Pietà
solo-exhibition, AkademieGalerie, Munich, Germany, 2025
performance, 09:50’
sound: light sensitive sensor and electronic plate; sound composition 08:52’
costume: tiffany plate carrier (vest, tiffany glass plate 22x15,5 cm), metal rings, textile sleeves, shorts, reflective stripes
scenography: stained glass 150x75 cm, textile lines 80 m, reflective lines 35 m
light: 2 sound-sensitive stroboscopes
text: poem, written and composed from traditional Ukrainian mourning songs from Naddniprianshyna region
Pietà is a site-specific project by Tetiana Kornieieva, first realized at Akademiegalerie in Munich, located within the Universität metro
station. The work combines stained (lead) glass, light, sound, text, textile, and performance, forming an immersive environment that
operates as a site of testimony.
The installation consists of a monumental lead-stained glass structure, 80 m of black textile strips, reflective elements, and a wearable
vest-costume The Hum Op.02 — an object with a stained-glass insert, an electronic processor, and a light-sensitive sound system with
a sensor that responds to illumination and transmits vibrations into the glass during movement.
A carefully designed lighting system activates the glass surface, generating shifting reflections and layered shadows across the space.
Light design creates an optical illusion of movement within the lead parts of the stained glass, transforming the space into a continuously
changing environment.
During the performance, the artist appears between two projected shadows, building a bridge between presence and absence. These
layered figures articulate relationships between past and present, as well as individual and collective memory. Extending into the surrounding
architecture, the textile elements expand the work into a scenographic environment.
The performance includes a whispering voice track — a composite poetic text based on Ukrainian mourning songs (holosinnia) from
the Naddniprianschyna region, dating from the 19th to mid-20th century, sourced from the archives of the Institute of Art Studies,
Folklore, and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Integrated into the sound composition, it merges with light
and movement to construct a space where multiple temporalities and narratives intersect.
Through textile strips and fabric sleeves connected to the wall, the artist physically connects her body to the installation. In this process,
distinctions between space and body architecture gradually dissolve.
The project reinterprets the classical iconographic motif of the Pietà, shifting its focus toward contemporary experiences of vulnerability,
memory, and the presence/absence dichotomy.
Following the performance, the installation remains in the space as an autonomous work. The glass structures, fabric elements, and
traces of the performed actions continue to form a stage of evidence - a collection, which witnesses that preserves the relationship between
body, memory, and absence beyond the moment of live performance.
усім Матерям
Pietà
Куди ж ти йдеш, моя пташечко,
Та й не повертаєшся?
До кого ж ми тепер будемо
Правдоньку носити?
А туди ж і сонце не гріє,
І вітер не віє,
А туди ж і пісьом не шлють,
І відтіль не получають.
Скажи мені, моя дитино,
Коли тебе у гості виглядать?
Чи раннею весною,
Чи пізнею зимою?
Весною стежечки позаростають,
А зимою снігом позаміта.
Скажи мені, моя дитино,
Коли тебе у гості виглядать?
Прилинь, прилинь весняною порою,
Краплиною дощовою, зозулею садовою,
Буду тебе виглядати, у зозуленьки правдоньки питати,
Прилинь, прилинь, хоч пилинкою,
Хоч зійди у дворі травинкою.
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Та ти ж, сину, молодий та зелений,
Кого ж я буду бачити ці ночі?
Ой, лежиш ти в полі порубаний,
А тебе ж, в попелець вітер розносить.
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Відкіль вас виглядати,
Відкіль вас виглядати,
Доріжечки промітати.
Та із Заходу, чи Сходу,
А чи з Півночі, чи з Півдня,
До кого мені прихилятись?
І відкіль правді братись?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Та яку ж ти собі хатоньку знайшов,
Та смутну і невеселу,
Туди сонечко не загріє,
І вітерочок не завіє,
Там соловейко не щебече,
І зозулі не кують.
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Ой, Земле, Земле, Мати рідна,
Ти ж прийми його, як свою дитину,
Та покрий його м’якою травою,
Щоб йому було легко лежати.
Нащо ви нас покидаєте?
Текст створений на основі українських народних голосінь Наддніпрянщини за архівними матеріалами Інституту
мистецтвознавства, фольклористики та етнології НАН України.
to all Mothers
Pietà
Where are you going, my little bird,
And not returning?
Who will we now carry The truth to?
And there, the sun doesn't warm,
And the wind doesn't blow,
And there, they don’t send letters,
And from there, they don’t receive them.
Tell me, my child,
When will I wait for you to visit?
Will it be early spring,
Or late winter?
In spring, the paths will overgrow,
And in winter, the snow will cover them.
Tell me, my child,
When will I wait for you to visit?
Come, come in the springtime,
As a raindrop, as a garden cuckoo,
I will wait for you, ask the cuckoo the truth,
Come, come, even as a speck of dust,
Even if you appear as a blade of grass in the yard.
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
You, son, young and green,
Who will I see these nights?
Oh, you lie in the field, chopped down,
And the wind scatters you to ashes.
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
From where should I look for you,
From where should I look for you,
Sweeping the paths?
From the West, or the East,
Or from the North, or the South,
Whom should I lean to?
And from where should I take the truth?
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
What kind of little house have you found,
So sad and joyless,
Where the sun doesn’t shine,
And the wind doesn’t blow?
Where the nightingale doesn’t sing,
And the cuckoo doesn’t call.
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
Why do you leave us?
Oh Earth, Earth, my dear Mother,
Take him in as your child,
Cover him with soft grass,
So it will be easy for him to lie.
Why do you leave us?
The text is based on Ukrainian traditional mourning songs from the Naddniprianshchyna region, using archival materials from the Institute of Art Studies, Folklore, and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
curatorial support: Olena Balun
photo: Erika Vas
technical assistance: Julien Agot, Christi Arnautu, Sorina Arnautu
With sincere thanks to Michael Buhrs and the Museum Villa Stuck Munich.