Shcherbenko Art Centre

INVISIBLE LABOUR

The video documentation of the Maria Proshkowska performance “Invisible Work”. Maria began working on it during the SoundID international residence in the Carpathian Mountains while summer 2019 and continued in Kyiv. After the residence, Maria started making the performance during which she was embroidering the traditional wedding rushnyk. Highlighting the invisibility zone of the woman’s daily work, Maria is making a rushnyk for months according to a strict embroidery scheme and reinforces this idea by the absence of threads.

The embroidered rushnyk that is the basis for constructing identity in Ukrainian culture has been considered as a female work for a long time. A woman is spending about four months working on it. In the artist’s performance, this meaningless process of embroidery without threads acquires protest connotations. On the contrary, invisible threads and patterns on the canvas make the daily routine of women’s work visible.

More info by the link.