„Art in service and grassroots activism in Ukraine” – a debate

Saturday, the 27th of May, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m., the Big Stage of Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw; translation from Ukrainian to Polish. 

➤ moderator: Taras Gembik 

➤ participants: 
– Alona Karavai – co-founder of several artistic organizations, including Insha Osvita
– Sashko Protyah – Ukrainian filmmaker and grassroots activist, member of Freefilmers collective from Mariupol
– Livyj Bereh collective.

This meeting is co-organized with "Sunflower", the Solidarity Culture Centre. 

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the war has forced the Ukrainian cultural sector to redefine its actions and optics. Some people in the artistic community are fighting in the front lines, others are saving their heritage and conducting cultural diplomacy. Most of the cultural workers have become activists, providing humanitarian help and volunteering. How to support collectives and grassroots organizations that co-create a decentralized system of mutual help and support? How to create long-term solutions at a time of war and various crises?

During the debate, we will listen to a representative of Livyj Bereh collective (a grassroots activist organization that rebuilt over 100 roofs destroyed by the artillery in Kharkiv province during the winter), Sashko Protyah from the Freemilmers collective from Mariupol (online), Alona Karavai, a co-creator of a dozen grassroots cultural organizations, including Insha Osvita that saves Ukrainian heritage, and an activist from Insight NGO, a foundation that brings help to the people of LGBTQ+ community. The host will be Taras Gembik, an activist and poet, a co-founder of "Sunflower", Solidarity Culture Center. "Sunflower" was created as a crisis solidarity and support center in the first days after the war broke out. Right now it functions as an open, multilingual, and multicultural culture center by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.