MAY9
a documentary-performative photographic and film project that examines how historical memory is mobilized within contemporary political narratives. Developed in exile in Berlin, the work focuses on the symbolic and ideological afterlives of World War II within current Russian-Ukrainian geopolitical conflict.
Filmed on May 9, 2024 — the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II — the project takes place at Treptower Park in Berlin, a Soviet war memorial that functions today as a contested site of remembrance and political symbolism. Through a performative intervention in this charged public space, Maryna Semenkova reflects on how the myth of “fighting fascism” has been re-appropriated within contemporary propaganda narratives, where historical victory is used to legitimize present-day aggression.
The work combines three visual and experiential layers: the artist’s performative presence, documentary photography created during the research process, and aerial footage of the memorial landscape. The original sound environment — including fragments of conversations, natural ambience, and urban noise — situates the viewer within the living present of the site rather than within a closed historical narrative.
Rather than reconstructing history, MAY9 reveals how memory itself becomes a political instrument. The project opens a space for critical reflection on how unresolved pasts continue to shape collective identities, emotional landscapes, and public discourse in the present.
Full photo and video documentation available upon request.
MARYNA SEMENKOVA 