CEC ArtsLink

“SURVIVING SHADOWS”, exhibition at apexart NYC | JAN 16 to MAR 14

Bruno Ambregni — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:57:45 +0000

“If an entire nation’s artistic voice is compelled to keep silent, what will happen? A voice doesn’t just vanish away though, it changes and sings below the surface and finds new kinds of codes.”

It’s with these words that Afghan artist Yama Rahimi presents “Surviving Shadows – Afghan Art in the Face of Suppression” opening this week on January 16th 2026 at apexart in NYC.

This exhibition, curated by Yama, presents images of pieces that were destroyed, artworks that remain in Afghanistan, art smuggled out of the country, and creations of Afghan artists in exile. One of the 2024 ArtsLink Fellows who did their residencies in the US (At Magnum Foundation for him), Yama is a contemporary artist and activist from Afghanistan. His work is informed by a deep involvement in migrant and women’s rights issues and encompasses video, conceptual photography, and experimental short film. Yama has been living in Germany since 2015.

In the wake of the Taliban’s return to power on August 15, 2021, Afghanistan’s artists found themselves thrust into a suffocating darkness. Overnight, the spaces where creativity once flourished were shuttered, replaced by a regime of censorship that views artistic expression as a threat. Music fell silent, performances ceased, and cultural heritage sites faced destruction. For those who dared to create, art became both salvation and peril: a means of liberation that could cost them everything.

This exhibition bears witness to an artistic community torn apart yet unbroken. It tells the story of artists forced to make impossible choices: some fled to Germany, France, and the United States, clutching fragments of their work; others remain in Afghanistan, creating in secret despite the mortal danger. Many destroyed their own pieces to protect their families, while countless works were lost to looting, deliberate destruction, or abandoned in desperate flight. Yet through it all, Afghan art survives, hidden in safe houses, smuggled across borders, preserved in photographs, or reimagined in exile.

Yama’s curation presents a haunting archive of resistance. Here are images of destroyed masterpieces, works that remain concealed within Afghanistan’s borders, art carried in suitcase journeys to freedom, and new creations born in displacement. Through paintings, photographs, videos, text, and personal testimonies gathered during harrowing evacuations, the exhibition documents not just oppression, but the extraordinary resilience of those who refuse to be silenced. It is a living archive that ensures Afghan artists’ voices will endure, honoring both those who stayed and those who left, while preserving their creative struggle for future generations to understand the contemporary Afghan artistic landscape.

“Surviving Shadows – Afghan Art in the Face of Suppression”
Opening Friday, January 16, 6pm – 8pm
apexart: 291 Church St. New York, NY 10013
On view until March 14, 2026

With:
Angela Gulistani
Ayatollah Ahmadi
Jahan Ara Rafi
Jeanno Gaussi
Maryam Gholam Ali
Fatimah Hossaini
Farshad Akbari
Waisuddin Mohammadi
10 Anonymous Afghanistan based artists

Events in relation to the exhibition

Jan 16th, 3pm EST: Online Curatorial Tour
Lead by Yama Rahimi, a live online event presenting and discussing the exhibition.
More info here.

Feb 10th, 1pm EST: Inside, Outside, and In Between: Afghan Artists on Art Under Suppression
Discussion: Artists from Afghanistan and the diaspora speak on creativity and survival under repression.
More info here.

Mar 5th, 7pm: Shot the Voice of Freedom
Screening and discussion of Shot the Voice of Freedom, a documentary following two Afghan sisters who resist the Taliban’s harsh restrictions on their rights and futures.
More info here.

The post “SURVIVING SHADOWS”, exhibition at apexart NYC | JAN 16 to MAR 14 appeared first on CEC ArtsLink.

In Residence, a 2025 Fellowships Journal

Bruno Ambregni — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:53:06 +0000

This October, our five ArtsLink International Fellows have embarked on their in-person residencies with host organizations across the US. Hailing from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Ukraine, these artists will spend the next five weeks immersed in exchanges, collaborations, and lasting connections.

