SOSкa Group. I Have a Dream / I Don’t Know. 2009. Two-channel video installation, 4′45″

Work Description

For this work, the SOSka group interviewed teenagers in Ukraine and Austria, fragments of conversations with whom were later juxtaposed in a two-channel video. While Ukrainian teenagers talked about their dreams, Austrian schoolboys and schoolgirls answered questions about what they know about Ukraine. As could be expected at the beginning of the 2000s, foreign respondents knew almost nothing about Ukraine: most mentioned its location next to Russia, the poverty of the population, and the aspiration to join the European Union. In contrast, Ukrainians dreamed of moving abroad — to Europe or America, compared international politicians with Ukrainian ones who did not fulfill their promises to society (referring to Kuchma and Yushchenko), and were convinced of the further development of Ukraine’s ties with Russia.

The video work captured the geopolitical context of the time when escapist moods and hopelessness about the country’s future development prevailed in Ukrainian society. Such moods of schoolchildren continue the messages of the heroes from the previous work Dreamers (the same teenagers participate in both videos), as do the project titles themselves echo each other.

The work was created during the group’s residency within the Austrian KulturKontakt program.