"At the centre of the pavilion will be Kadyrova's concrete sculpture Origami Deer. Originally installed in 2019 in a park in Pokrovsk, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the work was deinstalled and moved across the country as the Russian frontline approached in 2024. In Venice, Origami Deer is set to be suspended from a crane on a truck parked along the lagoon embankment, negotiations around which are ongoing."
"Its title Security Guarantees refers to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, signed by Ukraine, the UK, the US and Russia. "Thirty years ago Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal and signed documents that promised security," says Zhanna Kadyrova, the artist representing the country at the Biennale. "These guarantees were supposed to protect us. But they existed only on paper.""
""The suspended state of the sculpture symbolises the uncertainty familiar to Ukrainians today and is a kind of metaphor for forced displacement," a project statement says. " Origami Deer was forced to leave its pedestal and is now wandering the world.""
The Ukrainian pavilion titled Security Guarantees foregrounds the absence of effective international security guarantees for Ukraine, referencing the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. The centerpiece is Kadyrova's concrete Origami Deer, originally installed in 2019 in Pokrovsk and moved across Ukraine as the Russian frontline advanced in 2024. In Venice the sculpture will be suspended from a crane on a truck to represent uncertainty and forced displacement. The exhibition includes archival materials related to the Budapest Memorandum and a multi-channel video documenting Origami Deer's journey through Ukrainian cities and across Europe. The sculpture will tour several European capitals before Venice.
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