On 6 February, an online showcase of Ukrainian art residencies entitled ‘How to Inhabit Instability?’ took place. It brought together five organisers of Ukrainian residencies, who spoke about their experiences working in Ukraine before and after the full-scale invasion. Among the speakers was:
— Iryna Polikarchuk, Artsvit Gallery, Dnipro
— Alona Karavay, Assortment Room, Ivano-Frankivsk
— Lyudmila Nychai, Nazar Voitovich Art Residence, Travneve village, Ternopil region,
— Nastya Khlestova, Garage 127, Kharkiv – Graz,
— Alevtina Kakhidze, Extended History of Muzychi, Muzychi village, Kyiv region.
This was expected to be the first in a series of presentations of Ukrainian art residencies for the international professional community. It attracted an audience of 173 registered participants.
You can watch a recording of the meeting at the link below. The meeting was held in English.
The event was organised by Zapravka, an initiative to support art residencies, and Res Artis, Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies, with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, House of Europe and the Ukrainian Institute.
This international conference of Res Artis network participants was supposed to take place in September 2022 in Kyiv and become the first forum of art residencies of this scale in Ukraine. However, the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine made its own adjustments. Symbolically, the working title of the event was ‘How to live with instability?’ — and it remains unchanged today.
ResArtis is currently facilitating regional meetings to identify the needs, opportunities and challenges of art residencies in the context of their geographical, social and economic location.
Res Artis: a global network of artist residencies that has been operating for 30 years. The network has over 650 members in more than 80 countries, with its headquarters located in Australia. It is a global professional organisation in the field that ensures sustainability and growth by providing capacity-building tools for its members through face-to-face meetings and digital platforms. Res Artis supports and connects residencies, promotes and advocates for the importance of residencies in contemporary society, and provides recommendations on research and cultural mobility policies.
Zapravka is an inter-institutional initiative to support the art residencies of the Ukrainian Institute, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the European Union's House of Europe programme, which was founded in 2020. Zapravka aims to:
— raise awareness of Ukrainian art residencies both within the country and abroad;
— raising professional standards for residency programmes in Ukraine;
— informing the Ukrainian and international professional community about opportunities available to artists, curators and other professionals in the field of art and culture.