“In Residence” is a live journal documenting the fellows’ experiences firsthand. Updated regularly with their photos and words, it serves as a collective chronicle of five weeks spent in unfamiliar territory—discovering new cultural landscapes while weaving bonds over common threads

QUICK LINKS
Week 1 – Arrivals
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Arrivals - October 6th

Olha Filonchuk has arrived in Kansas, a long way from home in Ukraine, to start her residency at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at University of Kansas – hosted by Vitaly Chernetsky.

Another fellow from Ukraine, artist Diana Berg, is settling into sunny Santa Ana, California – where her residency at Grand Central Art Center with host John D. Spiak is just beginning.

Meanwhile in Ohio, Kazakh artist and DJ Sabina Fattakh has made their way to Cleveland, where they received a warm welcome from M. Carmen Lane at ATNSC: Center for Healing and Creative Leadership, the host venue for their residency.

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Sabina and their host Carmen hit the ground running on their first day, visiting galleries, community spaces around Cleveland, and the Cleveland Institute of Art while making valuable connections.

All photos by ATNSC

Video by Sabina Fattakh

Meanwhile on the East Coast, Diana Rakhmanova, a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and journalist, from Tajikistan, is settling in to dynamic and cross-cultural New York City as she embarks on her residency with Nova Benway at Triangle. Founded in 1982 by a collective of artists seeking to foster international creative exchange, Triangle has established itself as a prestigious visual arts residency that supports artists from around the globe.

Week 2: Connections, Public Events, and more

In New York, Diana Rahmanova, is experiencing a rich series of meetings with artists, researchers, and curators, organised by her host organisation, Triangle.

“Each encounter is a seperate world of experience, experimentation, and inspiration“
shares Diana.

First meeting for Diana was with Finnish artist Harriina Räinä.
Diana shares: “Her artistic practice is rooted in close relationships with the land and multispecies life. Harriina explores embodiment, materiality, and the interactions between humans and animals.

Her projects address the cultural and geological meanings of iron (Planetary Beings), the impact of commercial oyster farming (Volatile Shells & Clutch), the role of animal-based materials in the history of printmaking (The Other as Matter), and her personal experience within the moose hunting tradition (Visage & Hunted).

Each work becomes a dialogue with nature and the memory of matter.”

Diana then gets to meet Frank Wang Yefeng, and shares: “He/they is an interdisciplinary artist working with 3D animation, video, and installation.

His poetic digital worlds explore migration, identity, and the feeling of being “in-between” — between cultures, spaces, and times.

Born in Shanghai and holding an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he is now based between Rhode Island and New York.

His upcoming project Desert Garden will be featured at Art Basel Hong Kong 2025.“

*****

A week into their residencies, several Fellows are already participating in local events, thanks to connections made with their hosts since arriving.

Maka took part in the Art Spark TX Radio Hour, hosted on KOOP 91.7FM, Austin’s community radio station. The Radio Hour featuring Maka aired on Monday, October 13th with a replay now available, listen it here.

Up north in Ohio, Sabina Fattakh was scheduled to speak at Cleveland Institute of Art‘s LOF (Lunch on Fridays) on Friday, October 17th. The public got the opportunity to spend their lunch hour with Sabina as she shared insights into Kazakhstan’s local art scene from the perspective of both a practitioner and co-founder of KEREGE Central Asia, the Kazakh art platform actively building this community in Almaty.

Sabina felt genuinely moved by how committed and engaged the audience was, asking thoughtful questions that created meaningful moments of connection.
The following day, Sabina provided introductory remarks for a special screening of Fall of Otrar (1991), a Soviet-era Kazakhstani historical epic organized by the Cleveland Cinematheque.

Diana Rahmanova has continued attending enriching artist meetings organized by her host Triangle Arts in New York.
This third encounter was with S. Proski, a blind/disabled artist, writer, and educator.

