Unexpected

The world has changed on February 24, 2022. Unexpectedly. For all Ukrainians, and for many people around the world. Zhanna Kadyrova’s reality also changed, and making art as before made little sense for the artist. Confronted with a sense of uselessness, finding refuge in Berezovo, a small village in the Carpathian Mountains, she looks for answers.
How can she be an artist when her country is being brutally invaded? What is her role? How can she help? For Kadyrova, the only possible way forward is to speak about life, culture and war in Ukraine today.

At the exhibition in Galerie Rudolfinum, Kadyrova empowers objects and materials to tell the story of Ukraine’s fight for freedom from Russia. They become the voice of so many Ukrainians who remain voiceless in this violent war. This new solo show also follows her artistic path and her deeply personal journey since 2014 till today.
The exhibition is conceived by Björn Geldhof, Zhanna Kadyrova, and Silvia Van Espen, and curated by Björn Geldhof with the assistance of Eva Drexlerová.