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Alevtina Kakhidze, Plants and People, Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok, Poland

The Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok, Poland is presenting the exhibitions Alevtina Kakhidze: Plants and People and William Kentridge: I am not me, the horse is not mine, both curated by Monika Szewczyk.

Alevtina Kakhidze is a Ukrainian artist of Ukrainian-Georgian descent. Her work primarily focuses on performance and drawing, but she also creates videos, installations, and texts. She lives in Muzychi, Ukraine, 26 kilometers from Kyiv, and grew up in the Donetsk region.

Kakhidze documents these dramatic events with the distance and objectivity of a scientist analyzing a system—or rather, multiple systems: legal, educational, colonial, consumerist, and systems of violence. She actively engages in contemporary discourses, often provoking significant debate. Her drawings created after February 24, 2022, frequently reflect on the cultural dynamics between Russia and Ukraine, going beyond the immediate realities of war to explore deeper themes within the history and culture of both nations, highlighting Russian colonialism and imperialism.

Kakhidze’s longstanding interest in plants has taken on a deeper significance in the context of war. She sees plants as some of the purest examples of pacifism on our planet; to her, they represent a model worthy of imitation but ultimately unattainable. As she writes in one of her works: “If I am wounded, I wish I could regenerate the way plants do.”

Pairing the exhibitions of Alevtina Kakhidze and William Kentridge at the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok is not an accidental decision. Their shows are united by decolonial thought reworking the cultural legacy of countries from the orbit of the former Soviet Union. Both of them also consistently reflect on their condition as humans and artists. This unique status—the intersection of art and those who create it—serves as both a starting point and a medium for their work, as much as any other material (perhaps even more so). They have long embraced their roles, yet they continue to question, marvel at, and test the transformative power of art.

Curator: Monika Szewczyk
Coordination: Yulia Kostereva

24.10.2024 – 19.01.2025