Konyushuna + Flowerbed

Konyushyna is a Ukrainian project of migrant artists working with the politics of matter, memory, and space. Our practice is built at the intersection of documentary art, postcolonial analysis, and intermedia techniques in which material becomes an autonomous carrier of meaning. We explore how war and imperial structures affect bodies, landscapes, cultural institutions, and communities—and how art can resist cultural erosion.

Flowerbed is a Kyiv based independent gallery working with the artists often existing on the cultural margins and bringing together disparity of their approaches under one wing. Their collective practice is rooted in resistance and freedom.

In May 2025 we’ve collaborated to explore ways of archiving and preservation through decolonial use of technology. Simultaniously it was a fundraiser for Andrew Podkova -- a Ukrainian artist, Flowerbed gallery resident, who had a severe back injury during his military service and required expensive rehabilitation. The event involved a VR exhibition featuring few levels of a real gallery space in Kyiv, collaborative piece by Andrew Podkova and Polina Hortovliuk, and performances local migrant and Czech sound artists.

Increasing international understanding of the way active warfare impacts development of Ukrainian culture becomes more and more significant in age of rise of fascism. Art becomes artificially segregated due to various physical and economic restraints and we aim to overcome them using modern technology in a decolonizing way. Without those acts of resistance we will face cultural erasure that coincides with any imperialist structures. Preservation and constant reflection of Ukrainian reality is one of the only ways to preserve our art, voices and ongoing decolonization.

The project involves a showcase of a real gallery space in Kyiv, Ukraine in a virtual space accessible through VR glasses on the event directly. The installation itself consists of three levels: a partially destroyed, distorted exhibition (raising questions about the accessibility of culture and international exchange during active warfare), a collaborative exhibition of the co-founders of the gallery, and a digital archive. The exhibition functions as a reflection on social reality and cultural erasure during the age of material and digital colonialism.

“Коли було світло” (When there was light) -- is an interactive collaborative piece by Andrew Podkova and Polina Hortovliuk which talks about harsh conditions of electricity and gas scarcity in Ukraine. While russia deliberately targets critical energy infrastructure, civilians have to survive with a few hours of electricity per day in cold winters. The work reflects a city map, LED system behind which makes the light travel through its different compartments. Through capacitive sensor, connected to the onion (a significant memory object for the artists) the configuration of the lights changes with each touch of the viewer, which makes the light travel, but never cover the whole space of the city.

materials: oil pastels, cooking paper, wires, capacitive sensor, onion, LEDs, Arduino Board