A·P·I·S·E· — Archives Privées de l’Insuffisance de Solutions Esthétiques

A·P·I·S.E. is an artistic exploration using archival and archaeological methods to reflect on the catastrophe of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In this work, Fedora Akimova, a Russian-Ukrainian artist, embraces a documentary approach rooted in lived experience, one in which she is both a witness and an active participant.

The archive comprises three types of objects: textile embroideries mapping Ukraine’s territorial losses; kitchen utensils melted by a Russian missile strike; and childhood drawings by the artist, retrieved from her family flat in Kyiv, where she was raised.

Her methodology is one of sensitive archaeology: the objects are not presented to yield generalisations or historical conclusions, but rather to exist in their own right, as quiet witnesses to a personal and collective experience.

— Étienne Michurins

Fedora Akimova (Ukraine/Russia) is currently in residence as part of the 2-12 programme