performative lecture led by Darja Lukjanenko 

Emil Filla Gallery, Ústí nad Labem

22. 10. 2025 6 pm–8 pm

What truths about ourselves can we uncover by examining humanity’s desire to colonize and exploit other celestial bodies? This performative lecture invites the audience on a collective space trip — an introspective journey around topics of the universe, colonialism, and dreaming. Guided by Darja Lukjanenko, artist and researcher whose practice is inspired by a family history intertwined with the rocket industry in Soviet-occupied Ukraine, the lecture challenges the systems of power hidden behind dreams of space colonisation.

Why should we approach space exploration as a cultural and political practice? How does contemporary art engage with the idea of space colonialism? By weaving together artistic research, speculative thought, and collective imagination, the session opens a space to reflect on our place in the universe — and to envision futures beyond colonial ambition and physical intervention. 

The program will consist of 1,5 hours of lecture & 30 minutes of a dreaming session, and it will be in the English language.  The program is a part of the public program of the Double Truth: Reveal exhibition.

Darja Lukjanenko is an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, text, and gardening. Her research focuses on postcolonial identity and cultural practices for reconstructing collective memory in Ukraine after 2014. She is working interdisciplinarily across performance, text, and gardening. Her process is based on empathy stimulation practices and the study of domination-free forms of relationships. Since 2020 she has been confronting rockets and protesting cosmism.