With the outbreak of the Russian war in Ukraine, the value of freedom for Ukrainians has also taken on the taste of salt. It is the salt of the tears shed by those who mourn having lost it while being occupied. The salt of the sweat of those who fight every day on the battlefield for Ukraine's freedom. The salt of the tears of those who mourn the victims. In every human body there is the salt of freedom, just as every nation has its own story of gaining freedom. But today Ukrainians have made this salt crystal clear for others.

Daria Kalashnikova is a Ukrainian artist born in Donbass. Rock salt is the second largest mining industry in the region, after coal. There, in the Bakhmut district, in the town of Soledar, is the Ukrainian state-owned company Artemsil. It is one of the world's largest companies producing table salt, it is extracted in mines at a depth of 300 meters. In the same city, but at a depth of 50 meters mines gypsum. Therefore, in her art project "The Salt of Freedom'' Daria Kalashnikova uses materials that have a deep emotional connection with her homeland - salt and gypsum.

In the summer of 2023, the artist encouraged residents of Latvia to share their stories of gaining freedom, defending it, and the hardships they experienced along the way.

All these stories formed the basis of Daria Kalashnikova's interactive installation "The Salt of Freedom", which is on display in Riga on August 24-29 as part of the cultural project "Ukraine. Residence of Freedom".

Concept

The Salt of Freedom