New Visions in Conversation

The program’s aim is to support Ukrainian artists and strengthen awareness and knowledge about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as seen through artists' perspectives. The conversations’ topics are pertinent: energy terrorism, cyber war, and activist film.

On September 24, media scholar Svitlana Matviyenko and artist Anna Engelhardt will discuss Russian colonialism and post-Soviet infrastructure in both digital and physical spaces. Engelhardt will focus on her ongoing work on the strategic use of power grids and other electromagnetic infrastructure in Russian warfare, while Matviyenko will discuss what she has termed energy-targeted terrorism in light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Energy supply and resources, and losing access to them, are also recurring themes in the triennial.

Anna Engelhardt (RU) is a media artist and researcher based in London. Engelhardt's work directs a (de)colonial gaze towards post-Soviet infrastructures in digital and physical spaces. She has distinguished herself as a regime-critical Russian artist. Her work spans a variety of media, including video, software, and performance. Engelhardt holds a master's degree in Forensic Architecture from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she is currently working on her PhD. She has presented her work at the Architecture Biennale in Venice, Ars Electronica, the 67th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, and the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Svitlana Matviyenko (UA) is Associate Professor in critical media analysis at the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University in Canada and has been situated in Ukraine since the invasion. Matviyenko researches cyberwarfare, disinformation, the relationship between media and the environment, and post-Soviet infrastructure and technology policy. Among her most recent publications is the book Cyberwar and Revolution: Digital Subterfuge in Global Capitalism (Minnesota UP, 2019).

Curator Reem Shadid shall moderate the conversation.

The program forms part of Henie Onstad's second edition of New Visions - The Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media. The triennial was presented for the first time in 2020 with the aim of presenting artists who work experimentally with camera-based art. The new edition of the Henie Onstad Triennial opens in April 2023 and focuses on artists from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

For this edition of the triennial, Henie Onstad is collaborating with two international curators, Latvian curator Inga Lāce, co-curator of the Kyiv Biennale in 2021, and Palestinian curator Reem Shadid. In partnership with Henie Onstad, Lāce and Shadid will lead the conversation program, along with the Ukrainian artist Lesia Vasylchenko, who is based in Oslo.

The program has been developed by Henie Onstad in collaboration with Black Box Theater and Podium and is supported by The Fritt Ord Foundation.