Ode à l’oubli

Show Gallery

Ode à l’oubli is the first performance created by Elina Kulikova after her arrival in France and the start of PAUSE program (programme national d’Accueil en Urgence des Scientifiques et artistes en Exil (PAUSE).

A site-specific performance dedicated to the war in Ukraine and reflecting terrorist actions of the Russian Government was created to adapt to the physical environment of ESAAA (école supérieure d'art annecy alpes). It represents a long poetic piece about memory and the inability to control it written by Elina after leaving Russia. Each line begins with FORGET_ and forms an infinite list of subjects that should be but cannot be forgotten. It also includes documentation of the protest methods of Russian citizens against the war in Ukraine and military mobilization. Elina adds an olfactory element to the conception of the piece: around the forest where the performance takes place, spectators can notice the smell of the gas. This is a reference to both the 2022 question of the Russian natural gas cutoff and the reenactment of the most radical protest method when the political activist burns himself or herself. The second action becomes the culmination of Elina’s performance.

Text, video, performance: Elina Kulikova

Created with the support of:

Programme national d’Accueil en Urgence des Scientifiques et artistes en Exil (PAUSE) managed by the Collège de France, and funded by the Fonds Asile, Migration et Intégration (FAMI).

Project « Effondrement des Alpes »

Within the framework of partnerships with the association Atelier des artistes en exil and Résidence des Marquisats (IDEIS)

Produced by
ESAAA - école supérieure d'art annecy alpes
Annecy, France
TW : décrivant des scènes de violence, de guerre, de meurtre
langue : français 
durée : 1 heure
2022