My grandfather Igor, who unfortunately I did not have a chance to see, was in Chernobyl in 1986 as an engineer and liquidator of the accident. After receiving large doses of radiation, he died of blood cancer, leaving my grandmother Mila alone in a one-room apartment quartet, which was received as a reward for my grandfather’s work. My grandmother, however, had two close friends Valya and Ira, who worked together with Mila and Igor in the same RosAtom Ministry and who also connected their fate to tragedy. In Chernobyl, Valya worked for three months as a secretary, Ira went with her husband only for a few weeks. All three women in the result received the status of "Chernobyl Widows", irreparable health consequences, painful memories.
The accident at the Chernobyl NPP is a disease that has poisoned entire generations. The people who lived through all this horror, who took part in the liquidation, who saw everything in real life, have been forgotten and abandoned like blunders in history. All experienced memories have been incorporated into their way of life, into their typical one-room apartments. This work explores the intersection of present and past, the indistinguishable consequences of the catastrophe and the permanence of the place.
The installation is an image of a typical Khrushchev apartment in which Ira, Mila and Valya still live. Each heroine has her own room, which represents her perceptions of the past and today.
My grandfather Igor, who unfortunately I did not have a chance to see, was in Chernobyl in 1986 as an engineer and liquidator of the accident. After receiving large doses of radiation, he died of blood cancer, leaving my grandmother Mila alone in a one-room apartment quartet, which was received as a reward for my grandfather’s work. My grandmother, however, had two close friends Valya and Ira, who worked together with Mila and Igor in the same RosAtom Ministry and who also connected their fate to tragedy. In Chernobyl, Valya worked for three months as a secretary, Ira went with her husband only for a few weeks. All three women in the result received the status of "Chernobyl Widows", irreparable health consequences, painful memories.
The accident at the Chernobyl NPP is a disease that has poisoned entire generations. The people who lived through all this horror, who took part in the liquidation, who saw everything in real life, have been forgotten and abandoned like blunders in history. All experienced memories have been incorporated into their way of life, into their typical one-room apartments. This work explores the intersection of present and past, the indistinguishable consequences of the catastrophe and the permanence of the place.
The installation is an image of a typical Khrushchev apartment in which Ira, Mila and Valya still live. Each heroine has her own room, which represents her perceptions of the past and today.
Artworkshop HH was founded in March 2022 by three HFBK students from Russia, Serafima Kalachenkova Bresler, Elizaveta Ostapenko and Anna Bochkova. Since February 2023, the project has been led by Serafima K. Bresler, an artist and teacher who came to Hamburg in autumn 2022 and received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the HFBK in summer 2024. She explains, ‘My desire to continue the project and help refugees goes hand in hand with my protest against this violent criminal war.’
Artworkshop HH is social art project supports Ukrainian refugee children with free group art classes in Hamburg. The aim of the project is to create a friendly atmosphere and a safe space to do art together. In this space, participants learn different techniques of visual contemporary art and try out which activities can have a positive impact on their well-being. We emphasize the practical process rather than theory. Our courses are free-form, where each participant can work in their own mode to create personal and unique work.
Starting from February 2023, Serafima Bresler leads the project alone together with other artists from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The masterclasses are supported by the foundation "FREIRÄUME! Initiative für kulturelle Integrationsprojekte" and are held at the Freiraum at the Design Museum in Hamburg.
We continue to work now!
You can find more information and schedule on our official instagram
Photos by Marina Galansteva
