The Roots of My Longing
Analog video / 4:3 / 11:00 / 2023

Research on coal extraction became the way for me to see the history of geopolitical conflict in Donbas, and trace the complex impact of this industry on the world we live in today. 

Being unable to come back to my hometown, and visit the coal slag heap, to connect to my childhood place, I am feeling that I am losing part of my memory and identity. In order to dig into my roots and restore the connection with coal as a symbol of my hometown, I went to Chervonohrad in the Lviv region.

There I re-enacted the work of my grandfather, who was a miner in Donetsk in Soviet Ukraine. Digging the waste of coal slag-heap I am “digging out” the ethics of excavating the coal, the history of industrialization of Donbas and the way it affected life in the region.

Following what coal could tell, I’ve re-discovered my roots, and once again I became convinced that my soul, as well as my family history, is keeping the score of the industrial past of Donbas.

Video editing: Matthew O’Toole (The UK / Ireland)

Created within the (Re)Grounding Art residency program and supported by Izolyatsia, D6 Culture in Transit and British Council Ukraine.

The project was presented within the (Re)Grounding exhibition at the NewBridgeProject gallery in Newcastle, the UK.