A synesthetic installation that transforms wartime testimonies into an opera of sound, color, and light.
Multidisciplinary artist Alevtina Kakhidze lives and works in Muzychi, Ukraine, where she has witnessed the country’s chaotic changes, from the dissolution of the USSR to the ongoing war. Despite the full-scale invasion in 2022, Kakhidze remained, now dedicating her practice to conveying the everyday impact of the war to those who live in peace.
Coloropera is an audio, video, and light installation born from the need to give voice and physical form to Ukrainian experiences of the conflict. To create it, Kakhidze conducted 60 conversations with military veterans, civilians under occupation, children who fled the country, and artists, asking them all the same question: How do you perceive sound in relation to your wartime experiences, and what color associations do you link to them?
The emotional and perceptual responses became the basis for a complex work, divided into four acts, exploring crucial aspects of life during wartime: the possible future, the civilian experience, the military perspective, and the imaginable victory.
Like a conductor, Kakhidze led a team of composers, lighting designers, video artists, and scientists to construct the narrative: recorded sounds (which include direct testimonies and recordings from the battlefields) merge with the music.; the witnesses’ color associations are translated into a light and video design that floods the physical space.
The artist also wrote a libretto, a key text that guides the visitor through the precise links between sounds and colors used. Through Coloropera, Kakhidze offers a voice to the many people in Ukraine, creating a physical space where sounds and colors can not only narrate trauma and loss (including that of artists like Maksym Kryvtsov, killed in war) but can also inspire, heal, and offer hope.
BIO
Alevtina Kakhidze is a multidisciplinary artist who trained at the National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture in Kyiv and the Jan van Eyck Academy in the Netherlands. Her practice encompasses performance, film, and time-based media, investigating complex issues such as consumerism, feminism, and life in conflict zones. She has been a finalist and winner of numerous international awards, including the Kazimir Malevich Artist Award and Honorary Mentions from Ars Electronica.
This project is part of RESILENCE: Future Soundscapes & Affect Mining in Urban Ecosystems, the exhibition showcasing the outcomes of fifteen international art residencies supported by S+T+ARTS (the European Commission’s initiative for science, technology, and the arts). Through the artistic exploration of sound, RESILENCE redefines urban spaces, using the acoustic dimension to analyze the complex affective and ecological relations of future cities and promote collective awareness of what lies beyond mere noise. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with BASE, as part of the FAROUT Festival 2025 edition.