Lucid Plexus / The Moving Narratives: A Long-Duration Travel-Based Art Project Exploring the Material Memory of War, Displacement, and Forced Labour in the Nordic-Baltic Region

Application summary

Lucid Plexus / The Moving Narratives is a four-year artistic project by the SASHAPASHA duo running from 2025 to 2029. The project involves a journey across art residencies in the Nordic-Baltic region, focusing on WWII history, its material memory and its manifestation in public space and the landscape. Specific focuses include migration routes of Ingrian Finns and Baltic refugees, forced labour in German prisoner-of-war camps, military fortifications and traces of bombings. Travel will be done by ecological means, such as cycling, hiking, and trains. The aim is to explore the memorial culture through site-specific projects and exhibitions in cities like Kirkenes, Oslo, Stockholm, Tallinn, and Helsinki, along with the publication of two artist books. The duo will conduct fieldwork and research in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, and Norway, collaborating with local institutions, curators, and historians. By examining WWII remnants, such as the militarised landscapes of Norway known as the Norwegian Atlantic Wall, refugee campsites of WWII in Sweden and Nazi concentration camps in Estonia, the project seeks to highlight these traces as memorials and delve into personal and collective memories of war and displacement. Pavel Rotts will use his "tangible understanding" method of interacting with war traces through a medium of rock climbing. At the same time, Sasha Rotts will incorporate textile work and embroidery to map migration routes and hidden narratives. The project emphasizes slow, sustainable travel, fostering new connections with remote areas and communities, bringing stories overlooked by mainstream history to life, and integrating ecological mindfulness into art-making and historical research. Interactive exhibitions, participatory performances, and workshops will further community engagement to enrich public understanding of hidden historical narratives and collective trauma through various events across the Nordic-Baltic region.