2023, paper, acrylic, 100 × 160 cm
THE UNIVERSE
BEFORE OUR GREAT- GRANDMOTHER
In this work, I depict a museum display case with sand, its exaggerated image, which I saw in the museum in my hometown of Severodonetsk during school excursions as a child. The museum at the city's Azot plant tells the story of the construction of this small socialist town through the prism of the Soviet myth of Donbas—"Donbas as a space of labour glory", which was built "out of nothing" (in the case of Severodonetsk, the city was built on sand, which is half true).
When people talk about this region, the memory that many factories, plants, and houses were built by Europeans or Americans (foreign capitalists) escapes the Soviet person's attention. Such as, for example, John Hughes, a Welsh engineer who ran the Milwall Engineering Company (Yuzivka, modern Donetsk). As well as Ernest Solve and Heinrich Laude.
"The company has been cooperating with schools and other educational institutions in Severodonetsk for many years. For the plant, this is essentially a social project aimed at improving the level of general education of children. By visiting the museum, children have the opportunity to learn new information not only about the history of the city, but also to learn more about the work of the enterprise itself, which laid the foundation for Severodonetsk."—Olga Golovko, head of the museum.
Museum of the Severodonetsk Azot Plant
c. Severodonetsk, Luhansk region.
Photo from the museum's social media.
2026 © Karina Synytsia. All rights reserved.