Skarbyntsya {СКАРБНИЦЯ} vol II (Fundraiser Event for Ukraine 2023)

Abstract

Currently the war in Ukraine is still going on. ‘Intercept 1’ is a response to this event. The work proposes an acoustic account of the invasion in Ukraine. Utilising military transceivers, signals were intercepted from high ground in Scotland, Italy, Greece, Switzerland and Serbia following the initial invasion. All relevant military and civilian frequencies were monitored for activity in the Shortwave Spectrum. It is indicative that the British Broadcasting Corporation resumed activity in the Short-Wave Spectrum shortly after the attack on Ukraine. This renewed interest of what was considered by many to be an obsolete technology came as a response to radio communications showing excessive activity, and becoming relevant again as a means of communication that can both bridge large geographical distances, and is continued to be a method of communication that is reliable, sustainable and easy to maintain for military personal and civilians alike. The Shortwave Spectrum of Frequencies is more accessible to the public, has a broader frequency range and has been a key acoustic landscape that has housed communications since the Second World War. Contrary to more advanced digital radio, satellites, and telephone lines shortwave radio is less susceptible to interference and remains unaffected by geography and weather, requiring minimum power to operate. The equipment is more battel tested and reliable and less vulnerable to cyber-attacks, relying on less sophisticated electronics. Shortwave cannot be hacked. It cannot be bombed or otherwise destroyed because it is being transmitted from far outside Ukraine. Shortwave is notoriously difficult to jam. ‘INTERCEPT’ is an account of a war in a medium that is not meant for civilians. The sound piece records the communications that are relevant to the invasion and the struggle of Ukraine to resist. The Shortwave Spectrum is an acoustic landscape that in many ways mirrors the Theatre of War. Operationally crucial and with extensions to a war of disinformation the signals are not only fingerprints of activity, but also an acoustic mirror of aggression and resistance. To this day a new joint assessment released by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the United Nations, estimates that the cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine has grown to US $411 billion (equivalent of €383 billion). A current estimate calculates 21 million civilians being directly affected, 18 million are identified as ‘in need’ with further 18.000 civilian casualties reported so far. Skarbnytsya is a Glasgow based exhibition and print sale which celebrates and raises awareness of Ukrainian artists. The core values of Skarbyntsya are to bring the public’s attention to young independent creatives and artists who have been displaced by the Ukrainian-Russian War 2022 and to provide a network between these makers with creatives in Glasgow. The raised funds donated to exhibiting Ukrainian artists and Lviv National Academy of Art