Welcome

Year Created: 2025 Media: Performance, bread, ceramic mold, salt, traditional embroidered towel In Ukraine, there is a tradition to greet guests with bread and salt as a way to show richness and generosity. This act of welcoming became nearly impossible between 1932 and 1933 when Stalin’s regime engineered an artificial famine - Holodomor that killed millions of Ukrainians. In the worst cases, cannibalism was recorded within some of the starving communities, including the town where I was born. The current war waged by Russia draws a parallel with Russian troops targeting grain storage facilities and wheat fields as a way to trigger economic losses and generational food-related trauma. My goal was to bring this gesture of generosity to an American audience while disclosing some of the issues that the Ukrainian nation has faced and is facing now. During the performance, the audience was welcomed and invited to treat themselves to a piece of bread and salt from the bread mold. The performance continued until the audience grabbed the last piece of bread, which revealed an inlay of the shape of the baby as if it had lain on the plate.