“The War Didn’t Come to Me, I Came to It"

Dear all, I am very pleased to share the project I am currently developing from Kyiv, Ukraine.

“The War Didn’t Come to Me, I Came to It" is an artistic response to the ecosocial uncertainties situated in the Dnipro River. This project departs from the river’s ecosystem and its tangled complexities immersed on the ongoing war.

"The War Didn't Come to me, I came to it" is a sentence I have been repeating for the last years, when I have been coming to Ukraine. It is overall a statement based on the "privilege" to have came to the war by choice, rather than a war coming to me, where choices might not exist. It remarks how different those positions are.
During this placement, I am creating a body of artwork based on this situated experience as well as developing a series of collective invitations in the Dnipro River in the area of Kyiv city titled as:

"Dnipro River: Ecosocial Belonging in Wartime"
This collective artistic space focuses on poetic-political encounters with the Dnipro River, aiming to generate connections beyond human to explore ecosocial uncertainties in times of russian full scale invasion of Ukraine. This river is the main artery of this country providing life, however, during this war it also became a border, a front line of aggression. The river is a direct witness of this war.

During this project, there will be a series of collective artistic activities to explore the more-than-human interdependency on an ecosystem at risk. We will tackle not only its pain and fragilities but its natural resilience and biodiversity. We will use our “body of water” to listen deeply to its testimony and sense of grief, to reimagine our humans connections while thinking about ecosocial justice. And most importantly, we will take a breath together and expand networks while the war is still ongoing.”

This project is granted by "Culture Moves Europe" and develop in partnership with NGO "Insha Osvita"​, without this support the project wouldn’t have been possible, thank you.

WEBSITE: https://sites.google.com/view/dnipro-riverbelonging/

I would like to invite you to navigate in the website created for this project, an ongoing blog-platform for communication and exchange. If you are interested in following further steps check regularly, it will be in constant change, updated daily.

If you are in Kyiv and are interested in the project or willing to participate in activities, there is a recently published calendar with the next activities you can register in COLLECTIVE ACTIVITIES or write in CONTACT to keep you updated. Please share along!

#artisticresearch #DniproRiver #Kyiv #Ukraine #sociallyengagedartpractice #transdisciplinaryspaces #collectivecreation #artplacement #TheWarDidntCometomeIcametoit #DniproRiverEcosocialBelonginginWartime #CultureMovesEurope #InshaOsvita.