This piece was made during the artist’s two months residency at FUTURA in Prague, Czech Republic.
The video presents a desperate search for a physical confirmation of a personal fleeting memory within the context of global history. It starts as a documentary then it abruptly turns into a staged reality TV.
The artist was born in Uzbekistan in the 80’s when it was still part of the falling Soviet Union. In 1987 her older sister, Victoria, participated in a program of correspondence between Soviet children and children from the “non-hostile” western countries (as Czechoslovakia, Poland and other countries that were under Soviet occupation). She corresponded with a girl from Prague for about one year. The video examines the relationship between the children who unwillingly were representing their countries.
During the residency in Prague, the artist posted an announcement in the local newspaper, in search for the woman who was corresponding with her sister. Few people who had similar experiences of correspondence replied, but none of them was the one who wrote to Victoria. The artist interviewed four women about their experience of correspondence. Each woman tells her personal story, adding a scripted part about being the one who corresponded with Victoria.
