What will you do if war begins? — this was the question Vladyslav Plisetskyi asked himself a month before the full-scale invasion, when Russia was “flexing its muscles” near the Ukrainian border. The artist found his answer and decided to make a film — this is how the idea of a trilogy was born, in which he explores possible actions in the event of the outbreak, continuation, and end of the war.

 “What will you do if the war continues?” is the second part of the trilogy. The new work reflects not only how the time of the full-scale invasion escalates but also its impact on the Ukrainian queer community, LGBTQ+ rights, and their involvement in the war.

The film begins with a visual narrative by Vladyslav Plisetskyi about his own life. The artist was born in Murmansk, Russia, and in early childhood, he was placed in an orphanage due to his father’s crime. Later, he moved first to relatives in Donetsk and then to Kyiv, where he became part of the queer community.

A phone conversation with his father serves as a bridge to the war events of the future while also highlighting the contrast between Ukrainian and Russian societies and their political narratives.

“What Will You Do If the War Continues?” explores the deep connection between the personal and the political. Eccentric and transgressive performances, art as a tool of free expression, painful self-determination, and the search for identity—all of this, like Plisetskyi’s own journey, becomes intertwined with the context of war.

War transforms society into a space of small theatrical acts of conflict, where the personal, the everyday, and the carnivalesque collide. Here, opposing ideologies and life experiences intersect and overlap, creating a complex and layered reality.

Runtime: 38 minutes 15 seconds

We are sharing a film excerpt provided by the artist.

Bio:

Plisetskiy – Born in 1999 in OTEL’ . From 2018 resident of Kyiv club Otel (Kyiv UA). In 2020 participant of the online marathon dedicated to the International Day against Homophobia with performance “Queen of Golden Rain” (Club Crest, Kyiv UA).  In 2020 design of costume “THE LAST CRUSADE” dedicated to the closing of the Crest Club. Presented his first performance  – “Fuck why I don’t see your changes bitch fucking pelt” on Coming Out of Isolation 2.0 , a long-term project of the IZOLYATSIA Foundation and the NGO “KyivPride”, which with the help of modern art contributes to the visibility of LGBT+ people, their full and equal inclusion in public life in 2020 (IZOLYATSIA, Kyiv UA). In 2020 Plisetskiy created the costume specially for the “Queer Gathering” on February 14  the iconic club Zhivot (Kharkiv, UA). In 2020 created the costume “Two-meter piece of shit” specially for the iconic Kyiv party series OSNOVA (Club Otel  , Kyiv UA). Plisetskiy first  urban performance at the exhibition opening “Violence: Everything Against You” in  2021 (Dzherelo, Kyiv UA). Personal Exhibition “Mold-Kid” curated by Wet-Hole ( Nikita Kadan,Alina Kleytman, Bogdana Ukraina) in 2021-2022 (Dzherelo, Kyiv, UA).