Online screening: Granny’s Life
All summer you have the chance to visit the outdoor, large scale exhibition Granny by the Ukrainian artist Olena Morozova on the walls of our exhibition venue Frame on Refshaleøen. The touching exhibition was part of this year’s photo festival as a part of Odesa Photo Days. It explores the relationship between the artist and her grandmother, who was once an independent feminist, but was living with dementia in the last years of her life.
As a special summer treat we can now also show Olena Morozova’s film Granny here. The film was shown in our cinema during the festival. We urge you to see Morozova’s portrait of her granny and also to support her fundraiser to get the project published – we would love to see this project as a book!
You can pre-order the book or find more information on how to support here
Granny’s Life
“In the photos of the project Granny are my granny, me and my younger children Maria and Tymur. My granny had a very bright life, she was a really bright and interesting person with a great sense of humor. She was a doctor, a gynecologist. She started her practice in Siberia, but she dreamed of living in Kyiv and one day her dream came true.
She was also an examplary feminist. In the Soviet days this was quite strange. All her life she did everything herself. She raised her son (my dad) by herself, she earned money, saved people's lives, helped newborns to life, she got an apartment in Kyiv herself, bought a car for her son and she never got married, but she had many lovers.
I started researching the problem of dementia when my grandmother was diagnosed with it. We talked about her illness so that she does not lose touch with reality. I also involved my children in this process, which was very helpful.
The burden of dementia
According to the WHO, in 2017 there were more than 50 million people with dementia worldwide. 7.7 million new cases are reported yearly, each one becomes a significant burden on families and health systems. Dementia causes the brain to degenerate and it is characterized by a persistent decrease in cognitive activity with a loss of previously acquired knowledge and practical skills. From the very first manifestations to severe forms, patients require care and social support.
Glimpses of her complex and interesting character are like pearls that you acquire through the hard work of constant communication. These moments dear to our hearts, the chronicle of the struggle against "the darkness" and visions from a past life: military childhood, interesting youth, medical practice in the cruel inhuman conditions of the Russian hinterland, are the essence of the project, which has become more than a project for me.
At a certain moment, I felt the need to photograph her in those moments when she talks about her visions. I have traced a clear relationship between memories, strong impressions and fears from my grandmother's past and painful visions in the present.
There is no happy ending in this struggle, the illness always wins, and this dread is visible. When phantasmagorias merge with reality it's always scary, and the only thing that can help is the attention of relatives and closeness.
Fundraiser to publish Granny
I think that such an interesting person and interesting life story is worth publishing in an art book. I found a book designer and publisher in Kyiv called RedZet. We did a lot of work on it already and now we have started a fundraiser to publish 300 copies of the first edition of the book «Granny».” Photographer Olena Morozova
Refshalevej 173C, Refshaleøen
Visit Odesa Photo Days in Copenhagen this summer
Dansk tekst nedenfor
Press release
CPF and Odesa Photo Days Join Hands in Copenhagen This Summer
When Copenhagen Photo Festival celebrates photography in Copenhagen on 2-12 June, you can this year experience two exhibitions from the Ukrainian festival Odesa Photo Days. One by photo artist Olena Morozova, the other by a number of artists who in one night had to adjust to becoming war photographers. Copenhagen Photo Festival are pleased to announce the collaboration with the Ukrainian photo festival, which was canceled when the war broke out in Ukraine.
As a result of the war, everyday life has come to a standstill in Ukraine. This also applies to the cultural life, which usually blooms in the spring and summer months. The international festival of contemporary photography based in Ukraine Odesa Photo Days was to be held on 19-22 May, but as one of the countless cultural events it was canceled when the war broke out. Copenhagen Photo Festival reached out to Odesa Photo Days to collaborate on creating an alternative festival event.
In collaboration, the Nordic region's largest photo festival and Kateryna Radchenko, leader of Odesa Photo Days, have arranged for two exhibitions to be shown in Copenhagen during the festival on 2-12. June. The exhibition Granny by Olena Morozova and the group exhibition The Thin Line, both curated by Kateryna Radchenko. Copenhagen Photo Festival's director, Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen, is looking forward to welcoming the Ukrainian sister festival:
“We are really happy to be able to reach out to Odesa Photo Days and give them an opportunity to realize two exhibitions under our auspices despite the unbearable situation they and the whole of Ukraine are in right now. Our hope is that with this collaboration we can both show some highly current exhibitions and at the same time support Odesa Photo Days and the Ukrainian photographers involved, ”says Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen.
Artists on the front lines as war photographers
The Thin Line is one of the Ukrainian exhibitions to be found at the Copenhagen Photo Festival this summer. The exhibition contains photos of artists who, during one night, had to adjust to becoming war photographers on the front lines.
