'Theory of Protection' – FCINY Office Transformed in Solidarity With Ukraine

Today – the 24th of March 2022 – brings with it a painful reminder as it marks exactly one month since Russia’s attack on Ukraine. As part of Ukrainian artist Darya Koltsova’s project entitled Theory of Protection, which encourages us to show our solidarity with Ukraine, our team has taped up the FCINY office windows in intricate patterns.

While the patterns may look beautiful to the unknowing eye, they’re here to remind us of the victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The background of Koltsova’s project dates back to 2014, and it was first exhibited as part of the State of Danger -exhibition in Warsaw in 2017. Upon Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, inhabitants in Ukrainian cities like Donetsk and Luhansk taped up their windows to protect themselves from glass shattering uncontrollably by way of shockwaves brought on by explosions. The project lives on to this day – both in actual Ukrainian homes shielding themselves from the Russian war machine – and in the windows of those who wish to show their support and hopes for Ukrainian sovereignty and peace in Europe.

Polish Curator Ewa Sułek of the Lescer Art Center writes of Koltsova’s installation in her text For Now, You Must Try Not To Die;

“When the shock wave from the explosion comes, the windows will vibrate. First, you will hear the impact, a millisecond later you will notice the vibrating movement of the floor and walls, it will pass through your feet and reach the top of your head, you will feel it in every hair on your body. The windows will vibrate. First the frames, then the long windowsills. (…) It will all take ten or twelve seconds. When the wave is gone, you will stroke the smooth surface of the tape with your hand. You will look out on the street; you will see who is dead.”

Koltsova’s artwork and Sułek’s writing remind us of the true human impact and civilian toll of war; how turning to mere painter’s tape as a means of protection reflects both human ingenuity and inventiveness in times of crisis – but, ultimately, of our fragility and minuteness in the face of massive-scale conflict. To raise awareness of this reality in the universal language of art is part of our duties as a Cultural Institute.

”The tapes arranged in beautiful patterns can save lives. But they also talk about a wound, a place that hurts, which is still whole but may turn to dust in a moment,” Sułek continues.

Read more about Koltsova’s installation project and Sułek’s text through the provided links, and follow further displays of solidarity and shared efforts in window taping through hashtags like #TheoryOfProtection, #DaryaKoltsova, and #StandWithUkraine online.