Original artwork description:

This work was created in March 2022, just a week after the start of the Russia–Ukraine war. Gela Mikava, a Georgian artist who lived through the 2008 Russia–Georgia war, uses real children’s clothing salvaged from bombed homes in the village of Ergneti — a zone near the occupation line. The garments bear burn marks and soot, evoking the trauma of conflict without directly representing death. By suspending them against a grid-like painted background, Mikava blurs the line between evidence and elegy, memorial and painting.

This diptych by Gela Mikava uses clothing collected from homes bombed during the 2008 Russia–Georgia war, shortly after the start of the Russia–Ukraine war in 2022. Though no one died in these specific garments, they carry the physical memory of fire, displacement, and fear. Through an almost forensic installation of children’s clothing on a painterly surface, Mikava transforms everyday materials into a deeply political and personal narrative. The work speaks to shared traumas across borders — and how war marks even what is left behind.

Materials used:

Mixed media on textile and soft

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