"In one night, Ukrainian photographers and artists turned into war correspondents documenting the destruction of their hometowns. I shifted the focus of Odesa Photo Days to tell the world what is happening in Ukraine and support photographers working on the front lines." said Kateryna Radchenko, curator of the exhibition and director of Odesa Photo Days. She continues:
"The Thin Line exhibition is special in that it contains both photographs of the current war and earlier series of Ukrainian photographers. For me, this exhibition visually illustrates the state we are in now. When everything has changed, from the daily routine to the level of physical danger, from time to time the subconscious throws up pictures from “previous life”. I am happy for the support from my Danish colleagues and the opportunity to show The Thin Line as well as Granny by Olena Morozova, which is also an incredibly important and relevant exhibition."
In Olena Morozova's exhibition Granny, the artist depicts her grandmother's life and challenge with dementia after a long life as a respected gynecologist and women's advocate in Ukraine.
The exhibitions Granny and The Thin Line can be found in the center of the photo festival on Refshaleøen on 2-12 June 2022. Copenhagen Photo Festival 2022 is currently supported by the City of Copenhagen, the Obel Family Foundation and Creative Europe - the EU's cultural support program. The festival's final program is updated regularly at https://copenhagenphotofestival.com/en/
For press inquiries, contact:
Helene Obel, 2877 7927, helene@have.dk
Anja Linnet, 2265 5348, anja@have.dk
________________
Copenhagen Photo Festival indgår samarbejde med ukrainsk fotofestival
Når Nordens største fotofestival afholdes den 2.-12. juni 2022, kan man i år som noget helt særligt opleve to udstillinger fra den ukrainske festival Odesa Photo Days. Den ene af fotokunstner Olena Morozova, den anden af en række kunstnere, der på en nat måtte omstille sig til at blive krigsfotografer. Copenhagen Photo Festival har nemlig indgået et samarbejde med den ukrainske fotofestival, der aflyste, da krigen brød ud.
Som følge af krigen er hverdagen gået i stå i Ukraine. Det gælder også for kulturlivet, der normalt blomstrer op i forår- og sommerhalvåret. Den ukrainske fotofestival Odesa Photo Days stod til at blive afholdt den 19.-22. maj, men er en af de utallige kulturbegivenheder, der blev aflyst, da krigen brød ud. Derfor rakte Copenhagen Photo Festival ud til Odesa Photo Days og tilbød dem en platform for kunsten.
I samarbejde har Nordens største fotofestival og Kateryna Radchenko, leder af Odesa Photo Days, arrangeret, at to udstillinger vises i København under festivalen den 2.-12. juni. Udstillingen Granny af Olena Morozova og gruppeudstillingen The Thin Line, der begge er kurateret af Kateryna Radchenko. Copenhagen Photo Festivals direktør, Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen, glæder sig til at byde velkommen til den ukrainske søsterfestival:
”Vi er rigtig glade for at kunne række hånden ud til Odesa Photo Days og give dem en mulighed for at realisere to udstillinger i vores regi på trods af den ubærlige situation de og hele Ukraine står i lige nu. Vores håb er, at vi med dette samarbejde både kan vise nogle højaktuelle udstillinger og samtidig støtte op om Odesa Photo Days og de ukrainske fotografer,” fortæller Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen.
Kunstnere på frontlinjen som krigsfotografer
The Thin Line er den ene af de ukrainske udstillinger, der er at finde på Copenhagen Photo Festival til sommer. Udstillingen indeholder fotos af kunstnere, der i løbet af en nat skulle omstille sig til at blive krigsfotografer på frontlinjen.
”På en nat forvandledes livet for flere af de ukrainske fotografer og kunstnere, der skulle have udstillet på festivalen. I stedet står de nu på frontlinjen som krigsfotografer. Det er vigtigt for mig at støtte op om dem og deres arbejde, og derfor skiftede jeg fokus for Odesa Photo Days,” Kateryna Radchenko, kurator af udstillingen og leder af Odesa Photo Days. Hun fortsætter:
”The Thin Line indeholder fotografier fra krigen og tidligere værker af fotograferne. Den viser, hvilken tilstand vi står midt i. Alt det, der har ændret sig og den virkelighed, vi lever i. Udstillingen er helt særlig, og jeg er glad for støtten fra mine danske kollegaer og muligheden for at vise The Thin Line såvel som Granny af Olena Morozova, der også er en utroligt vigtig og relevant udstilling.”
I Olena Morozovas udstilling Granny skildrer kunstneren sin bedstemors liv og udfordring med demens efter et langt liv som respekteret gynækolog og kvindesagsforkæmper i Ukraine.
Udstillingerne Granny og The Thin Line er at finde i fotofestivalens centrum på Refshaleøen den 2.-12 juni 2022. Copenhagen Photo Festival 2022 er foreløbigt støttet af Københavns Kommune, Det Obelske Familiefond og Creative Europe – EU’s kulturstøtteprogram. Festivalens endelige program opdateres løbende på https://copenhagenphotofestival.com/en/
For pressehenvendelse, kontakt:
Helene Obel, 2877 7927, helene@have.dk
Anja Linnet, 2265 5348, anja@have.dk
