Marinika Sadgyan

This thesis project examines the relationships between memory, ecology and artistic creation in the post-Soviet context of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic located in north-western Uzbekistan. This region has been profoundly affected by the drying up of the Aral Sea and the climatic changes that followed this ecological disaster. Through a critical and sensitive approach, the aim is to consider landscapes not only as natural environments disrupted by environmental change, but also as vectors of narratives, emotions, identities and forms of resistance. Drawing in particular on the concept of solastalgia (Glenn Albrecht), the research proposes to understand ecological collapse as both a landscape trauma and a cultural, sensory and political loss.
The thesis adopts an interdisciplinary approach combining perspectives from human geography, political ecology, memory studies, visual studies and artistic practices. It draws on a variety of sources, including historical archives, cultural productions, oral testimonies and contemporary artistic works. A creative component is central to the project: a spatial intervention, carried out in Karakalpakistan in a symbolic underground urban space, and later in France, will question the disappearance of the sea, both as an observable phenomenon and as a reality inscribed in bodies and places through the senses. This exhibition aims to visually and spatially translate the landscape's memory issues while raising awareness of the imminence of other ecological disasters — sudden or gradual — that may affect different territories.
This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of landscape and cultural resilience, while offering a critical reflection on the role of art as a tool for memory, care and ecological awareness. It is fully in line with the thesis-by-project approach, combining scientific rigour with committed artistic expression.