sshttyartt

 I had been taught, like many people, that pigeons are dangerous. That they carry disease. I was afraid of them. And yet, when I saw one that needed help, I couldn’t walk away.

One rescue turned into many.

At some point, I brought a pigeon to an avian veterinarian. I was convinced I was putting myself at risk — gloves, mask, disinfectant, total control. But instead of confirming my fear, she dismantled it. Pigeons, she explained, are not the threat we imagine. To actually get sick from a pigeon, you need very close contact with an infected bird — and even then, it is not guaranteed. If your immune system is strong, nothing may happen at all.

What I discovered next changed everything.

The rock pigeon is not a wild intruder. It is a domesticated bird. For thousands of years, humans bred them, fed them, relied on them — for food, for communication, even in war. And then, we abandoned them.

What we see in cities today is not nature. It is the aftermath of human neglect.

On the streets, pigeons live 2–5 years. In care, they can live over 25. They are not adapted to survive without us — yet they are forced to. They starve. They get sick. They are injured, often intentionally, shaped by the same fear and misinformation I once believed.

My work is a response to that reality.

Through my art, I challenge the narrative imposed on these birds. I confront the fear, expose the myth, and ask a simple question: what do we owe to the lives we once chose to control?

                                             ABOUT MISHA KUSH

Misha Kush (real name — Mariia Kushnir) is a Ukrainian artist who developed outside of formal academic art education and builds her practice through daily observation, empirical research, and interaction with the living environment.

At the center of her artistic inquiry are domesticated city pigeons, which have become a key theme and a long-term visual narrative. Beginning with rescuing birds on the streets of Kyiv, the artist gradually moved to creating a series of acrylic paintings titled “Valera somewhere’,” dedicated to the story of her first rescued pigeon named Valera. This figure became the foundation of a long-term project that existed for almost six years under the name “Valera.” In 2025, the project underwent a conceptual update and rebranding.

One of the next stages was the development of artist merchandise created in collaboration with the Ukrainian brand “SIKONA.” The central element became a print inspired by pigeon droppings, which the artist introduces as a visual and social marker of the interaction between humans and the urban environment. A portion of the proceeds was directed toward supporting volunteer initiatives and rescuing injured birds that can no longer survive in the wild.

In her further practice, Misha Kush explores the materiality and visual characteristics of pigeon droppings as an object of study. Drawing on experience working with birds and consultations with veterinary ornithologists, she treats droppings as an indicator of an animal’s physiological state — from nutrition to stress levels or illness. In this context, she creates a series of works using droppings as an artistic material, comparing visual differences between pigeons living in the urban environment and those under human care.

Throughout this practice, the artist focuses on the aesthetic qualities of the material — its texture, tonal transitions, and mineral-like structure reminiscent of natural stones such as jasper or marble. This observation became the basis for further development into wearable art objects in the form of jewelry.

Her practice combines art, biological observation, and social context, working with the re-evaluation of what is usually considered unacceptable or “unaesthetic.”

Working with pigeon droppings has become the artist’s key material and the foundation of her recognizable visual language. Today, it is her primary artistic signature.

                                             ABOUT YURA PIGEON

Yura the pigeon is the artist’s last rescued bird, found in Kyiv with an open wing fracture and a missing toe, likely as a result of human-inflicted violence. Due to his injuries, he is no longer able to live in the city. After the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by russia, Yura was taken abroad together with the artist. In this new environment, he became a full member of the household, and together they continue their practice and research of urban pigeons beyond Ukraine.

Within the project, Yura also appears as a co-participant in the artistic process. His natural biological activity becomes the primary material the artist works with. In this context, Misha Kush humorously refers to Yura as the main artist of their collaborative project.