A Game of History

In Kyiv, at vul. Naberezhno-Luhova, 8, in the premises of the creative community IZONE, an exhibition was opened. It is the "Game of History" exhibition presenting the archive of a well-known Kyiv photo correspondent Iryna Pap.

The display includes two parts. One of them is about the archive of Iryna Pap (1917-1985) rescued from disposal and preserved by Vitaliy Miloserdov in 1991. There are works by the photo correspondent from 1957-1971. Iryna Pap used to work for some leading newspapers of the Soviet Union, such as "Izvestiya." That way, her archive exemplifies an official perspective on the events that used to be presented as breaking news back then, but have become history today. Another part includes a "De-Fixation" installation. It is designed on the basis of the negative films that had been damaged. They were rediscovered from their family photo archives by photographers Valeriy Miloserdov and Dmytro Sergeyev.

Both parts of the exhibition date back to the same period but offer a different lens. This way, the viewers could compare views and manners of presenting past experiences. Despite the similarities of the plots in the Pap’s photos and the images from home collections, they had different functions. On the one hand, there is ideological representation in line with the social realism in order to shape the identity of a Soviet citizen. On the other hand, there is a willingness to keep and remember the important moments of family life.

The exhibition’s title implies a game. The authors encourage visitors to actively engage with the exhibited photographs. Everyone could interfere and develop their own narratives and scenarios to scroll the images and reshuffle them within the room.

Exhibition curator – Kateryna Filiuk.