As Russian forces advanced on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in February 2022, artist Zhanna Kadyrova was suddenly forced to seek refuge in the west of the country. The works appearing in the exhibition "Out of Home" have been created since then. They are metaphors for a brutal war in which military force is directed toward the civilian population in particular. Moreover, they are a powerful expression of art as a means of resistance.
The work „Refugees“ (2022) is at the center of the installation. Haunting interior shots document the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, laid to waste by Russian missiles. Between fragments of furniture, torn curtains, and soot-covered rubble, the only sign of former life is the potted plants. The artist rescued these mute survivors, providing them with temporary refuge in the exhibition space.
Zhanna Kadyrova often makes use of found materials and objects, some of which she extensively reworks to create symbolically charged artworks and installations. The resulting works of art are full of ideological, historical, and political references. Her most recent works are a powerful expression of art as a means of civil resistance.
Curator Anke Hoffsten (NS Documentation Center Munich) and art historian Christoph Platz-Gallus (Kunstverein Hannover) discuss the works in the context of their creation and take a look at Kadyrova's oeuvre.
