The poster is my interpretation and reaction to “An Anna Blume,” the Dadaist poem by Kurt Schwitters. Dadaism appeared during World War I, when language became fragmented and reality itself felt broken. Words stopped making sense, and language reflected that condition. As a Ukrainian, I wanted to translate the poem into Ukrainian in order to become closer and more intimate with the text. In my poster, I connect this idea to the current Russian-Ukrainian war, which has lasted for 12 years, including 4 years of full-scale invasion. Because of the long history of Russian imperial oppression, the Ukrainian language has repeatedly been suppressed and erased. After translating the poem, I removed the text entirely, leaving only the punctuation marks in the exact order of the original poem. The punctuation became a visual trace of language — fragmented, emotional, and unstable. But for me, the Ukrainian language and speaking Ukrainian represent the opposite. It is connected to resistance, freedom, and the preservation of one’s own identity and independence. After that, I returned to the Ukrainian text and started rethinking it more metaphorically, treating language not only as something to read, but also as a visual form and material. I treated words like building blocks, scattering fragments and phrases across the composition while searching for different visual forms and rhythms. I mixed parts of the translated text with the original poem, merging them into one expressive composition.

The visual language of this poster is derived from acceleration and centrifugal force. Elements rotate, stretch and drift outwards from the centre, as if caught in motion. The poster was produced entirely through analogue printing.