"CUTOUT - Ukrainian Contemporary Collage Festival

second edition"

Special Invited International Artist

Curators: Annete Sagal, Katya Syta, and Olha Syta,

Kyiv, Ukraine

SECOND EDITION PRESENTATION

«FREEDOM INDEX / DUALISM OF FREEDOM»

The theme of our second festival was created a few months before the start of a full-scale invasion into Ukraine. Even then, it was keenly felt by the Ukrainian people, because we always fought for freedom and defended ourselves from the «neighbor». Today, the topic has acquired tremendous importance, the question of Life or

CONCEPT: FREEDOM INDEX / DUALISM OF FREEDOM

Since 2015, a number of libertarian NGOs – the Cato Institute, the Canadian Fraser Institute and the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation – have conducted global research on social, political and economic processes and annually compiled a ranking of countries in the world by the Human Freedom Index. This index is calculated on the basis of assessing a wide range of indicators that represent the level of human freedom in the main spheres of life – they are grouped by the following 12 positions:

Rule of Law;

security and protection;

freedom of movement;

freedom of religion;

freedom of association and civil society;

freedom of expression and access to information;

freedom of choice of identity and personal relationships;

the size of the government;

quality of functioning of the legal system and protection of property rights;

access to a stable currency;

freedom of international trade;

regulation of business, labor and credit.

In 2020, Ukraine ranked 110th in this ranking with an index of 6.45, only one step ahead of India – a country that according to the international human rights group Walk Free is the absolute (anti) leader in the number of people living in modern slavery. 7,989,000 people as of 2018), which includes, in particular, bondage and forced labor, the use of child labor, forced marriages and more.

All the facts and figures show that the official abolition of slavery, which took place in Ukraine, for example, in 1861, was not worthy of eradicating slavery as a phenomenon. This realization, in turn, once again raises the question of the nature of slavery and the essence of the concept of «freedom». Are we able to «break free» at all? On the one hand, it can be noted that man is not ontologically free. The philosopher Lucius Anne Seneca (IV century BC), looking for alternatives to slavery, came to the conclusion: we are all slaves - fortunes, vices and our own fears. And at the heart of the theory of social contract, which took shape in the Enlightenment, is the belief that the desire of man to give part of his freedoms in exchange for a guarantee of protection of certain rights is a «natural state» of things.

However, we must not forget the other side: the responsibility for the feeling of lack of freedom is entirely on the individual and the «ontological basis» can play in favor of the mechanism of enslavement. Assuming that this feeling is the result of personal psychological problems, «unresolved traumas» or something, the power discourse diverts attention from the sociopolitical realities established and regulated by the state system. And by declaring total liberation and enshrining it in law, it creates a simulacrum of freedom, in the conditions of which it may seem inexpedient to fight against the still objectively existing enslavement. So to what extent is the feeling of lack of freedom «organic» to human nature, and to what extent - depends on external factors? Today we want to explore this issue by means of art, showing the feeling of freedom of representatives of the 110th place (Ukraine) in the ranking of the 2020 Freedom Index. In the 2021 rankings, Ukraine rose to 98th place.

Neighboring aggressor meanwhile falls in the ranking from 115th place (2020) to 126th place (2021). What are the indicators now? How did the war in Ukraine affect our existence and sense of freedom in the middle of the country and in comparison with others? How do you feel freedom, wherever you are?

The dualism of existence, in particular the dualism of freedom and slavery in the modern world, which we, artists, feel especially acutely today, pushes us to a new search for the root causes. And collage, which we see as one of the most progressive and «unlimited» areas of art, we take in our research as the main tool.

SIMAO MATOS (Spain) «FREEDOM ON ITS WAY» (from "All About the Sky" series)

This artwork, "Freedom on its Way," is the third piece in the "All About the Sky" series. It is an analogue DIN A3 collage, measuring 29.7 cm x 42 cm and was created on thick grey cardboard on May 2023. The CutOut.Festival team inspired this series, which aims to encourage the artistic community worldwide to consider the importance of freedom. It reminds us that we must not take freedom for granted and must appreciate the little things in our lives. This artwork encourages us to reflect on how difficult it can be to achieve what we consider to be fundamental rights. People who are familiar with the artist’s work will understand that this is just one perspective. Your own perspective is equally significant.