ZERO LINE(2022)
A meditative durational performance that reflects on intertwined narratives of history, memory, and collective belonging on Europe’s shifting frontiers. Emerging from RED UTOPIA, ZERO LINE begins with a preparatory act — a month of knitting the Finnish and Ukrainian flags — recorded as video material that becomes part of the performance’s visual fabric.
The knitted flags, as material embodiments of national identity and shared histories, function as symbols of resilience, rootedness, and continuity.
In the performance, Maryna Semenkova watches this edited knitting footage accompanied by sound recordings from a Ukrainian woman who lost her son in the ongoing war, inviting the audience to share in a contemplative space of attentive witnessing.
at Nelimarkka Museum Villa Vainola
By placing an additional chair and pair of headphones for the viewer, the work becomes a participatory encounter, where reflection unfolds at each visitor’s own pace.
ZERO LINE creates a quiet, attentive field in which personal grief, collective histories, and interwoven memories resonate through process, presence, and material practice.
Location: Finland, Alajärvi, Nelimarkka-museo (Villa Väinölä).
Performance was repeated on October 29, 2023 in context of Quantum Critic exhibition in Myymala gallery, Helsinki and on September 21, 2024 at exhibition “Woman in Times of War”, organized by Ukrainian Association in Finland.
Curatorial text by Marcia Correia
Full photo and video documentation available upon request.
MARYNA SEMENKOVA 