Hero4Hero
2019
Installation
470х60х30, dougout single-wood boat; pebble stones; ethnographic audio recording of the udege language

The processes of globalization, urbanization and unification of national cultures in the XX-XXI century led to the rapid ethnic destruction of the world's small indigenous peoples. Udege, Oroch, Ulchi, Negidal, Nivkh, Itelmen and other languages of Siberia and the Far East have already been classified by as endangered UNESCO*. In most cases, with some exceptions, the disappearance of the language leads to the disappearance of the people from the face of the earth. The irreversible nature of these processes leads to the fact that a whole layer of civilization is disappearing with its own system of views, assessments and imaginative ideas about the world and the place of people in it.

The Hero4Hero Group investigates the equilibrium conditions of a system in which an omorochka (dougout single-wood boat) is placed under the pressure of forces applied to it as a metaphor of the image of the survival of small indigenous peoples of the Far East (Nanai and Udege), natural pebble stones as a metaphor for the processes of globalization, urbanization and unification of national cultures and the river of time down which this boat floats.

The "Down the river of time – 2" installation is a continuation of study of the ethnocultural landscape of the territory and reflections on the heritage of cultures, that was started in the "Down the river of time" installation, presented at the personal Hero4Hero exhibition «Stratum: Sanctuary» at Zarya Contemporary Art Center from December 22 till February 24, 2019.

The Omorochka boat was provided by Bikin National Park. The ethnographic audio recordings were provided by the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Far East Settlement of the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.

References
«Gold** does not even take a step from his camp without an Omorochka. Wherever he goes and no matter how short his way, he always swims in a Omorochka. Even at the camp, the golds do not walk, but always swim in the Omorochka.In short, the Omorochka is so necessary for gold that it can be considered as an organic continuation of golds - it is a necessary organ of their body. It is absolutely impossible to meet a gold outside the camp without a rim. From it he catches fish, hunts, sleeps under it or hides from the rain. Gold does not part with Omorochka even after death: the boat or broken nose is put on the grave of every man». — This was noted in studies by Ivan Lopatin, who spent a lot of time in Udegei and Nanai settlements.

Lopatin Ivan Alekseevich – researcher of the Far East, Russian-American ethnographer, anthropologist and linguist, secretary of the executive committee of the Society for the Study of the Amur Region.

*Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World Languages in danger, Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version: http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguag...

**Gold, plural Golds — obsolete, used in the XIX - early XX centuries. Name of Nanai. - Wikipedia.

The installation includes the Omorochka boat filled with pebble stones placed on the floor (pedestal). The object is accompanied by an ethnographic audio recording of the Udeghe language (minimum sound level).