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Party at the dacha. 5 scenes from a film in creation. September 2023, Aubervilliers
installation, 350 kg of Russian literature, provenance: Kiev
video 9:35'
 
Against the backdrop of the town of Aubervilliers, Fedora Akimova stages a series of everyday rituals filmed and re-enacted by exiled Russian artists. The moment of celebration, accompanied by the preparation of food, is disrupted when the artist asks the guests to wash the classics of Russian literature, such as Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky. The party at the 'dacha' (country house in Ukraine and Russia) is relocated, and the heroes of the tragic epics of the Russian Empire are washed down with water. 
In her installation, by filling in the foundations of a ruin with books, Fedora Akimova conjures up a culture of sacrifice that is both repeated and abused.

Louise Morin

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