic of a broader
phenomenon of persecution of activists from today's Ukraine.
Stories of court cases brought against Yevgenia Belorusets, Andrey Movchana,
Sergiy Movchana and Alexander Wolodarsky have not been completed by the time
the exhibion closed in 2010. Alexander Wolodarsky served time in prison, while
the proceedings against the other continued, and this kind of persecution has
become systemic.
Court Experiment was a statement
directed against the persecution of Ukrainian activists for expressing
disagreement with real injustices. The project is an expression of solidarity
with the defendants, whose trial continues, and whose court sessions were
visited by those who wanted to express support for the accused including
activists, journalists, academics and artists.
Court Experiment attempted to draw
public attention to the specific cases of prosecution and persecution in Ukraine. Also,
the intent is to show that the state legal apparatus, as state structures
within neo-capitalist economy, the instrument of violence and injustice. The
exhibition places these events in the broader context of political, cultural
and social circumstances of the post-Soviet society.
The exhibition of the Hudrada
collective in the gallery SIZ consists
of original works and draws conclusions regarding the court proceedings, which
subjects were the foundation of Court
Experiment. Chronological record of court proceedings and related events is
attached to the art works. The exhibition includes works of Yevgenia
Belorusetsova, Alexandra Wolodarsky, Xenia Hnylytske, Anna Zvyagintseva, Nikita
Kadan, Yuli Kostarov and Lada Nakonechna. Authors of the court drawings are:
Anatoliy Belov, Yevgenia Belorusets, Oleksandr Burlaka, Nikita Kadan, Dmytro
Myronchuk, Viktor and Anna Wolodarsky Zvyagintseva.
Programmes of the SIZ Gallery are supported by: City of Rijeka - Department for
Culture, Primorsko-goranska County and the Ministry of Culture of Republic of
Croatia
More on Hudrada and the project:
http://hudrada.tumblr.com/court% 20experiment% 20eng