Zugunruhe, 2026 - ongoing
5-channel HD video installation, objects, soundscape, audiotext. Installation in Deichtorhallen, 40FT as part of the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg.

Based on research conducted along the Kiel Canal, Oksana Yushko examines the interconnections between trade flows, migration movements, and ecological systems. In the exhibition ZUGUNRUHE, the artist adopts a non-human perspective, linking movements and infrastructures across species, spaces, and political systems.

At the heart of the exhibition is a large-scale video and sound installation: ships glide past on five monitors; their repeated movements form a visual choreography. This draws the eye to a landscape that appears idyllic and is simultaneously a major transport route for goods and military shipments in Northern Europe. The installation is complemented by new productions based on historical material, which are recontextualized as readymades. Within the exhibition space, connecting lines point to cross-systemic networks of relationships that shape our present and extend into the future.

The ornithological term "Zugunruhe" refers to the agitation of migratory birds immediately before and during departure. In behavioural biology experiments, this phenomenon is studied using the Emlen funnels; apparatuses lined with paper in which the birds' restlessness is recorded in the form of marks and scratches. But in humans, too, nervous systems, as well as political and ecological tensions, are coalescing into a pervasive state of unease.

Text and curation by Viktoria Rochambeau, Sarah Gramotke, and Vilja Gunzelmann.
Images by Henning Rogge and Oksana Yushko.