DMITRII OLGIN

Anonymous Hospitality

Intermedia Studio

The project Anonymous Hospitality works with the concept of the crazy archive. What exactly does this term mean? And is there a way to update it for the present day?
Crazy archive is a concept I borrow from artist Agnieszka Polska, and it describes a specific state of memory in the post-socialist context – an environment where historical material exists as a blend of memories, fabrications, and reconstructions. It consists in the life of the archive which, however, never actually existed in the form it is presented in. Amid the current global crises, fake news, and conspiracy theories, its instability becomes chaotic. And the fear of this totality is paralyzing. That is why we must move from attempting to interpret the archive to encountering it as the Other.

The archive you built deals with the theme of a visit. You perceive hospitality, welcoming the other into one’s home, as a kind of ritual. What fascinates you about the performative aspect of visits?
A feast is a unique situation that disrupts the humdrum of everyday life. It is a scene composed of random moments – a carnival where the past rubs shoulders with the present, the familiar with the foreign – and all of this works with traditions of hospitality. The external does not match the internal; roles shift; behind the usual order of things is the possibility of something strange. Ancient Greek mythology includes myths about an unexpected guest whose identity always eludes us. The host must offer the stranger a place at the table; he must not reveal his identity, for sometimes it turns out that he is a spirit, a god in disguise, or a deceased relative. The stranger on the threshold represents the clash of the ordinary with the extraordinary.
The archive requires a similar approach – without any attempt to definitively identify or organize it. Here, the performative aspect of hospitality makes the ritual of the feast itself a form of memory. It is not about recording an event, but about its reenactment.

The dog passport occupies a special place in your project. Why is it so important?
Through the story of obtaining an EU dog passport, the guest’s otherness takes on a bureaucratic dimension. This veterinary document often makes it easier to cross borders for dogs than for people from “third countries.” The figure of the Other in the form of a dog-man is more mobile and anonymous. It draws on the image of St. Christopher – the patron saint of travelers with a dog’s head. According to one legend, he came from the land of the Cynocephali – a dog-headed people deprived of the gift of human speech. According to another, he was handsome from birth but prayed for disfigurement to avoid temptation. According to a third version, his appearance was merely a symbol of pagan brutality.

photo: Polina Davydenko