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Project idea „Echoes of these days‟, an interactive installation by InterAKT with palm trees by Sofia Sadzhakov, audio stories Ksenia Fuks with musical accompaniment Alexander Chorny and photographs by five Ukrainian photographers Serhii Korovainyi, Iva Sidach, Oksana Parafeniuk, Alina Smutko and Maryna Brodovska, was born in August 2022 after the shock of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After many hours of private phone calls and searching for accommodation for the refugees arriving in Stuttgart, we needed to find an artistic form to reflect the fate of these people. However, we didn't want to tell the horrors of war and destruction, which were still widely reported in the media. We wanted to show what remained unspoken and unheard - the subconscious emotional state and the question of perspective. And what better way to do this than to look at Stuttgart's own history? That is why we went to the archives in search of a context for our work.
The history of the University Park in Stuttgart is quite fascinating. Before the Second World War, this park was a gathering place for the local beau monde. People used to stroll around, show off their best outfits and get to know each other. There was a restaurant for several hundred people along the street, and a music pavilion opposite it, where various concerts were held every evening during the season. Between these buildings stood a kiosk with exotic palm trees that attracted people from all over Stuttgart, even if they had to pay to enter. But the war changed everything. A military hospital was opened in the church near the park (Garnisonskirche), and the park, located near the The Bosch ammunition plant was targeted by the bombing. The green space, the heart of the city, was almost completely destroyed. Only one kiosk survived.
However, instead of restoring this symbol of resilience, the city council decided to demolish it. This is how we often treat our memory: we destroy its relics without realising what we are losing. When working on our installation, we decided to take palm trees as a symbol of this place - once pulsating with life, but now just a forgotten area for students and residents of the surrounding areas - and connect them to the fates of newly arrived Ukrainians.
To preserve these artefacts in our subconscious, we have created a series of short stories - audiobooks that tell five personal stories based, unfortunately, on real events.
Conservation
A kiosk in a Donetsk market tells the story of the first days of the 2014 conflict, preserving memories like artefacts of lost normality and lost lives.
Non-restoration
A German-Ukrainian interpreter in Stuttgart shares her experience of meeting the first refugees to arrive in Germany in 2022. Her memories reflect the challenges and hopes of these people, showing the emotional connections and tensions between cultures.
Revenge
The red forest in the Chornobyl zone tells its story of destruction and survival during the Russian occupation, leaving evidence of the scars the war left on nature.
Dissonance
An unborn child from Ukraine speaks of a future full of uncertainty, hope and fear, symbolising the fate of many lives decided by war before they are born.
Adaptation
A German-Ukrainian teacher in Stuttgart describes how Ukrainian teenagers, after six months of refugee, are trying to find their place in a foreign country while overcoming the deep emotional wounds left by the war.
The project is supported by the capital city of Stuttgart, the Wüstenroth Foundation, the LBBW Foundation and the Thieme Publishing House.