Ukrainian Artists Present 'Pedagogies of War' Exhibition in Madrid

Ukrainian artists Yarema Malashchuk and Roman Khimei are presenting their exhibition 'Pedagogies of War' at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, curated by Chus Martinez and produced in collaboration with TBA21. The exhibition, running until June 21, explores how war is perceived, remembered, and narrated through reenactment practices, video installations, and examinations of contemporary exile. Rather than depicting heroic or spectacular battle scenes, the artists focus on everyday life, minimal gestures, and suspended images that reveal war's presence without sensationalizing it. Key works include 'The Wanderer' (2022), where the artists portray deceased soldiers from eastern Ukraine, referencing Caspar David Friedrich's painting to present fragile humanity without idealization; 'Open World' (2025), a two-channel video installation featuring a displaced Ukrainian revisiting his childhood neighborhood through a robotic dog originally designed for military use; 'You Shouldn't Have to See This' (2024), which films Ukrainian children returned after being taken by Russian forces; and 'We Didn't Start This War' (2026), a three-channel installation commissioned by the museum that shows small daily catastrophes rather than explosive events. The exhibition draws theoretical foundations from thinkers like Bertolt Brecht, who published 'Kriegsfibel' in 1955, Harun Farocki's concept of 'operational images,' and Immanuel Kant's and Carl von Clausewitz's writings on war as practice. The artists' approach contrasts with traditional military reenactments that glorify conflict, instead emphasizing interrupted daily life, waiting, memory, and non-narrative representation to create a critical pedagogy of viewing.