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Almost all (first round) - yellow:

Pick one artist from the 2014 - 2022 (yellow) era and respond to one of the discussion questions. After 10 minutes, reflect on your discussion (two highlights of your discussion + artwork + symbols)

1. Which dominant narratives does this artist challenge and in what ways? Name their artwork and relevant symbols

2. How might the intersectionality of identities, such as gender, ethnicity, and class, be represented in decolonial art related to the Ukrainian wartime experience (2014 - 2022)?

3. How can decolonial art from Ukraine inspire similar movements and expressions of resistance in other parts of the world facing similar challenges?

Almost all (second round) - green or blue:

Pick one artist from the 2022 - present era (blue or green) respond to one of the discussion questions. After 10 minutes, reflect on your discussion (two highlights of your discussion)

1. How does the artist convey the phenomenological experience of war?

2. How does the chosen piece of art differently portray the war compared to the the artwork from 2014 - 2022?

3. What challenging may be for the outside in the piece of art? How does the concept "otherworldliness" help explain this phenomenon?

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Respondents will have to observe what is going on and make two posts: (1) record observations of what reading rounds are discussing with around 150 w (2) what differnces are there between two periods (2014 - 2022; 2022-24 and what surprised you (100 w) and pose two questions to the whole class to address on May 16.

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Image 7.1 Stefaniia Kolesnyk in Chari Larsson ("otherwordliness")

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Image 7.1 Stefaniia Kolesnyk in Chari Larsson ("otherwordliness")

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Khadija and Nashley - Narrative of Women depicted in war ("from the threads of silence a pullover for a soldier is sewn" and "woman kills the son of the enemy")

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Khadija and Nashley - Narrative of Women depicted in war ("from the threads of silence a pullover for a soldier is sewn" and "woman kills the son of the enemy")

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Dana Kavelina challenges the narratives of women in war and subsequently war crimes against women. Within the art there is a lot of graphic images of women's body parts being strung along almost as a metaphor that they are being used. The symbol of threads within these images were used as a storytelling tool, telling the viewer what the different shapes and objects were to each other. A particular interesting piece that is a perfect example of narrative being changed to include women in the war is "from the threads of silence a pullover for a soldier is sewn" which depicts 4 naked women with red threads coming out of their mouths and forming a red man, a soldier. It can be said that this art was meant to represent that soldiers are made out the silence of others, and those others in this instance being women. The art piece "woman kills the son of the enemy" is also a very important and interesting piece because it depicts a child being being hung by another red string while still being connected to its mother. Again, women and mother figures being depicted in War art is important as it adds more to the conversation of feminism and women during the war.

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In her art, Dana expresses resistance against the censorship that occurs during the period of war in Ukraine. The experiences of women, and others are censored from the media. Her images use many symbols involving the mouth, which can signify the ways that Russia silences Ukraine in order to portray them as being in the wrong.

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Alevtina Kakhidze. Bucha. Me. 47 Min by Car, 2022 — talking about the extreme violence in Bucha. She has blood in her hand. She also represents herself in the picture by using "ME". Additionally, it shows aggression against Ukrainians. This art piece can inspire other people to resist just using art against Russia. How violent Russia can be. It represents the Russian occupation.

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In Invasions, it was interesting to interpret this feeling of isolation that Alevtina has and how this image is a representation of her separation from her mother. Additionally, the 360 degree view almost implies that, despite this being a photograph, the feeling and destruction in this space extends Outside of the art medium. The intersectionality of her identity, being Ukrainian and Russian, could be a reason the feeling of isolation is a center piece in this work. In class we discussed a lot about identity and how it impacts the people within this invasion. Art like this can be used to showcase the emotions attached to this conflict and people who has had experiences with the invasion directly or indirectly. There is a sense of aimlessness in this piece which could insinuate again those feelings on isolation and confusion surrounding her identity.

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One dominant narrative we see throughout Dana's work is the guilt you feel when looking at her work. Much of it revolves around her view of herself given her privileged position being in a safe city when the war broke out and then being able to leave. She does her work through a gendered perspective, what is happening to Ukrainian women. In her work, she also explores the future, what liberation looks like, and what it means when Ukraine wins the war. She also explores the beginnings of wars, the blind spots that when left untreated will hurt the country in the future.

