The exhibition «May I See Your Documents...» is the first project by young curators Petro Chekal and Yurii Rassokha at the YermilovCentre of Karazin University. The curators suggest looking at documents not only as a bureaucratic formality, but also as an instrument of memory, a gesture of self-affirmation, a means of control, and an attempt to leave a mark in time.

We live in a world where documents accompany people from birth to death. They record, certify, confirm — but at the same time define the limits of our presence, creating a space in which it is possible to be ‘noticed.’

The exhibition invites us to think about documentation as a ritual of modernity that performs an almost sacred function — similar to religious or magical practices. Documents are not only instruments of power, but also mirrors of culture, reflecting the mythologies, social structures, archetypes, and fears of the modern world.

Participants: Alina Prokopenko (Apris), Andriy Skrypka, Anna Gareeva, Anton Karyuk, Vira Pakosh, Volodymyr Kuznetsov, Hanna Franyk, Dara Sholokh, Eva Fomitska, Kinich Azla (Veronika Lipatova), Kostyantyn Hlyvlas, Maria Matyashova, Maria Prokopenko, Natalia Okhman, Oleg Tistol, Oleksiy Sai, Pavlo Makov, Roman Pyatkovka, Serhiy Melnychenko, Señora Serpiente.

The exhibition was made possible thanks to a grant from the President of Ukraine for young artists and financial support from the Grynyov Art Collection. 

Curators: Petro Chekal, Yurii Rassokha 

Project manager: Hanna Franyk

Project coordination from the YermilovCentre: Natalia Ivanova, Sofia Gurilova

Organisers: NGO ‘Symbol’, YermilovCentre and V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Design: Oleksiy Chekal

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)