Tragedies are exhausting.
Loss, global shifts that reshape the world order, the fear of overwhelming forces (be it history or one’s own self) wear us down — leaving no energy for resistance or regeneration. This state, familiar to many today, has brought us to the brink of exhaustion.

The exhibition “Point of Exhaustion” is a joint project by the Open Call 2025 finalists Lina Romanukha and Asya Yakovlieva, exploring the feeling of fatigue through contemporary visual art.

“These works reflect on the theme of loss: of a loved one, of faith — including self-belief — and at times, the experience of inner emptiness,” says Lina Romanukha about her series “Void.” The exhibition presents several of her analog collage series (“Shelter,” “Pictures from an Encyclopedia,” “Critical Heritage”). She blends decadent imagery from art and documentary photography, creating unexpected visual and semantic rhymes that deconstruct personal states and historical events.

Asya Yakovlieva presents four series: “Nervous Tension,” “Social Moods,” “Pink Guns,” and “Adaptation” — a satirical take on socio-political contexts and personal experiences. Her bold, playful, and absurd graphics offer an unexpected perspective on what she describes as “states of hopelessness and exhaustion arising in a world undergoing drastic change, upheaval, and profound historical transformation.”

“Point of Exhaustion” is a reflection on a shared struggle through the lens of two very different artists. It’s an exhibition about sorrow and laughter — tools that help us rationalize fatigue.

Artists:
LINA ROMANUKHA – Inst. @romalina3
ASYA YAKOVLIEVA – Inst. @asya_yakovlieva

Exhibition Coordinators: Daria Herasimova, Yevhen Danylenko

Photo by Vasyl Golosnyi @vasilgolosnii