DARIA GONCHAROVA | «Ritualizing Uncertainty»
26 Março 2025 16h00
DARIA GONCHAROVA | Ritualizing Uncertainty
Exhibition | 26>29 March 2025, 16:00-20:00
Artist Talk | 29 March 2025, at 18:00
Artist Talk | 29 March 2025, at 18:00
Zaratan is pleased to present Ritualizing Uncertainty, a pop-up exhibition developed by Daria Goncharova during a month-long residency in Lisbon.
Daria's practice is concerned with language as a kind of tool for dealing with social structures. Her work focuses on how meaning is constructed and deconstructed. She often addresses issues of communication through various systems: linguistic, bureaucratic, cultural, etc., focusing her attention on the fragile constructs within society.
Her most recent project explores the process of being a guest as an ethical practice, starting from the premise that the relationship between guest and host is never neutral; it is a process of constant translation defined by both invitation and rules.
The guest is a figure neither fully integrated nor fully alien, oscillating between clearly defined on the one hand and constantly changing conditions and boundaries on the other. In Ritualizing Uncertainty, Daria examines guesthood as a condition of negotiation, an unstable position that requires constant adaptation on both sides.
To understand the dynamics of guesthood—its definition, enactment, imposition, and challenges—Daria employed street-based participatory performances. These performances gathered public responses to questions exploring the meaning of "guest," and its perception as both a welcome presence and a tolerated outsider.
Presenting itself as a domestic space, the exhibition utilizes modified objects, textiles, and photographs to cultivate a homelike atmosphere. Yet, this comforting illusion is gradually eroded by subtle narratives of displacement, hinting at a "far-from-home" journey.
The exhibition is complemented by an artist talk with Daria Goncharova on March 29th at 6:00 PM, and a limited-edition risograph poster, released on March 25th.
Daria's practice is concerned with language as a kind of tool for dealing with social structures. Her work focuses on how meaning is constructed and deconstructed. She often addresses issues of communication through various systems: linguistic, bureaucratic, cultural, etc., focusing her attention on the fragile constructs within society.
Her most recent project explores the process of being a guest as an ethical practice, starting from the premise that the relationship between guest and host is never neutral; it is a process of constant translation defined by both invitation and rules.
The guest is a figure neither fully integrated nor fully alien, oscillating between clearly defined on the one hand and constantly changing conditions and boundaries on the other. In Ritualizing Uncertainty, Daria examines guesthood as a condition of negotiation, an unstable position that requires constant adaptation on both sides.
To understand the dynamics of guesthood—its definition, enactment, imposition, and challenges—Daria employed street-based participatory performances. These performances gathered public responses to questions exploring the meaning of "guest," and its perception as both a welcome presence and a tolerated outsider.
Presenting itself as a domestic space, the exhibition utilizes modified objects, textiles, and photographs to cultivate a homelike atmosphere. Yet, this comforting illusion is gradually eroded by subtle narratives of displacement, hinting at a "far-from-home" journey.
The exhibition is complemented by an artist talk with Daria Goncharova on March 29th at 6:00 PM, and a limited-edition risograph poster, released on March 25th.
BIOGRAPHY | DARIA GONCHAROVA's practice is concerned with language as a kind of tool for dealing with and interpreting social structures. She reflects on the layers within society, focusing on the fragile constructs found at both its core and its margins. An interest in the everyday object and working with its image informs her work. Through the lens of semiotics and the concept of failure, she reflects on the structures of commodification. This often leads her to investigate the frameworks of specific phenomena, which she approaches through interactions with systems - linguistic, bureaucratic, etc. At the heart of her work is also a focus on how meaning is constructed and deconstructed. Daria often works with assemblage and the recontextualisation of objects. In a world where functionality often determines value, Daria seeks to disrupt this logic by stripping these objects of their practical utility. In this way, the objects cease to be commodities and instead become a kind of symbol of the situation. The concept of failure serves as a key element in this transformation. Objects that no longer serve their intended purpose - broken chairs, discarded objects - are not seen as worthless, but as bearers of untapped potential. Their failure within the framework of utility opens up a space for dialogue about the fragility of systems, be they economic, social or political.
SUPPORT | Zaratan – Arte Contemporânea is a structure supported by República Portuguesa – Cultura / Direção-Geral das Artes. Daria’s residency is supported by the European Union and Goethe-Institut, through the program Culture Moves Europe.