What We Talk About When We Talk About Crimea – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

On the occasion of Museum Night 2026, we invite you to a curatorial tour of the exhibition in English and Ukrainian, a performance, and traditional Crimean coffee.

• 7:30 PM

  • Yoldaş [Comrade]

    • A performance by Vlodek Kaufman and Khalil Khalilov about travel and memory. The performers—like two companions—unroll heavy bales of roofing felt toward each other until their paths merge. The felt becomes a symbolic third companion for the Crimean Tatars: it accompanied them both in the barracks awaiting deportation and during the first construction works after returning to their homeland. The performers physically represent their shared history, transforming the material used on construction sites into an art object. This creates a catharsis that transforms the black ribbon of the past into the foundation of a new path.

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• 8:00 PM

  • Curators Kateryna Semenyuk, Oksana Dovgopolova, and Alim Aliev will lead a guided tour of the exhibition What We Talk About When We Talk About Crimea. The tour will be divided into two groups: in English and in Ukrainian.
    • Visitors will learn about the diverse perceptions of Crimea and how artists recount it through personal narratives. These stories include lost home, redefining family relationships, and discovering new layers of identity. During the tour, the curators will also explain why the images of Crimea presented in the exhibition are simultaneously images of the past and reflections on the future.
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• 9:30 PM

  • Traditional Crimean coffee ceremony.
    • The sand coffee ceremony originates from the traditions of the Crimean Tatars and is an important element of their culture and hospitality. The coffee is hand-prepared in a copper pot, slowly heated in hot sand, which brings out its intense aroma and unique flavor. A coffee-making demonstration is not only a culinary experience but also an encounter with history and traditions passed down through generations. Coffee will be prepared by the Dżezwa cafe.