mankurts, by olga kisseleva

Introduced by Chingiz Aitmatov in the book The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years (1980), mankurts are soulless slaves, entirely submissive to their masters and deprived of any memory of the past. According to the Kyrgyz writer’s legend, they were prisoners of war transformed after intense exposure to the heat of the sun, their heads wrapped in camel skin.

Internationally renowned artist and pioneer in the research of new forms of creation at the intersection of art and science, Olga Kisseleva presents an exhibition that adopts this term to focus on the living conditions of trees in super-intensive cultivation. Part of the long-term project EDEN — which the artist will present in a masterclass promoted by Circuito — and initiated by Kisseleva in 2012, this exhibition comprises two works: the video installation DANCING DATA (2024) and MANKURTS (2026), a new creation presented here for the first time.

Cultivated for several millennia in traditional cultures, where conditions remain close to their natural state, trees are increasingly being subjected to super-intensive systems. Production begins just two years after planting. With a density ten times greater than in their natural state, trees are subjected to mechanisation for automated harvesting and pruning that limits their height. The living conditions of these trees recall those adopted by human beings in overcrowded megacities, in industrial and post-industrial production, and in other modes of operation favoured by globalisation. In MANKURTS, Olga Kisseleva questions how living organisms tolerate this lack of respect for personal space and individual development, and how this influences our functioning, our bodies, our strategies and our intelligence.

supported by portuguese republic – culture, youth and sports / general direction of the arts / network of portuguese theaters and cinemas (rtcp). portuguese contemporary art network (rpac).