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![Invisible Narratives]( "Invisible Narratives")
infoInvisible Narratives, fragment from a 4-channel video installation
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![Invisible Narratives]( "Invisible Narratives")
infoInvisible Narratives at the KABK Graduation Show 2024: 3D Artifacts, 4-Channel Video, and Publication
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![Invisible Narratives]( "Invisible Narratives")
infoInvisible Narratives at the KABK Graduation Show 2024: 3D Artifacts, 4-Channel Video, and Publication, photo: Sara Francola
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![Invisible Narratives]( "Invisible Narratives")
infoInvisible Narratives, fragment from a 4-channel video installation
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![Invisible Narratives]( "Invisible Narratives")
infoInvisible Narratives at Dutch Design Week, 2024, photo: Giulia Menicucci
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![Invisible Narratives]( "Invisible Narratives")
infoInvisible Narratives at Dutch Design Week, 2024, photo: Giulia Menicucci
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![Invisible Narratives]( "Invisible Narratives")
infoInvisible Narratives at Dutch Design Week, 2024, photo: Giulia Menicucci
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![(Moerwijk) Model Museum]( "(Moerwijk) Model Museum")
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![(Moerwijk) Model Museum]( "(Moerwijk) Model Museum")
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![(Moerwijk) Model Museum]( "(Moerwijk) Model Museum")
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![It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...]( "It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...")
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![It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...]( "It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...")
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![It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...]( "It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...")
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![It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...]( "It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer...")
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![Rockets Take Off and Crash and Scroll in the Air]( "Rockets Take Off and Crash and Scroll in the Air")
infoPhoto credits: Margarita Denisova and Ekaterina Kraeva.
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![Rockets Take Off and Crash and Scroll in the Air]( "Rockets Take Off and Crash and Scroll in the Air")
infoPhoto credits: Margarita Denisova and Ekaterina Kraeva.
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![Rockets Take Off and Crash and Scroll in the Air]( "Rockets Take Off and Crash and Scroll in the Air")
infoPhoto credits: Margarita Denisova and Ekaterina Kraeva.
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![Theaterbox]( "Theaterbox")
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![Theaterbox]( "Theaterbox")
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Her method could be described as one of spatial storytelling, where the space itself becomes an active participant—a dynamic entity where the visible and the invisible (mental) dimensions constantly interact and reinforce one another.
Nika Dundua is a visual artist, filmmaker, and scenographer based in The Hague. Her recent work explores dominant narratives, the methods and media used in their construction, and the distortions they create in both actual and virtual spaces. Often employing an auto-ethnographic approach, she focuses on concepts of heritage, collective and personal memory, and the interplay between material and digital forms in the production of knowledge.
With a background in scenography, she has recently graduated from the Master's Interior Architecture program at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. She now works across various media, particularly in time-based installations, participatory practices, and filmmaking. Her method could be described as one of spatial storytelling, where the space itself becomes an active participant—a dynamic entity where the visible and the invisible (mental) dimensions constantly interact and reinforce one another.
Websites
Personal website/portfolio
nikadundua.com/Social media
Member of Artists’ Initiative/Collective/Incubator
(no name yet) artistic duo/collective with Athina Botonaki
Curriculum vitae
Education
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2022 - 2024MA Interior Architecture (INSIDE) Den Haag, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten diploma
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2021 - 2022New Media In Contemporary Art Moscow School Of Contemporary Art
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2015 - 2020BA Scenography Russian Academy of Theatre Arts diploma
exhibitions
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2024Dutch Design Week Klokgebouw Cultuurhallen Eindhoven, Netherlands Showcase of the project Invisible Narratives, 3d printed sculptures+video+publication ddw.nl/nl/programma/12452/kabk-graduates-of-2024 Group
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2024KABK Graduation Film Screening Nest in Laak the Hague, Netherlands Screening of 4-channel video sequence for the project Invisible Narratives (2024) www.nestruimte.nl/exhibitions/kabk-graduation-film-screening Group
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2024Graduation Show KABK the Hague, Netherlands Showcase of the project Invisible Narratives, 3d printed sculptures+video+publication graduation.kabk.nl/2024/nika-dundua Group
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2019Russian Young Artists Pavilion Prague Quadrennial of Scenography and Theater Space Prague, Czech Republic Russian Pavilion, XIV International Prague Quadrennial of Scenography and The- ater Space, Theater Box Project, Artist/Curator, Prague pq.cz/publications/catalogue-2019/ Group
Projects
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2024
Invisible Narratives The Hague, Netherlands nikadundua.com/ I was born into a family that could be called typically post-Soviet. My mother, hailing from Kyiv, Ukraine, and my father, a Georgian from Tbilisi, met in Moscow shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was there that I was born. Looking back, I see that war was constantly in the background during my coming of age, as Russia was engaged in several military conflicts while I was growing up, including against the two countries which my parents come from. However, those wars were hardly ever visible in my day-to-day experience. I also knew that my grandmother, Zoya, had lived through the German occupation of Ukraine during World War II, but we rarely spoke about it. I believe that my perception of the war my grandmother witnessed (and war in general) was mediated by a certain version of history, which permeated my urban, educational and cultural environment. It was neatly packaged into a homogenous image—a narrative of heroes and victories with interference and noise, like in an old Soviet film, which would always remain somewhere far in the past. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized this narrative had very little to do with the realities of both that distant war and the more recent ones. This project, to some extent, turns me into an archaeologist exploring the layers and twists of my family’s history. I delve into my grandmother’s childhood memories and into my own, to reflect on production of knowledge, history, and trauma. By gathering fragments of untold stories and forgotten memories, I attempt to juxtapose this personal narrative with the one which is propagated in today’s Russia. I work at the intersection of film and 3D scanning to explore the construction of narratives and the distortions they create, both physical and digital. Through embodiment of memory, I strive to navigate the complex landscape of wars I have never witnessed, questioning the very language in which their history is being—or could be—told.