“Their practice engages with personal experiences of blindness through painting, textiles, sculpture, and text, with the aim of challenging the bias towards vision in art. Their work foregrounds the complexities of blind culture, its relationship to vision and language, and the embedded hierarchical structures that prioritize the ocularcentric. Proski negotiates the state of being blind, situated within the cross-contamination of material, exploring sensorially new modes of perception beyond the visual.” shares Diana.

In Santa Ana, Diana Berg attended a dinner hosted by her residency host, John Spiak, where she met a vibrant group of local artists and forged connections that promise exciting collaborations in the coming weeks. Already scheduled for Diana is the screening of MEMORIUPOL, a selection of short films dedicated to raising awareness about the city of Mariupol, Ukraine – Diana will present and facilitate the subsequent discussion.

For Diana, the story of Mariupol is deeply personal. Originally from Donetsk, she moved to Mariupol and made a new home there after Donetsk was occupied by pro-russian forces in 2014. In the early days of the full-scale war in 2022, Russian troops surrounded Mariupol, besieging it for three months. Barely escaping the occupation, Diana was forced to relocate to Kyiv. Now largely destroyed, with many residential buildings no longer habitable, Mariupol remains under Russian occupation.

Thursday, October 23 | 6PM | Grand Central Art Center

In the Midwest, Olha has deepened her understanding of Kansas, Indigenous traditions, and the local Ukrainian community through gallery and museum visits organized by her host, Vitaly Chernetsky. Her research into the sunflower’s shared symbolism for both Kansas and Ukraine has led to a fruitful collaboration with the rare books and archives department at the University of Kansas.

Week 3: Sunflowers, events and more connections

In parallel with the preparation of the screening and discussion around Memoriupol, Diana Berg was also actively involved on the conception and planning of a pop-up exhibition, The Alchemy of Memories and Traumas.
Prepared in collaboration with Antonio Palomo AG, an El Salvador born Santa Ana local artist, the exhibition will be a ritualistic journey through loss, memory, and healing. This show is the result of a rich residency at Grand Central Art Center.

The duo of artists shares more details about their project:
“The show explores esoteric practices and alchemy as methods for processing trauma. Through both personal works and collaborations (…) the exhibition exposes the shocking similarities in stories of pain and the absurd contrasts between war and peace, creating a space for communal healing.

The show is an alchemical laboratory: here, sand from a site of tragedy meets the waters of ocean, Orthodox domes are transformed into memorial candles, and shattered memories are given new form. This is an honest and raw look at trauma from different angles, exploring the surreal contrasts of our time and the magic essential for survival.”
More info about the project

Opening Reception Saturday, November 1, 2025 | 7 – 10pm

Maka had a packed week in Austin with her residency host, Art Spark Texas, filled with meetings and studio visits. One of the highlights of the week was the Elements Dance monthly class, for which the guest dance teacher was none other than Maka.

Elements Dance class is an inclusive and accessible dance workshop, free and open to all adults. Bringing disabled and non-disabled dancers together, these classes are prodigious events for the local community. This was a perfect fit for Maka, who uses the performing arts to foster connection and understanding among marginalized and underrepresented communities.

“We had a wonderful movement workshop with the Art Spark community members on Saturday! During the workshop, we explored and developed our individual, unique movement vocabularies, which eventually transformed into a spontaneous shared performance.” shared Maka.

Ohla‘s residency has allowed her to dig deep into the history of Kansas, pre- and post-colonial, and specifically research the connection between her homeland, Ukraine, and the Midwestern state. The following Fellowship Notes give a good idea of how galvanizing the last weeks have been. Find Ohla’s notes with each photo.

Handwoven (~100 years old) cloth from Ukraine dyed with sunflower seeds — this particular species was used by Indigenous peoples for centuries to dye fabric.

The local native sunflowers. These are among the plants that once came from North America to Europe. They used to grow like this along the roadsides and became a state symbol almost as soon as Kansas was founded.

The sunflowers we know in Ukraine— and some pears from my yard. People here usually don’t grow fruit trees around their houses, so these pears are eaten only by me and the squirrels.

