NATALIYA ILCHUK
EUROTÉLÉPORT
26.01 - 31.01.2026
Eurotéléport speaks of Ukrainian economic migration to Europe and brings together a series of films and videos produced by artist and filmmaker Nataliya Ilchuk (b. 1985, Lviv) over the last three years. These works focus on the themes of the contributory economy as opposed to the technological entropy of automation, particularly in the arts sector.
The exhibition explores the idea that migrant individuals, who, by virtue of their thanatological character, may in fact be the most alive and the most free, according to the theories of French philosopher Gilbert Simondon (1924-1989). Consequently, following the logic of freedom expressed through mobility, the question of collective identity disappears as soon as individual mobility begins.
After the collapse of the USSR, no Ukrainian collective identity emerged to replace the Soviet one. No conditions were created for a shared sense of belonging to a common cultural and historical heritage, and individual identity could only manifest itself for those who could feel freedom of self-fulfilment, freedom of expression and freedom of movement.
The main categories thus became underground artists and migrant workers, individuals who could only rely on themselves, who did not form trade unions, and who did not even maintain close contact with each other, unlike the early 20th century, when the diaspora of the first waves of migration left Ukraine in families, or the post-2022 migration of women with children fleeing the war. Ukrainian migration in the 1990s and 2000s was almost entirely solitary, and Eurotéléport reflects of this alienation and isolation passed down from one generation to the next.
A public programme of screenings and talks will accompany the exhibition, with more details to be announced soon.
This exhibition was conceived by Nataliya Ilchuk, with the support of École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris Cergy
