Zoya Laktionova is a documentary filmmaker and contemporary artist. In her films, she aims to convey emotions through art metaphors intertwined with the dramatic language of cinema. This often makes it difficult to clearly allocate Zoya’s films, which is why they are shown both at film festivals and in art museums such as the Center Pompidou in Paris or the MUMOK in Vienna. In her artistic practice, she adopts micro-history, auto-ethnography and creative storytelling to unfold the complexity of greater events and historical contexts.
More on her website: Zoya Laktionova
February – March
Bucharest, Romania
About Zoya residency
The trip of the artist to the residency in Bucharest was driven by the idea of getting to know the local culture and history. After all, it was her first visit to Romania in general and to Bucharest as well. However, when she arrived in Bucharest, she realized that it reminded her a lot of Ukraine and Ukrainian cities. For example, Mariupol, where she was born. It was very much in tune with her project started in Vienna in winter. This project, called Unheritage. She tried to recreate the archives that were lost to her when Russia destroyed and captured her hometown. This is not just a repetition, but a kind of reenactment. “So I decided to buy black and white film, they helped me find an old Zenit camera, the same one I had as a child that my father used to take pictures with.” The photographs that were taken in Constanta were eventually part of this project. In addition, during our stay at Anca Poterașu gallery, we decided not only to do an artist talk and show my previous video works, but also to do an exhibition. That exhibition, which we have called Memory Practices, is the result of the artistic residency she had within the AFAR project. Her works were exhibited between March and April, presenting films, videos and photographs of the artist that have been made before, but also photographs that have already been made in Romania.
„In addition, Anсa arranged a meeting for me with director Alecu Solomon, who works with local archive centers. This meeting helped me form the idea of a new film, part of which I would like to shoot in Romania and use Romanian archives. I also met the documentary filmmaker Vlad Petra, who works in a similar style to mine. At one of the exhibitions, I met Dana Bunescu, an editing director and documentary filmmaker, whose work with Radu Jude really impressed me. It was a very rich and useful residency that has already influenced my artistic life.”
The AFAR Network project is co-funded by the European Union: ”Views and opionions expressed are however those of the autohor(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsable for them.”