Alevtina Kakhidze, Piotr Armianovski. INVASIONS 1.2.3, 2022. VR film, 23’
Description
The film INVASIONS 1.2.3 was created by Alevtina Kakhidze and Piotr Armianovski after the de-occupation of towns in the Kyiv region—Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel. The artist invited Ukrainian artists, botanists, and local residents to join a walk through this part of the region, specifically the town of Irpin and the villages of Mostyshche and Muzychi, where she lives with her husband. The film begins with a conversation between Kakhidze and artist Alexander Krolikowski at the grave of the artist’s mother, Liudmyla Kakhidze, who lived under occupation in Donetsk region after 2014. When the war came to the outskirts of the artist’s home in 2022, she chose to stay, just as her mother once had. It became clear to her how deeply important it was not to leave home.
This work also continues Kakhidze’s inquiry into the parallels between gardening and socio-political events. At a certain point, she became interested in invasive plant species—those that are non-native to a particular area and thus gain the ability to spread rapidly in new environments. While attending a residency as part of the ArtsLink International Fellowship program in Kansas, USA, she encountered common milkweed in its native setting, where it plays a vital role in sustaining the monarch butterfly population. In Ukraine, however, milkweed is non-native and thus becomes an “invader.” At the end of the film, Kakhidze, together with Krolikowski and botanist Oleksii Kovalenko, prepares a meal using milkweed gathered near her home, thereby interrupting the spread of invasive species by consuming them.
The film was produced for the international contemporary art biennial Manifesta 14 in Pristina, Republic of Kosovo.
