Paparać kvietka

Solo exhibition

Curated by ESTO Association

Paparać Kvietka is the name of a non-existing fern flower from Belarusian folklore, that embodies the essence of sudden miracles and mystical wisdom. According to Belarusian mythology, Paparać Kvietka blooms fleetingly on the eve of the summer solstice (Kupala night) emitting a powerful glow. For one to obtain its mystical powers, one “has to wander alone in the forest during that night. It is necessary to injure the palm, squeeze the flower in that palm and head home. The evil force will shout, roar, frighten, but there is no need to look back. Having received a fern-flower, a person will acquire the ability to see what is invisible to others, and will become wise.”

Katia She (legovich) Her, through the story of paparać kvietka, reflects on her homeland as a distant memory that after years of immigration comes to her mind elusively as a place of ancestral wisdom and mystical connotations. Having to face Belarusian authoritarian reality, Katia reimagines Belarus as a metaphorical wet forest where ancestral wisdom, feminine witch energy, memories and irregularities are intertwined. It is an ethereal woodland adorned with fern blossoms and a tumultuous lake at the heart of the forest which keeps everything alive, embodying the spirit of a resilient people.