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The Raft CrimeA. Part 9. Trumps of Doom.

Exhibition at Artivist_Lab, organized by human rights organization People in Need. Prague, Czech Republic, 18 March 2019.

Raft crimea performance kulikovska, maria kulikovska, performance art, performance artist, contemporary performances, political art, art actions, contemporary art, ukrainian art, crimean art, crimean artists, ukraine artists, war performances, war art, occupation of crimea, annexation of crimea, military conflict, art conflict, conflict artists, queer art, feminist art, female artists in ukraine, feminist art
Raft crimea performance kulikovska, maria kulikovska, performance art, performance artist, contemporary performances, political art, art actions, contemporary art, ukrainian art, crimean art, crimean artists, ukraine artists, war performances, war art, occupation of crimea, annexation of crimea, military conflict, art conflict, conflict artists, queer art, feminist art, female artists in ukraine, feminist art
Raft crimea performance kulikovska, maria kulikovska, performance art, performance artist, contemporary performances, political art, art actions, contemporary art, ukrainian art, crimean art, crimean artists, ukraine artists, war performances, war art, occupation of crimea, annexation of crimea, military conflict, art conflict, conflict artists, queer art, feminist art, female artists in ukraine, feminist art
In March 2019, the solo exhibition of the Crimean artist Maria Kulikovska as a continuation of the story about the Displaced Parliament of the Displaced was held at the art gallery Artivist_Lab in Prague, Czech Republic.

«A big room. Long rows of desks. Walls with print-articles of criminal code. Fines, detentions, punishments. A military with a weapon in his hand. There's books on the desks. Next to me, what is strange and even symbolic - «Trumps of Doom». I'll never forget this interrogation room».

On 9 August 2016, Maria Kulikovska and people that wish to join her performance started to go in the Dnipro River on the «The Raft CrimeA» that August 25 - on the Independence Day of Ukraine - to cross the invisible water borders of the EU, to get metaphorically across them, and to continue their journey on the rivers of Europe. But, at down on August 25, in Vylkove, Ukraine, the «The Raft CrimeA» was stopped by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. The performance ended prematurely, and the artist together with her companions ended up in the interrogation room. «The Raft CrimeA», which was first thought to be a spy or, even, an act of terror, was released back home. Unfortunately, the raft couldn't cross the invisible Ukrainian-Rumunian borders and make the artistic gesture of metaphorical escape/rescue.

Maria Kulikovska brought to Kyiv a rough experience with border service, a physical weariness, a lot of warm emotion from people, who met at the time of her not easy Odyssey. She was also brought many items-memories, items-reflections, the items, which were gifted by different people as a sign of solidarity and support for the Displaced Parliament of the Displaced - «The Raft CrimeA». All of these artefacts became full-fledged objects at the exhibition «The Raft CrimeA: Trumps of Doom», which was held in Prague in 2019.

The floor of the gallery was filled by gold folia and sand - a symbolic-physical symbol of the trip. The bright spots on this map became the reflecting jacket, yellow raincoat and the main character of Kulikovska's displacing - exhausted raft. Maria Kulikovska painted a map of the world, which was hung on one of the walls. This map-sky had its own, social-political, coordinate system: without borders between counties, without hierarchy of the continents' area, with a red war zone - with painful Crimea.

The exhibition «The Raft CrimeA: Trumps of Doom» was a story about travel to the unknown, a story about secrets and discoveries, a story about fate and human kindness. It was a story dedicated to the great courage of all migrants and settlers, who are moving forward to embark upon a new life. This story was dedicated to everyone having an open heart and is ready to care about others.