Reflecting on Ukraine vs Russia through Mykola Ridnyi’s Mazepa's Ride exhibition

Mykola Ridnyi’s Mazepa's Ride exhibition at John Handsard Gallery is split into three rooms of lyrical rap battle, surreal BDSM musical fantasy and multi-channel social ritual investigation. The exhibition works as a collaborative effort to explore the life of Mazepa, a historic figure who has become a pop culture icon.

Mazepa was apparently punished for having an affair with a Court’s wife and was punished by being tied naked on a horse and set of in the wild. He survived to retell the tale, and yet the tale became more and more distorted over centuries by many artists, writers, poets and composers.

Set on the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, artist Mykola Ridnyi narrates the struggles of Ukraine through three different settings.

The Battle Over Mazepa reimagines the historic literary clash between English poet Lord Byron (1788-1824) and Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) as a modern rap battle. While Byron sees Mazepa as a romantic hero, Pushkin sees him as a traitor realigning themselves with the colonial attitude of the Russian Empire.

The Mazepa’s Ride is presented as a fetish room with a leather horse and gear, featuring cinematic staged scenes with queer indie pop band Lyudska Podaba’s music and a non-binary BDSM performer. The intensity of the room and scene gives a strong presence as the centre piece of the exhibition.

The trilogy concludes with a multi-channel video installation, Poltava, which investigates the enduring significance of the 1709 Battle of Poltava in shaping the identities of Ukraine, Russia, and Sweden. The piece aims to collectively reflect on the social rituals that have developed around the anniversary dates of the battle. For Ukraine and Sweden, it is to commemorate their victims, while Russia celebrates its victory.

To understand the background of the exhibition, we recommend looking into the matter through books of historical analyses, fiction depiction and cultural discussion:

NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance by Sten Rynning

The devastation of Ukraine: NATO, Russia and imperialism by Joseph Choonara

Moscow X: A Novel by David McCloskey

Putin v. the People: The Perilous Politics of a Divided Russia by Samuel A. Greene, Graeme B. Robertson

Mykola Ridnyi’s Mazepa's Ride exhibition at John Handsard Gallery ends on the 6th of September.