Dana Kavelina: It Can’t Be That Nothing That Can Be Returned

Dana Kavelina: It Can’t Be That Nothing That Can Be Returned

Dana Kavelina, It Can’t Be That Nothing That Can Be Returned (still), 2022.

Dana Kavelina: It Can’t Be That Nothing That Can Be Returned

Admission:
General $10
Student $7

Date
March 13, 2025, 7pm
e-flux
172 Classon Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11205
USA

Join us at e-flux Screening Room on Thursday, March 13 at 7pm for a screening of It Can’t Be That Nothing That Can Be Returned (2022), a film by Dana Kavelina, accompanied by video remarks from the artist.

In a speculative world, the citizens of the utopian future work to understand the origins of past violence by constructing an advanced computational model of history. As an act of radical historical justice, they decide to resurrect all those who perished in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Yet, the process reveals that restoration alone is not enough—true healing requires a collective confronting of trauma. In response, society embarks on an extended process of shared grief, gathering and disseminating personal memories of war and loss. Through a combination of animation, archival imagery, and speculative narration, Kavelina interrogates the limits of historical repair and the ways in which grief itself becomes a communal form of resistance.

Dana Kavelina, It Can’t Be That Nothing That Can Be Returned (2022, 52 minutes)
In this digitally rendered speculative future, the dead from the war on Ukraine are given the choice to live again—to reckon with past trauma. Painful memories can be removed and archived to a living monument, revisited with an emotional distance; full memory immersion for perpetrators ensures they never forget.

For more information, please contact program [​at​] e-flux.com.

Accessibility            
–Two flights of stairs lead up to the building’s front entrance at 172 Classon Avenue.
–For elevator access, please RSVP to program [​at​] e-flux.com. The building has a freight elevator which leads into the e-flux office space. Entrance to the elevator is nearest to 180 Classon Ave (a garage door). We have a ramp for the steps within the space.         
–e-flux has an ADA-compliant bathroom. There are no steps between the event space and this bathroom

Category
Film, War & Conflict
Subject
Experimental Film, Science Fiction, Trauma, Ukraine, Russia, Speculative Realism, Violence, History

Dana Kavelina (b. 1995) works primarily with animation and video, but also installation, painting and graphics. She graduated from the Department of Graphics at the National Technical University of Ukraine. Her works often address military violence and war with regard to the position of a victim as a political subject—as well as the distance between historical and individual trauma, memory and misrepresentation. Her 2020 film Letter to a Turtledove was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art in New York and featured in the exhibition Signals: How Video Transformed the World. Her works were featured in The Kyiv Perennial in Vienna, 60th Venice Biennale, MHKA Antwerp, among other institutions. She is the Main Prize winner of the 7th edition of the PinchukArtCentre Prize, shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize 2024.

Map
RSVP
RSVP for Dana Kavelina: It Can’t Be That Nothing That Can Be…

Thank you for your RSVP.

will be in touch.

Subscribe

e-flux announcements are emailed press releases for art exhibitions from all over the world.

Agenda delivers news from galleries, art spaces, and publications, while Criticism publishes reviews of exhibitions and books.

Architecture announcements cover current architecture and design projects, symposia, exhibitions, and publications from all over the world.

Film announcements are newsletters about screenings, film festivals, and exhibitions of moving image.

Education announces academic employment opportunities, calls for applications, symposia, publications, exhibitions, and educational programs.

Sign up to receive information about events organized by e-flux at e-flux Screening Room, Bar Laika, or elsewhere.

I have read e-flux’s privacy policy and agree that e-flux may send me announcements to the email address entered above and that my data will be processed for this purpose in accordance with e-flux’s privacy policy*

Thank you for your interest in e-flux. Check your inbox to confirm your subscription.