Abstract/Summary

Lada Nakonechna was in residence in June and July to respond to one of Reading’s most renowned historical sites, the Reading Abbey Ruins. Reading Abbey was one of Europe’s largest royal monasteries. As ‘global’ centres or hubs of their time, the medieval abbeys acted like contemporary international corporations and were closely connected through a European network. The Abbey was first destroyed after the monastery was purged following Henry VIII’s dissolution, when the buildings of the Abbey were extensively robbed and most parts removed were sold or used elsewhere. In the 17th century civil war raged in Reading town, during which the Abbey was destroyed. The remaining ruins could be seen as monuments to both internationalism and secularisation. Lada Nakonechna’s work explores the social and historical space of post-Soviet countries as a mirror of European processes, dealing with questions of personal responsibility and civic patriotism, examining the interaction of the individual and the common, and exploring the role of the artist and art institution in response to the situation in contemporary Ukraine, which is involved in a state of war since the 2014 uprising. In her work for Reading International Lada Nakonechna will be focussing on the contradictory yet inherently connected notions of creativity and violence. She will produce a new online publication as a communal activity and fragile instrument for social change which will include contributions from the public and other artists, thereby connecting historical and contemporary reference points as well as new symbolic possibilities for the way we interpret cultural monuments. The project involved an exhibtion and two workshops.