You will never understand

2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Annual performance series

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Since 2020, this performance has been held on the last Sunday of August – Donetsk’s anniversary, which corresponds with Miner's Day In Ukraine. After ten years of the city’s occupation by the Russian Federation, the performance serves as an act of commemoration, where personal experiences and memories become a means of preserving cultural and social identity.

The title "You Will Never Understand" is a purposeful provocation that at first divides the audience into those who share similar experiences and those who do not, only leading to a deeper understanding later: one does not need to fully experience or comprehend another’s trauma to show respect for it and support politically.

 

In 2024, marking ten years of occupation, the performance was expanded into a guided tour through Tempelhofer field - a location that has nothing to do with Donetsk, but naturally resembles the landscape of the eastern Ukrainian step. Along with the audience, Anton moves between locations connecting them to memories of their hometown, and inviting the viewers into a conversation about past events and socio-political processes behind them. Through these locations and interactions, the performance explores the theme of memory: how it functions, how remembering and forgetting are intertwined, and how we can preserve what is important despite the circumstances.