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2023
Nytky: Ukrainian Embroidery in New Contexts Thick Present Various locations in the Netherlands, Netherlands nytky.eu/eng?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabrCqdnewxFdFeAlhOIBAj7qz1IrS9503WKW7strpG4-I6ZqQLl_t_-Phw_aem_nz5zZ-mOGTZ091WwJuqseA NYTKY is a community project centered around traditional Ukrainian embroidery, its current journeys and new meanings. It brings together heritage education, art therapy and community building.
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2023
(Moerwijk) Model Museum The Hague, Netherlands nikadundua.com/3/ This project attempts to playfully question the role of the Museum, by presenting a part of heritage which would be most probably excluded from the official historical narrative of The Hague: stories of Moerwijk and its people. Moerwijk is a neighbourhood in The Hague, part of the Escamp district. Mainly built after the Seond World War, it was developped for residential use from low to middle income families. Today, a big part of the neighbourhood is consisted by social-housing appartments, which means that, in many cases, its residents stay for a short/temporary amount of time. Now, speaking of a post-war neighbourhood, that hosts many temporary habitants today, how can one embrace -or even create anew- a sense of belonging? What role could a museum play, towards the appropriation of space and memory from short-term residents? Can the representation of local (hi)stories become a conversation starter for today’s Moerwijk community? Focusing on the collection, curation, and exhibition of all the little fragments of memory, that have been revealed to us through research in old newspapers, photo archives, and interviews, we conceive a local pop-up museum, decentralised from the historic centre’s official spaces of knowledge. We create nine models; nine imaginary rooms, in scale 1:20, each one connected to a specific location, telling a story from the past. Altogether -either as parts of one entity or spread in the urban fabric- shape a space of shared memory. (with Athina Botonaki)
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2022
It's a Very Beautiful Place, but I Can't Stay Here Any Longer... The Hague, Netherlands nikadundua.com/2/ This project delves into the themes of migration, political borders, and the loss of identity and safety, framed through the lens of spatial poetry. Rather than presenting a conventional design solution, it begins with a question: How can we, as designers confront tragedies that cannot be resolved by design? By embracing absurdity and irony, I created a manual and physical formula that guide participants in constructing their own WIND PORTAL — a symbolic device that connects participants in two or more locations divided by borders that cannot be physically crossed. Wind, as a metaphor, represents a force capable of transcending physical barriers, political divisions, and cultural conflicts, suggesting a way to reconnect spaces and people fragmented by distance and discord.
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2020
Rockets Take Off and Crash and Scroll in the Air Vs. Meyerhold Theatre-Cultural Center Moscow, Russian Federation nikadundua.com/6/ Scenography for a play at Vs. Meyerhold Theatre-Cultural Center. My task was to create a space for a post-dramatic play about depression and nuclear war. The play consisted of 36 fragments, reassembled differently each time by artificial intelligence. I designed an interactive space and algorithm, dividing the stage into 36 sections, highlighting only specific fragments. I also created instructions for the performers on how to interact within the space. As a result, the space dictated the conditions and possibilities for movement and physical expression, shaping the performers' emotions.
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2019
Theaterbox Prague Quadrienal Prague, Czech Republic nikadundua.com/4/ In 2017-2019, I co-created a series of projects exploring the boundaries of theater and its possible future. All of these projects were released under the name of an imagined (simulated) theatrical corporation UNITED PLAYGROUNDS, which was supposedly dedicated to the global theatricalization of everyday life, including integrating theater into urban environment. In reality, this entity was an attempt to create a platform for young theater practitioners in Russia — to reflect on the social role of theater and the state of contemporary theatrical institutions in the country. Theater as an institution seemed to us elitist and hierarchical, and we were searching for alternative ways of dialogue and opportunities to change this. One of these projects, The Theaterbox, was a network of environmental installations placed around the city, resembling phone booths—essentially small, individual theaters. Audiences could step inside at any time to watch a live performance. Each Theaterbox was equipped with a screen and an online streaming system that broadcast performances in real-time, interfacing with the city’s CCTV cameras. Performances could take place anywhere in the world, or even in multiple locations simultaneously, and be streamed to one or more Theaterbox. The only requirement was that the action occur in real time. The prototype for this project was presented as the Russian Pavilion at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial.
International exchanges/Residencies
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2018Munich Kammerspiele Showcase Kammerspiele #3, Germany A curated showcase of selected productions at Munich Kammerspiele+laboratory www.muenchner-kammerspiele.de/de/
Publications
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2024Inside Magazine 2024 Catalog INSIDE department KABK the Hague, Netherlands inside.kabk.nl/2024/graduation/NikaDundua.html
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2024KABK Graduation Catalogue Catalog KABK Den Haag the Hague, Netherlands graduation.kabk.nl/2024/nika-dundua
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2023
Secondary art-related activities
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2024 - 2025Alumni Assistant, Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague On-going