Zhanna Kadyrova. “Palyanytsya.” 2022–present. Found river stones, table, tablecloth
Job Description
After evacuating from Kyiv at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Zhanna Kadyrova and her partner and co-author Denys Ruban found themselves in the village of Berezovo in Zakarpattia. Settling in a house by the river, they began collecting stones shaped by the flow of mountain rivers. These natural forms organically mimic the outlines of traditional Ukrainian bread — palyanytsia. The duo purchased a corner grinder and cut the stones as if into slices, presenting the objects on a table covered with a towel. These works were created to support volunteer organizations and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to which all proceeds from sales were donated. The artist has already raised over half a million euros for the defenders. Similar to the “Market” series, the artist sets the price of the work by its weight: the number of grams of palyanytsia corresponds to the value in euros.
The association with palyanytsia arose instantly, as this name served as a password, a vernacular code for moving around the country in the first days of the full-scale invasion. Since Russians and Belarusians, due to phonetic differences, cannot pronounce this word correctly, it quickly became a method to identify the enemy.
