Danila Tkachenko

Oasis (Commissioned by Qatar Museums: Qatar-Russia ’18 Culture Photographic Exchange). Premiered in Photo London 2019 by ALMANAQUE fotográfica. Middle East has an ancient human history… Qatar was populated in the 3rd millennium B.C. Since then, despite the desert environment, its population has farmed, harvested, fished and built. Like other areas of the world, over the past 30 years Qatar has enjoyed some of the fastest economic development rates from the entire history. New billionaires flourish in the sand dunes. The appearance of Middle East cities was been transformed rapidly, yet the rest is exactly the same as thousands of years ago. Infrastructure improved as did education with new modern roads and vast crystal skyscrapers with imposible architecture standing on the horizon as a mirage. Expensive cars, top services and state-of-the-art technologies. It seems that the new capitalist heaven does not imply physical labour for the Qataris, since workers were invited from abroad to perform physical labour. Qatari drink from their past traditions to create a new identity in a new era yet to be described. In the seek of a new promised land, what is now the promised land?

Oasis (Commissioned by Qatar Museums: Qatar-Russia ’18 Culture Photographic Exchange). Premiered in Photo London 2019 by ALMANAQUE fotográfica. Middle East has an ancient human history… Qatar was populated in the 3rd millennium B.C. Since then, despite the desert environment, its population has farmed, harvested, fished and built. Like other areas of the world, over the past 30 years Qatar has enjoyed some of the fastest economic development rates from the entire history. New billionaires flourish in the sand dunes. The appearance of Middle East cities was been transformed rapidly, yet the rest is exactly the same as thousands of years ago. Infrastructure improved as did education with new modern roads and vast crystal skyscrapers with imposible architecture standing on the horizon as a mirage. Expensive cars, top services and state-of-the-art technologies. It seems that the new capitalist heaven does not imply physical labour for the Qataris, since workers were invited from abroad to perform physical labour. Qatari drink from their past traditions to create a new identity in a new era yet to be described. In the seek of a new promised land, what is now the promised land?

Oasis (Commissioned by Qatar Museums: Qatar-Russia ’18 Culture Photographic Exchange). Premiered in Photo London 2019 by ALMANAQUE fotográfica. Middle East has an ancient human history… Qatar was populated in the 3rd millennium B.C. Since then, despite the desert environment, its population has farmed, harvested, fished and built. Like other areas of the world, over the past 30 years Qatar has enjoyed some of the fastest economic development rates from the entire history. New billionaires flourish in the sand dunes. The appearance of Middle East cities was been transformed rapidly, yet the rest is exactly the same as thousands of years ago. Infrastructure improved as did education with new modern roads and vast crystal skyscrapers with imposible architecture standing on the horizon as a mirage. Expensive cars, top services and state-of-the-art technologies. It seems that the new capitalist heaven does not imply physical labour for the Qataris, since workers were invited from abroad to perform physical labour. Qatari drink from their past traditions to create a new identity in a new era yet to be described. In the seek of a new promised land, what is now the promised land?

Oasis (Commissioned by Qatar Museums: Qatar-Russia ’18 Culture Photographic Exchange). Premiered in Photo London 2019 by ALMANAQUE fotográfica. Middle East has an ancient human history… Qatar was populated in the 3rd millennium B.C. Since then, despite the desert environment, its population has farmed, harvested, fished and built. Like other areas of the world, over the past 30 years Qatar has enjoyed some of the fastest economic development rates from the entire history. New billionaires flourish in the sand dunes. The appearance of Middle East cities was been transformed rapidly, yet the rest is exactly the same as thousands of years ago. Infrastructure improved as did education with new modern roads and vast crystal skyscrapers with imposible architecture standing on the horizon as a mirage. Expensive cars, top services and state-of-the-art technologies. It seems that the new capitalist heaven does not imply physical labour for the Qataris, since workers were invited from abroad to perform physical labour. Qatari drink from their past traditions to create a new identity in a new era yet to be described. In the seek of a new promised land, what is now the promised land?

