2025
On November 1 2025, I was invited by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) to participate in the performative walk Uncomfortable Monuments in Riga, Latvia. The idea for my performance grew out of two of my earlier works: the site-specific installation Threading with Red, created in Mazirbe, Latvia, and the embroidery-based work 3000 km and 300 m, which tells the story of a family from Mariupol.
While shaping a symbolic boat out of red thread stretched between trees in Kronvalds Park, near the Ukrainian Embassy, I invited passersby to read the Mariupol family’s story aloud in a language of their choice—Ukrainian, English, or Latvian. The boat form symbolizes refugee journeys across centuries, including recent tragedies in which people have lost their lives while attempting to cross the Mediterranean, the English Channel, or other bodies of water.
The red thread marks each journey and each life, emphasizing that every one of them matters. Bringing the story of Ukrainian war refugees into public space makes visible at least one of the many personal narratives woven into these threads.