ANNA KULIKOWSKA OLEKSANDR Poland, 2013, 5 min 46 sec
All we know about Oleksandr is that he lives in the Ukraine. He wanted to take part in the same Remapping Europe workshop as the maker, but he couldn’t because of visa problems. This video attempts to portray Oleksandr, although none of the people talking about him have ever met him. It is also a story of absence.
“I am from Białystok, from the Polish-Belarusian borderland.” My remix is about Oleksandr, a Ukrainian participant of the Remapping Europe project who could not attend (the workshop) because he didn’t receive his visa on time, due to prolonged formalities. It proves that regular Ukrainian citizens who want to take part in interesting international projects face tremendous obstacles. It seems that the slogans of integration, open borders and free mobility are only meant for some. I learned how to operate audio-visual equipment and editing software in the workshop. More importantly, it opened my eyes even wider to the dilemmas of refugees, foreigners and migrants.” Anna Kulikowska Cultural anthropologist, conducted field research in Ukraine. Wrote her master’s thesis about labour-related migration of Ukrainians to the West. Participated in the project “Multicultural memory and durability of traces, Chernivtsi, Ukraine”. Interested in the topic of borderlands and crossing borders.
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