Hello-82 / Privet-82

VR-Project by Lexi Fleurs & Nikol Goldman
in the exhibition Antifascism:Now.
Until Juli 31st 2026 in Lothringer 13 Halle.

Hello-82 / Privet-82 is an immersive multimedia installation that places the viewer in the point of view of russian war criminals, inviting reflection on how witnessing such crimes without taking action can blur the line between observer and complicity. The persistent buzz of an airborne drone is juxtaposed with the national one-minute silence observed daily across Ukraine at 9:00 AM, a collective act of mourning for those killed in the war. Both artists have directly experienced being targeted by russian FPV drones while working as civilians clearly marked as press. In cities such as Kherson, the phenomenon has been grimly referred to as a “human safari,ˮ a term describing the continued targeting of civilians by drone operators for apparent entertainment. By placing the viewer within the occupant’s point of view, the artists foreground the politics of perception, implicating the audience in the act of looking. The work asserts that, as Russia commits genocide in Ukraine, European inaction transforms passive spectatorship into complicity with ongoing crimes. The title Privet-82 (translated as Hello-82) is drawn from the designation of a russian kamikaze drone, underscoring the dissonance between the drone’s benign greeting and the violence it enacts, and highlighting the unsettling normalization embedded within Russia’s conduct of war.

2026
VR headset, gaming chair; video, color, sound, 3’29″

All works commissioned by Lothringer 13 Halle;
VR headset provided by XR HUB Bavaria.

Trigger Warning: The scenes shown contain depictions of physical violence and may be disturbing or traumatizing for viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

DE:

Hello-82 / Privet-82 ist eine immersive multimediale Installation, die die Be-trachter:innen in die Perspektive russischer Kriegsverbrecher versetzt und dazu einlädt, darüber nachzudenken, wie das bloße Zeug:innensein solcher Verbrechen – ohne zu handeln – die Grenze zwischen Beobachtung und Mittäterschaft verwischen kann. Das anhaltende Surren einer Drohne in der Luft wird der landesweiten einminütigen Schweigeminute gegenübergestellt, die in der Ukraine täglich um 9:00 Uhr begangen wird – ein kollektiver Akt des Gedenkens an die im Krieg Getöteten.

Beide Künstler:innen haben selbst erlebt, wie sie von russischen FPV-Drohnen ins Visier genommen wurden, während sie als Zivilist:innen arbeiteten und eindeutig als Presse gekennzeichnet waren. In Städten wie Cherson wird dieses Phänomen zynisch als „Human Safari“ bezeichnet – ein Begriff für das fortgesetzte gezielte Angreifen von Zivilist:innen durch Drohnenoperatoren, offenbar zur Unterhaltung. Indem die Arbeit das Publikum in die Perspektive der Drohnenbesatzung versetzt, rückt sie die Politik der Wahrnehmung in den Vordergrund und verstrickt die Betrachtenden in den Akt des Sehens selbst.

Die Arbeit behauptet, dass angesichts des von Russland begangenen Genozids in der Ukraine europäische Untätigkeit passive Zuschauer:innenschaft in Mittäterschaft an fortdauernden Verbrechen verwandelt. Der Titel Privet-82 (übersetzt: Hallo-82) verweist auf die Bezeichnung einer russischen Kamikaze-Drohne und unterstreicht die Dissonanz zwischen der harmlos klingenden Begrüßung und der von ihr ausgeübten Gewalt. Zugleich macht er die verstörende Normalisierung sichtbar, die Russlands Kriegsführung eingeschrieben ist.

2026
VR-Headset, Gaming-Stuhl; Video, Farbe, Ton, 3’29’’

Im Auftrag von Lothringer 13 Halle; VR-Headset bereitgestellt von XR HUB Bavaria.

Trigger-Warnung: Die gezeigten Szenen enthalten Darstellungen von physischer Gewalt und können auf Zuschauer*innen verstörend oder traumatisierend wirken. Der Besuch erfolgt auf eigene Verantwortung.

Lothringer 13 Halle and Goethe-Institut present ANTIFASCISM: NOW., the
launch of a multi-year, transnational project dedicated to contemporary
antifascist cultural practice.

In cooperation with partner institutions in Germany and in (South-)Eastern
Europe, the project will unfold in several chapters through 2028. Conceived
as a decentralised and modular program, it is developed from local
perspectives and takes shape through exhibitions, multisensory symposia,
residencies, educational programs as well as a range of site-specific public
formats.
Starting in Munich, ANTIFASCISM: NOW. will continue in Athens, Belgrade,
Białystok, Bucharest, Istanbul, Lviv, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia,
Thessaloniki, Tirana, and Zagreb, culminating at the end of 2028 in a final
exhibition bringing together all chapters at the Ludwig Forum Aachen.
The aim of the project is to establish a transnational forum in which
antifascism becomes a shared understanding of democratic societies as a
central responsibility—based on the premise:
DEMOCRATIC (CULTURAL) WORK IS ANTIFASCIST WORK.
Antifascism is intended to be detached from a historically narrowly defined,
left-leaning context and positioned as an attitude, practice, and structural
element of contemporary societies. In this sense, antifascism is not only
understood as resistance against far-right movements, but as an active,
multifaceted struggle against authoritarian, racist, imperialist, antisemitic,
and colonial structures in the present. This aims to renew antifascism as a
concept of solidarity, normalize it, and remove it from demonization.

A focus is on perspectives from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, regions
where growing authoritarian tendencies and geopolitical tensions make the
fragility of democratic structures particularly evident. The ongoing
aggression of Russia and the political uncertainties of many democracies in
the region underscore the urgency of thinking about and
strengthening antifascist cultural work beyond national borders.
At the same time, the project explicitly incorporates perspectives from the
Global South and asks how concepts such as antifascism, resistance, and
solidarity need to be expanded or recontextualized through non-Western,
anticolonial, and non-aligned approaches.
Here, antifascism is understood as a complex and dynamic practice that
intertwines memory politics, activism, and artistic production, creating
space for future societal transformation.

Title Picture: Christian Kain