Church, Chora, Chersonese

Church, Chora, Chersonese — a two-screen video installation by the Center for Spatial Technologies (CST) — premiered at Jam Art Center, Lviv, as part of The Stammering Circle, an exhibition curated by Marta Kuzma. The work was co-commissioned in 2025 by Faktura 10, a program of RIBBON International, and by BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht.

Drawing on maps, excavation plans, wartime reconnaissance photographs, newsreels, and contemporary footage, the installation follows three spatial protagonists: Church (sacred architecture), Chora (agricultural hinterland), and Chersonese (walled city). From the first imperial digs of the late 1700s through Soviet and Nazi surveys to Russia’s current occupation of Crimea, CST shows how archaeology is repeatedly conscripted to serve territorial claims, forging a durable alliance of military power, sacred architecture, and heritage science. The synchronised, looping screens invite viewers to read laterally across media and centuries, revealing how each “objective” layer of evidence overwrites its predecessor to legitimise new regimes.