The Lawrence Historical Museum — a book from the early 20th century.

The Legend of the Sunflower, published in 1913. Spenser Research Library

The sunflower was also a symbol of the suffragist movement in Kansas. Original badge from the Spencer Research Library (they collect artifacts as well)

A botany lecture for students who study textile and natural dyeing. You might not have known (I didn’t either) — the center of the sunflower consists of dozens of tiny flowers that later turn into seeds, while the petals we call “the flower” serve only an attractive, signaling function.

Marigolds I collected myself are now dyeing threads that I plan to use in the visual of the project.

The result: indigo, marigold, Osage orange tree

Greetings from Kansas!

Ohla will also give an artist talk on Tuesday, October 28, hosted by the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Kansas. The talk, “Tracing Connections: We Once Were A Garden,” offers another valuable opportunity for our Fellow to engage with the local community.

In New York, Diana Rakhmanova, has had no respite from her previously busy schedule, lining up meetings with local artists and visits to key places throughout the city and beyond thanks to the team at Triangle: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Beacon, and even Philadelphia.

Week 4: Talks, Exhibitions, and Transnational collaboration

In Lawrence, Kansas, Olha’s artist talk, “We Once Were a Garden,” drew an engaged audience and created a space for meaningful exchange.
The presentation’s exploration of themes surrounding homeland, loss, and transformation resonated across diverse backgrounds, prompting deep discussions and fostering unexpected connections among attendees who discovered shared experiences and emotions in the work.

***

A fantastic connection across continents happened in Cleveland, Ohio, thanks to the mentoring of M. Carmen Lane: a Colombian cellist met a DJ from Kazakhstan! Sabina Fattakh and Carolina Borja-Marroquin connected in preparation for the 5-year anniversary of ATNSC.

“We got together to jam and a sharp magic appeared. They were fluid and deep conversations with music and words

We discovered how the ancestral fabric manifested in our cultures conspired for this “juntanza” (Collaboration)

Sharing our creations in a small private gathering organized by M. Carmen Lane for those who have attended and supported ATNSC in their first 5 years of life.”
shared Carolina. (translated)

We are looking forward to hearing Sabina DJ in New York on November 7th, for the end of her Fellowship, at our ArtsLink Assembly 2025.
Tickets are on sale, don’t miss out if you are around.

***

Following her successful Elements Dance class in Austin, Maka continued building connections with the local community through a second impactful event. On November 3rd, Salvage Vanguard Theater, a non-profit experimental theater and performance art company, hosted an evening of talks and short film screenings at Crashbox, focusing on inclusive performance practices.

At the event the short documentary In C – Tbilisi, was screened, which captures the making of a performance produced by InForm, based on the choreography of Sasha Waltz and music by Terry Riley. Directed by Mariam Chachia, the film follows a diverse group of performers as they explore rhythm, movement, and connection, each expressing dancein their own unique way.

After the screening, Maka shared insights from InForm’s work in developing inclusive performance practices that rethink participation, authorship, and the body in contemporary performing arts. The discussion explored how artistic collaboration can challenge social barriers and expand creative possibilities.

***

Diana Berg’s pop-up exhibition with Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, The Alchemy of Memories and Traumas, was a sounding success that drew captivated local crowds to Diana and her collaborator Antonio Paloma deep reflexion on memory and healing.

“I wanna shout out my story — not my story, but the story of Ukraine, the story of what we are going through, the story of how we are surviving,” Berg said to Greggory Ferraro from the Daily Titan. “I’m so ready to talk about it, about Mariupul, about how people were dying in front of us, how bombs were — it was a survival horror.”

Read the full article on the Daily Titan website.

