Flag of the Borderlands | Stare Oleszyce, fabric 240x160 cm
The region of today’s southeastern Poland was inhabited by a diverse, multinational population before World War II. After the forced displacements during the Operation Vistula, traces of the Ukrainian culture present in these areas are gradually disappearing in many nearby villages and towns. I draw attention to the coexistence of various groups and break the nationalized culture of remembrance.
For me, weaving is a process of remembering and a way of telling stories. The process is a reflection on memory, in which telling about the past is, to some extent, based on imagination. While weaving, I recreate an old Ukrainian pattern from the Orthodox church in Stare Oleszyce. The fabric was used as a flag restoring the visibility of forgotten elements of Ukrainian culture in the territories of modern Poland as an integral part of the common history of both nations. In the video work, I present it in the space of one of the abandoned Ukrainian churches in Podkarpacie.