Oasis (Commissioned by Qatar Museums: Qatar-Russia ’18 Culture Photographic Exchange). Premiered in Photo London 2019 by ALMANAQUE fotográfica. Middle East has an ancient human history… Qatar was populated in the 3rd millennium B.C. Since then, despite the desert environment, its population has farmed, harvested, fished and built. Like other areas of the world, over the past 30 years Qatar has enjoyed some of the fastest economic development rates from the entire history. New billionaires flourish in the sand dunes. The appearance of Middle East cities was been transformed rapidly, yet the rest is exactly the same as thousands of years ago. Infrastructure improved as did education with new modern roads and vast crystal skyscrapers with imposible architecture standing on the horizon as a mirage. Expensive cars, top services and state-of-the-art technologies. It seems that the new capitalist heaven does not imply physical labour for the Qataris, since workers were invited from abroad to perform physical labour. Qatari drink from their past traditions to create a new identity in a new era yet to be described. In the seek of a new promised land, what is now the promised land?

Oasis (Commissioned by Qatar Museums: Qatar-Russia ’18 Culture Photographic Exchange). Premiered in Photo London 2019 by ALMANAQUE fotográfica. Middle East has an ancient human history… Qatar was populated in the 3rd millennium B.C. Since then, despite the desert environment, its population has farmed, harvested, fished and built. Like other areas of the world, over the past 30 years Qatar has enjoyed some of the fastest economic development rates from the entire history. New billionaires flourish in the sand dunes. The appearance of Middle East cities was been transformed rapidly, yet the rest is exactly the same as thousands of years ago. Infrastructure improved as did education with new modern roads and vast crystal skyscrapers with imposible architecture standing on the horizon as a mirage. Expensive cars, top services and state-of-the-art technologies. It seems that the new capitalist heaven does not imply physical labour for the Qataris, since workers were invited from abroad to perform physical labour. Qatari drink from their past traditions to create a new identity in a new era yet to be described. In the seek of a new promised land, what is now the promised land?

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

(size plus photo frame) Since 1917 Russia’s rural population has contracted by more than 80%. The collectivisation of 1928-1937 was the first stage in the destruction of Russian villages. It was implemented to eradicate the historically established social order, and also to forcibly seize property and food from the peasant class for the state. Between 7 million and 8 million people died as a result of hunger and political repression, while over 2 million peasants were sent to the Gulag. By 1979 the number of villages had contracted by 60.2% (to 177,100). As a consequence of the centralisation and resettlement of the population, the logistics of harvests were disrupted, resulting in enormous losses in the agricultural sector, followed by rapid growth in food imports and an increase in social and political tension in the USSR. In modern Russia the trend of a contraction in the number of rural villages has continued. Over the past 20 years 23,000 villages have disappeared from the map of Russia, while small farmers are unable to compete with major corporations. According to the forecasts of some demographers, 96% of rural dwellers will live in cities by 2025. In other words, the rural population will disappear almost entirely. The project was filmed in territories located far from population centres and woodland. All manner of precautions were taken to prevent the spread of fire. The debris from constructed decorations were dismantled and taken away, while the used decrepit nonfunctional and destroyed structures were doomed to complete the process of physical disappearance within several years.

The project Monuments (2017) researches the boundaries of historical memory, the area between fact and fiction. As in the case of political regimes in general, every single one of us is individually inclined to exploit images of the past to meet our current needs or future goals. We come up with new interpretations and build additional structures to manipulate images of past history. I erect on abandoned historical sites lightweight structures in abstract modernist shapes, transforming a historical ruin into a contemporary site and thereby imitating the position on history assumed by the powers that be. During the filming not a single site suffered. At the end of the work, all the decorations were dismantled.

The project Monuments (2017) researches the boundaries of historical memory, the area between fact and fiction. As in the case of political regimes in general, every single one of us is individually inclined to exploit images of the past to meet our current needs or future goals. We come up with new interpretations and build additional structures to manipulate images of past history. I erect on abandoned historical sites lightweight structures in abstract modernist shapes, transforming a historical ruin into a contemporary site and thereby imitating the position on history assumed by the powers that be. During the filming not a single site suffered. At the end of the work, all the decorations were dismantled.