Mark Chehodaiev, Student der Klasse Ortsbezogene Kunst hat den The Young European Artist Trieste Contemporanea Award gewonnen!

Mark Chehodaiev, *1997 in Kiew, Studium an der National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture sowie zeitgenössische Kunst an der National Academy of Media Arts in Kiew. Seit 2021 lebt er in Wien und studiert an der Angewandten in der Abteilung Ortsbezogene Kunst. In seinen Arbeiten beschäftigt er sich vordergründig mit Raum und wie sich persönliche Geschichten in diesen einschreiben.

Mehr Information: https://www.triestecontemporanea.it/en/progetto/young-european-artist/


Welcome to Khandwala
2024

In Spring 2024, I first visited Trieste as part of my research for the upcoming exhibition. I was captivated by the very image and the complex history of Silos, a semi-ruined enormous architectural structure, former grain storage where refugees find temporary shelter. When I worked on the project, over a hundred people lived there without electricity or running water

In the Pashto language – an Iranian language spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan – “khandwala” means “broken house” or “ruined house”. This is a name given to Silos by its temporary inhabitants — migrants of the Balkan route. Starting from Asia and moving overland on a long and hostile trek between Greece, Albania, Croatia and Slovenia, they arrive in Trieste, a crossroads and starting point towards other European countries

Since the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus started in the mid-20th century, Silos used to be one of the places where ethnic Italian migrants settled for some time. Today, a shared history of migration connects Silos and Magazzino 18 — a warehouse on the territory of Trieste’s port. It was used to store furniture and other belongings that Istrian Italians were not allowed to take with them. Their possessions have a museum value today. But, most probably, there will be nothing left from today’s migrants except for Silos itself. Like old furniture left in Magazzino 18, it looks abandoned and keeps nothing more than memories

The project’s core is an old showcase containing fifty souvenir plates. These are alternative souvenirs from Trieste — or, instead, from Khandwala. Images printed on plates depict temporary constructions refugees build for themselves from nothing in Silos. These constructions are vulnerable and exposed to rain, winds and evil gazes. I intended to produce physical objects to preserve the site's memory but also to save images of these “contemporary ruins” for the future. A series of slides with analogue documentary photographs of the unpolished reality of Khandwala complement plates. Like gazing from the future, one can look at these souvenirs and see leftovers of human despair, traces of what used to accompany their presence

All the plates, along with tote bags and postcards designed by me, will be offered for donation in the form of food, clothes, medicines and other supplies at a charity event organized together with the Comunità di Sant’Egidio FVG, the association Linea d’Ombra and the organization No Name Kitchen Trieste this summer. All the goods will be donated to help people on the move, and support refugees in Trieste