***

Diana Rakhmanova’s short trip from New York to Philadelphia proved to be rich in discoveries and impactful sightings. She shared some of her field notes:

“This exhibition became one of the most memorable discoveries of my recent travels.
It presents the legacy of Moki Cherry (1943–2009) — a groundbreaking Swedish artist who blurred the lines between art and everyday life. Her practice united textiles, performance, teaching, and community — transforming daily routines into creative acts.“

“What struck me most is how, while being a Swedish artist, Moki Cherry drew deeply from Eastern culture and philosophy. Her works reveal harmony, rhythm, and symbolism that connect material and spirit — something that resonates deeply with my own interest in textiles, reuse, and the poetry of fabric. Bright, layered, and full of warmth, this exhibition reminds us that creativity can live not only in objects but in the way we inhabit the world.”

In Philly, Diana went to the exhibition “Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images” at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Diana shared her thoughts:
“In a world ruled by white men, she — an African American artist of Jamaican origin — entered quietly, fearlessly. Not through protest, but through form.
Each line she drew was an act of strength and visibility.
Pusey turned steel and concrete into the poetry of cities — paintings that breathe, move, and renew.”

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Connections Taking Flight: Meet the 2025 ArtsLink International Fellows and Hosts

Bruno Ambregni — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 16:06:14 +0000

Our 2025 ArtsLink International Fellows are completing their online residencies and preparing for in-person collaborations this fall. Five accomplished artists from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Ukraine have been working closely with their US host organizations to develop projects for their upcoming residencies.

Over the past weeks, Fellows have built strong working relationships with their hosts, refined their proposals, and skecthed project timelines. The virtual preparation phase has allowed them to establish the basis for fruitful collaborations before arriving in the United States.

Starting in October, each artist will spend five weeks at their host organization across the continental US. These residencies will focus on practice development, cultural exchange, and collaborative projects that connect international and American artistic communities.

The program moves from digital planning to hands-on creation this fall.

Olha Filonchuk and host Vitaly Chernetsky at the University of Kansas.

Olha is a multidisciplinary artist, theater set and costume designer, and art teacher from Ukraine. Her current practice focuses on visual, multidisciplinary art, working with refugee communities to explore topics of forced migration, issues of national and cultural identity, and human-nature relationships using documentary data and oral history in installations, artbooks, and assemblages.

Originally from Kyiv, Olha temporarily moved to Thuringen, Germany, in 2022 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Her artistic evolution from theater designer to multidisciplinary artist addressing displacement reflects her personal journey while creating meaningful work that gives voice to refugee experiences and preserves cultural narratives through contemporary art practices.

Olha’s ArtsLink International Fellowship this year is hosted by the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Kansas, a program renowned for its interdisciplinary approach to Slavic and Eastern European cultures, literature, and arts.

The Fellowship is stewarded by Vitaly Chernetsky, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Kansas. A native of Odesa, Ukraine, Vitaly brings a deep understanding of Ukrainian culture and the broader East European region to his work. His research explores modern and contemporary cultures of Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe through literature, film, and popular culture in comparative and interdisciplinary contexts.
Beyond academia, Vitaly is passionate about bridging cultures through translation, having translated two novels and a poetry collection by Yuri Andrukhovych and a comprehensive poetry volume by Ostap Slyvynsky from Ukrainian into English. His prizewinning book “Mapping Postcommunist Cultures: Russia and Ukraine in the Context of Globalization” demonstrates his commitment to understanding cultural transformations in the region. As the 2024 President of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), he actively fosters international scholarly dialogue about the region Olha calls home.

Diana Rakhmanova and her host Nova Benway, Triangle Arts Association in NYC.

Diana is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, art manager, researcher, and journalist from Tajikistan. The founder of PF Cultural Center “Kuduk” in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, she curates educational projects on eco-art, data-art and art management in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. She creates installations, discussions and cooking-together happenings considering food as an art language of cultural exchange.

Diana has explored complex historical narratives through experimental theater: in 2021 she wrote and directed “Accord” (en. “Chord”) which tells the story of the civil war in Tajikistan and its impact on art and culture. Her work was exhibited in Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and USA and included as part of the DAVRA collective at Documenta fifteen. She participated in art residencies in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia.

