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Film&Video

Mazepa’s Ride

2025

4K video, 10 min.

Video production: Kartago Film, Berlin

Performers: Elias Monteiro Valente Da Silva, Jamie Transboy Dom

Composers: Lyudska Podoba

Sculpture: 220 x 230 x 60 cm; leather, plastic, wood, metal, horsehair

C-prints, variable size

Commissioned by John Hansard Gallery, Southampton and Kyiv Biennale

 

In the film, training on the horse simulator immerses the rider in a reality full of passion and torment. This surreal fantasy features a new track by the Ukrainian queer synthpop band Lyudska Podoba. The film is inspired by a scene from the silent movie "Mazeppa, der Volksheld der Ukraine," directed by Martin Berger. It was the first film in history about the Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa, featuring a character tied naked to a wild horse. According to legend, this was how Mazepa was punished by a Polish nobleman for a secret love affair with his wife. Over the centuries, this legend has undergone many cultural interpretations and gender transformations, culminating in the late 19th century when the role of the Ukrainian "Casanova" was portrayed by women on the stages of British theatres.

 

The space installation surrounding the film projection balances between the setup of a cinema museum and a BDSM store, including a horse simulator redesigned by the artist, an outfit from the film set, and various research materials such as posters featuring British actress Adah Menken as Mazeppa (1864) and Buffalo Bill’s Mazeppa Ride show (1907).

 

Installlation view:

“Mazepa’s Ride”, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, 2025.

Photo © Reece Straw

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