Understructures
Thursday, 12 October 2023 to Friday, 27 October 2023
Opening: 11 October, 6pm
understructures x eth: in situ
We are happy to welcome understructures, an art collective from Ukraine, to a hands-on research session and intervention at gta exhibitions.
understructures is a collective working body assembled in Ukraine in 2020 that functions as a temporary support structure and platform for artists, architects, activists, volunteers, and people in need.
In their intervention at ETH, understructures are hosting presentations on construction waste and materials found in Ukraine; such as Kyiv-region yellow clay, significant for (im)material structures of support. To do this, understructures will deliver found artefacts from Ukraine, and assemble them in person with Daša Anosova, Nina Dyrenko, and Anja Riabova.
In the aftermath of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, understructures have been engaged in fundraising efforts through touring with their self-published book oberih. Oberih [ukr.: 'an item that protects'] documents people’s experience of the ongoing war in Ukraine through their relationship with things they choose as their amulets. The project’s first iteration is an anthology of stories and images of «oberihs», gathered from a number of contributors via short texts, voice messages, and online posts in the period of April to May 2022. The book chronicles the way these guardian objects, traversing time and distance, trace and preserve intimate links between people, memories and events.
For the opening event, Daša Anosova and Anja Riabova will give a short talk on understructures’ method and the fundraising project Oberih. They will also host an Oberih pop-up sale benefiting continuous humanitarian support in the Kherson region.
In the special session on the 12th of October, understructures are happy to invite Nina Dyrenko, a Kyiv-based researcher, planting designer and a gardener who practices urban gardening on various levels – from creating pocket gardens to setting up greenery projects at urban factories to public programming on urban ecosystems. Dyrenko is currently working on a book about Kyiv trees and is taking part in the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. At gta exhibitions, Dyrenko will elaborate on her practice as an environmentalist working in Ukraine in the time of war as well as on the yellow clay that is such a significant material for Kyiv’s landscape formation. understructures will host an exploratory session of the artefacts on show.
understructures started as a working group focussing on construction work and vernacular furniture production on construction sites. Since the beginning of 2023, a part of the collective has joined the initiative of collecting and direct distribution of aid to people in the de-occupied Kherson region. Understructures participated in the Tbilisi Biennale in October 2020, in 2021 in SESAM residency in Slavutych, in the collective exhibition «ateliernormalno» in October 2021, amongst others.
understructures x eth: in situ by Daša Anosova, Nina Dyrenko, Vitya Glushchenko, Anja Riabova
Photo: Nelly Rodriguez