White

On May 1, 2015, Maria Kulikovska conducted the unauthorized action «White» in Russia. This performance was held in Moscow under the Crimean Bridge. On the Moskva River the Crimean-Ukrainian artist was washing a hand-made flag of the Crimean Peninsula.

Annexation of the Crimea by Russian Federation, the loss of Kulikovska's native home - the Kerch city, and enforced exile became the big conflict of Maria Kulikovska's creativity. «White» action escaped conflict with the Russian government and publicity, because it was held in a specific place, and the colors of the Crimean flag are identical to colors of the Russian flag. But the arrangement and symbolic meanings of these colors remain different. The first is blue, which is a symbol of hope for a bright future. The white color conveys peace and equality of all cultures and peoples on the peninsula, and the red means the heroic and tragic history of Crimea, the memory of the past.

While washing the blue hope for the future faded without any trace and the red memory began to spread to other color areas. White color remained, such as the Crimea, which became a white spot and an abandoned zone of military control on the world map since the annexation. Or, perhaps, is it a symbol of the return to peace and equality that were laid in the history of the flag?