Together (Birlikdə)

Drawing on the ideas of Nasimi, Pavla Nikitina titles her sculpture in Azerbaijani, the poet-philosopher's language, embedding within it a meditation on friendship as a bridge across cultural divides. The work explores tolerance and inclusion as transformative practices - ones that reveal not only the other, but also the self, opening new ways of understanding the world.

As a child spending summers in Bakhchisarai, Nikitina befriended a Crimean Tatar girl slightly older than herself. The girl was hard of hearing and communicated through sign language. Determined to connect with her, Nikitina began learning it as well. Her friend was an apprentice to a hereditary jeweler, working to revive the craft of Crimean Tatar silver filigree. One day, she gifted Nikitina a piece of jewelry she had made with her own hands.

The annexation of Crimea and the war separated them. Today, they are unable to speak. Nikitina later studied sculpture in the Czech Republic and now represents the country at international exhibitions. Yet she keeps the gifted jewelry, holding on to the hope that one day she will reunite with her friend -in a world where imperialism has been left behind.

In her sculpted self-portrait, the artist wears these cherished pieces and signs the word "Together" in gesture. It is a reflection on friendship as a force that transcends borders, on solidarity as a response to division, on the fragile yet luminous sincerity of childhood - a light worth preserving. It is also an invocation of humanity's connection to the Divine, a presence revealed along the path of life.

The work evokes Crimea as a historical center of Sufi thought and practice, a region whose influence once reached deep into Europe. Sufism held such significance there that several Crimean khans renounced their thrones, choosing instead to spend the rest of their lives as dervishes in the Caucasus.

Text: Kostiantyn Doroshenko, YARAT Contemporary Art Space