Situated in Pavilion 13, a site that has itself experienced continuous change since its original construction in 1967, A New Integrity draws on in-depth interviews with Ukrainian veterans, whose testimonies unfold in the space. Developed through Kadan’s collaboration with Sofia Lavreniuk, Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, who specializes in traumainformed practices, the work brings together verbatim accounts of injury, amputation, prosthesis and rehabilitation, tracing how physical and psychological integrity is renegotiated after trauma.
Drawing on the tools of documentary theater and sculpture, Kadan reimagines prosthetics as “witnesses.” Mechanical constructions assembled from prosthetic limbs perform slow, repetitive gestures on a central stage, resembling theater puppets or ancient automatons. Their movements respond to a Clemens Poole soundscape, composed from veterans’ testimonies and voiced by actor Anastasiia Seheda. Echoing into the Pavilion 13 exhibition space, the sounds of metal striking metal and moving machinery intertwine with accounts of loss, bodily transformation and resilience. As the kinetic sculptures move, they create a deliberate, rhythmic dialogue between spoken experience and embodied gesture. For Kadan, prostheses inhabit the silence imposed by trauma, giving form to absence. They articulate a new language shaped by the body that emerges from injury and survival, bearing witness to what it has endured.
Running until 31 May 2026 at Pavilion 13, A New Integrity foregrounds the lived experience of veterans, making perceptible the realities of care and recovery in Ukraine today. Here, Kadan approaches prosthetics as more than assistive devices, instead exploring their ability to carry memory and meaning. Suspended within the exhibition space, a pair of prosthetic legs runs continuously in mid-air. For Kadan, their movement reflects the imagined endlessness of war and the sustained labor of regaining physical and psychological integrity after injury. Together, the work forms a single body through which accounts of vulnerability and resilience are heard.
Alongside the installation, an archival display presents works that inform the project’s visual and conceptual framework, including drawings, prints and paintings by Anatol Petrytsky, Otto Dix, Heinrich Hoerle, Lucy Ivanova, Olena Subach, Mykhaylo Palinchak, Marta Syrko and others. An accompanying public program organized with Pavilion of Culture will run throughout the duration of A New Integrity. Bringing together art historians, writers, veterans and psychologists, the program will examine representations of war-induced injury and disability across 20th Century European art and literature, as well as contemporary Ukrainian public discourse.
Location: Pavilion 13, Expo Center of Ukraine, 1 Akademika Glushkova Avenue, Kyiv, Ukraine
Exhibition Dates: 11 April - 31 May 2026