NGO Docudays, together with the Ukraine War Archive team, is organizing an interdisciplinary art lab, LAB: DOCU/SYNTHESIS x Ukraine War Archive.Within this Lab, several art projects and documentary films dedicated to the subjects of memory and cultural heritage preservation are planned to be created. The team invites you to the project presentation in Kyiv and announces an open call for artists.

The Lab presentation will take place on 31 July at 7:00 p.m. at the Dovzhenko Center. The program includes a project presentation by Lab curator Oleksandra Nabiieva, a Q&A session on the regulations and open competition for artists, and a screening of a film from the Witnesses series, created by the Ukraine War Archive team. Admission is free.

Ukrainian artists of various profiles are invited to participate in the project. Over several months, they will work on their creations together with the curator and mentors. The program also includes a workshop for participants, a budget for idea implementation, and an author's fee.

The application form is already available at the link. Applications must be submitted by 30 September 2024.

The initiative began with the creation of the Ukraine War Archive: in response to the full-scale invasion, NGO Docudays, in partnership with the British organization Infoscope, established a digital platform to systematise and securely store video, audio, photo, and text evidence of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Based on these materials, the team creates art projects that serve as powerful tools of cultural diplomacy. This year, the work will take place within the framework of the Interdisciplinary Art Lab. The outcome will be 5 art pieces and 3 documentary films. The subject is working with memory and preserving cultural heritage.

"Within the Lab, we are scaling up the artistic work with the documentary materials of the Ukraine War Archive, which took place during the 20th and 21st Docudays UA. The installations Outside the Window by media artist Yevhen Arlov (2023) and Anthology of Ukrainian Cuisine by Volodymyr Kuznetsov (2024) were created on the same principle. This time, our focus is on cultural heritage and memory—topics whose relevance has been heightened even more by the war. There are different opinions on whether we can postpone the reflection on our archives for later, leaving it to future generations. Undoubtedly, for certain areas, distance is critically necessary. However, I am convinced that following only this path means not only shifting our own work and responsibility but also losing an incredible number of nuances, meanings, and worlds. The fabric of memory is capricious and requires meticulousness and attention, but also imagination, search, and visionary approach," comments Oleksandra Nabieva on the project's challenges and goals.

The exhibition and film premieres will take place at the 22nd Docudays UA in Kyiv in June 2025. After the Lab concludes, the artworks will continue their journey across European countries.

"We are waiting for artists and directors ready to explore, reflect, and experiment with means of artistic expression. Besides the necessary foundation, the Lab provides unique tools for this, such as access to the exclusive media database of the Ukraine War Archive, support from an international team of experts throughout the process, a thematic educational module, and platforms for presenting art projects both in Ukraine and abroad," says Oleksandra Nabiieva.

Follow all updates about The Lab on Instagram.

This material was presented by NGO Docudays as part of the Engage Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact in Ukraine. The content of this material is the sole responsibility of Pact and its partners and does not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or the U.S. government.

NGO Docudays is a non-profit non-governmental organization. Its goal is to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, affirm the understanding of human dignity as the highest value, increase the level of civic activity in Ukraine, and promote the development of documentary cinema.

Ukraine War Archive is a non-commercial partnership platform for storing digital data, which creates a unified registry of materials related to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was established in collaboration between NGO Docudays and the British organization Infoscope.

Should you have any questions, please email us at: [email protected]