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The artist Alevtina Kakhidze wrote "I have to be ready to draw all in Ukraine," with Ukraine in small font in response to feeling the need to face the negative aspects of the aftermath regarding what would be left of Ukrainian culture, physically, metaphorically, and mentally. It is the immediate recognition that Ukrainian culture and Ukrainians themselves are losing "limbs" and body parts that define the way they have grown to interpret the world, either physically or mentally.

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The art we are analyzing is the piece Blind Spot by the artist Mykola Ridniy. I think this art conveys the uncertainty of constructing one's image of the future due to the stress and destruction that Russia caused in Ukraine. Through the systematic erasure and destruction of Ukrainian property and identity, a blind spot is formed due to the inability to reflect on their ancestors and their teachings due to constant condemnation from Russia. When thinking about their memories and their land the black void starts to appear due to the trauma it may cause the individuals, and the inability to construct that memory.

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The image we picked was image 7.5 since it emphasizes a self-dialogue to fear and trauma. For instance, the three sectors of the pictures speak to each other since they provide the audience with the common steps of fear. In the first image, the head is usually curled close to the chest, protecting the vital organs, and then moved to information, by seeking a phone to solve the conflict of unknowingness, and finally the action of hiding, running, or fighting. This formulaic way of diagnosing fear is usually constant for the people in Ukraine as Russia is invading and destroying the identities of Ukrainians.

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The covering of the statues is in acknowledgement that hope and preservation of a memorial. Entire erasure is not something the people who covered the statue stand for, in parallel to people not leaving entirely, only setting up temporary shelter in the station using blankets as well. This photograph illustrates how the baseline resilience is met through not relocating or giving up hope, but rather setting a foothold, encapsulating, and staying safe in hope of re-emergence.

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This pictures exhibits statues have been wrapped and encased in a structure to protect them form being destroyed or damaged. This shows the measures that Ukrainians need to take to protect artwork now, more than they needed to in 2014-2022. There is a greater risk of their infrastructure getting damaged. This shows Russification because their monuments are at risk of being destroyed. Even if Ukrainian art is protected, it's still hidden away and nobody can see it.

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Zhanna Kadyrova's art reflects urban building materials and its symbolism. She is very involved in humanitarian projects, as this is reflected with a lot of her exhibits involving food and clothing. Her work centers the aesthetics of the socialist ideals still present in the heritage of contemporary Ukraine. In comparison to the art of 2014-2022, I think that her art depicts more of Ukrainian culture and heritage as opposed to showing the oppression faced by those in there war. We both compared to Dana Kavelina's art, which showcased the censorship that was rampant in Russia/Ukraine.

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Ruta Randmaa uses photography to showcase the preservation of Ukrainian memorials, art, and culture in anticipation of the incoming invasion, the photo's feel still and suspended in an otherworldly place, one of suspense and anxiety. The photos are very isolated and show what the people are doing to try to preserve their culture. These images are right before the invasion it has not happened yet and they have yet to witness the outcomes, they are images that are heavy and scared.

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While observing, We found themes that were mentioned in multiple groups. In Elliot and Maggie's group, we found themes of Ukrainian women feeling a sense of guilt, as they may not face the violence of the war as others do. The theme of a women's perspective also came up in Khadija's group, as they discussed how the artwork represented soldiers being made up of "the silence of others", and in this case it is women.

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Every body experiences different things in war. In the images depicted the person is fragmented into 3 parts and all of them are showing a different sort of fidgets used to cope (all part of the phenomenological experience everyone has in this context of the war). The other pieces chosen before this one were all different mediums, for examples film and paper art. This concept was done through photography which is a really nice medium to show the emotions of people because it has a depth that is brought to life. The anxiousness is unexplainable from the other side because they truly have no idea if the person they are trying to get in contact with will respond to their messages.

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We picked Ruta Randmaa to look into. We chose the work from "Quiet Trauma through Photography (as a Sigh of Resilience?)." The work is a picture of a statue that has been covered and had duct tape wrapped around it with a final covering of a single Scaffolding. Being a statue wrapped up and taped all around shows us a sense of being trapped and almost taken as a prisoner. The bags covering the statue of what we think is a mom and two children, portrays death and tragedy that is unforgiving. So unforgiving, that it takes everything away. It's protected by just minimal scaffolding to show the reality that nothing is ever really protected fully. Almost a fragile reality of how safe something really is during war.

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1. Why do you think art is so impactful in addressing trauma?

2. How can different forms of art (ex. drawing vs. photography) depict different levels of emotional intensity?