Paparać Kvietka is the name of a non-existing fern flower from Belarusian folklore, that embodies the essence of sudden miracles and mystical wisdom. According to Belarusian mythology, Paparać Kvietka blooms fleetingly on the eve of the summer solstice (Kupala night) emitting a powerful glow. For one to obtain its mystical powers, one “has to wander alone in the forest during that night. It is necessary to injure the palm, squeeze the flower in that palm and head home. The evil force will shout, roar, frighten, but there is no need to look back. Having received a fern-flower, a person will acquire the ability to see what is invisible to others, and will become wise.”

Katia She (legovich) Her, through the story of paparać kvietka, reflects on her homeland as a distant memory that after years of immigration comes to her mind elusively as a place of ancestral wisdom and mystical connotations. Having to face Belarusian authoritarian reality, Katia reimagines Belarus as a metaphorical wet forest where ancestral wisdom, feminine witch energy, memories and irregularities are intertwined. It is an ethereal woodland adorned with fern blossoms and a tumultuous lake at the heart of the forest which keeps everything alive, embodying the spirit of a resilient people.

The fountain explores the connections between noise and motion and the allure of imperfections. Sound and silence constantly mix, movement and stillness are interchanged and the perfection of silent stillness eludes us. In the fountain, sound and motion, noise and water are united. The fountain becomes a locus of metamorphosis and as the water keeps on streaming, creating more sounds, serenity transforms into a crescendo of vibrant noises. The installation, a metaphor for human existence, explores the coalescence of chaos and tranquility emphasizing the beauty found in imperfections.

The use of a flower as a starting point for exploration and as a recurrent theme in the installations serves as a symbol of feminine strength. It pays homage to the demonstrations carried by Belarusian women dressed in white holding flowers opposing the authoritarian government and “Europe’s last dictator” in the hope of better treatment by the brutal police authorities, which nonetheless ultimately led to the imprisonment of a large number of peaceful demonstrators. Coexisting with the multiple-shaped lamps - a constant fascination for the artist - surrounding the space, it reminisces the magical glow of the paparać kvietka serving as allegories of enlightenment.

The mask, another element used in the Belarusian demonstrations as a way to avoid identification by the authorities and the consequential prosecutions, combined with flowers represents the resilience of Belarusian women defying dictatorship.

The exhibition combines mythology with the artist’s introspective memories of homeland and sociopolitical commentary. By combining the mystique of Belarusian folklore with the

contemporary struggles inside the authoritarian state of Belarus, the mystical connotations of the magical fern flower create a space of re-imagination. The artist’s exploration of sound and motion, ancestral feminine knowledge and contemporary struggles expresses the persistence in resisting oppression.