Diana’s ArtsLink International Fellowship this year is hosted by Triangle Arts Association, an artist residency founded in NYC in 1982. Through year-round residencies for local and international artists and curators, Triangle builds an enduring global network of arts professionals.

The Fellowship is stewarded by Nova Benway, Executive Director of Triangle Arts Association. Nova previously served as a curator at The Drawing Center in New York City. She co-directed Open Sessions, a two-year residency/exhibition hybrid program organized with local, national, and international artists, supporting drawing practices in relation to film, architecture, sculpture, music, and other interdisciplinary approaches. At Triangle, Nova oversees artist studios hosting local and international artists, as well as public programs that foster critical dialogue and cross-cultural exchange within the global arts community.

Diana Berg and her host John D. Spiak, at Grand Central Art Center in California.

Diana is an artist, curator, and cultural manager from Ukraine. From Donetsk to Mariupol to Kyiv, she has transformed her practice from activist to artist amidst war and displacement. Founder of Mariupol’s Platform Tu, she has been working with gender inequality and human rights issues through art, persisting in activism and cultural preservation after being displaced twice by war.

Diana’s work exploring topics of memory and war has gained national and international recognition. At documenta fifteen, she coordinated the 3-day Ukrainian program. She is currently developing a project on the environmental crises in the east of Ukraine affected by Russian ecocide, committed to leveraging art for social justice and environmental awareness.

Diana’s ArtsLink International Fellowship this year is hosted by Grand Central Art Center, established in 1994 as a collaboration between the City of Santa Ana and Cal State Fullerton’s College of the Arts. The center is dedicated to the exploration of contemporary art and visual culture through socially engaged collaborations among artists, students, and the community.

The Fellowship is led by John D. Spiak, Director and Chief Curator at Grand Central Art Center. His curatorial emphasis is on contemporary art and society, with a focus on works in socially engaged practices and video. Previously serving as curator at Arizona State University’s ASU Art Museum, John brings extensive experience in contemporary art curation and community engagement to his role at GCAC.

Sabina Fattakh and them host M. Carmen Lane at ATNSC in Cleveland

Sabina navigates her creative journey through a decolonial and feminist lens, challenging hegemonic narratives while celebrating her cultural heritage. Her DJ sets serve as a form of cultural resistance, blending traditional Kazakh melodies with contemporary beats, reclaiming spaces and narratives often silenced by colonial histories. Embracing her identity as a Qumalaqshi, she incorporates traditional nomadic divination practices into her performances, grounding her art in ancestral knowledge. Through her work, Sabina advocates for decolonization and inclusivity, working towards a world where diverse voices are heard and valued.

As an ArtsLink Fellow 2025, Sabina will be hosted by ATNSC: Center for Healing & Creative Leadership in the historic Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood of Cleveland, OH.
ATNSC is a socially engaged, multidisciplinary and artist-led residency, retreat, research and exhibition space, focusing on interdisciplinary, socially-engaged programs rooted in fostering relationships, lifelong learning and the significance of the environment.

M. Carmen Lane, a two-spirit African-American and Haudenosaunee (Mohawk/Tuscarora) artist, writer and facilitator, founder and director of ATNSC. Carmen’s work explores ancestry, legacy, and spirituality, making this an ideal partnership for exploring cross-cultural artistic practices and community healing through creative expression.

Maka Chkhaidze and her host Silva Laukkanen at Art Spark Texas

Originaly from Georgia and with a background in theater, Maka’s primary interest lies in researching and using performing art as a tool in building relations between disconnected, underrepresented groups of society. In 2022, Maka founded a non-profit organization in Tbilisi InForm – Platform for Inclusive Minds (@inform_pim), that promotes disability-inclusive art practices.
Maka’s innovative approach to cultural management combines her theatrical training with curatorial expertise, creating bridges between diverse social groups through the transformative power of performance. Her work focuses on amplifying voices that are often excluded from mainstream cultural discourse, using art as a catalyst for social change and community building.

As an ArtsLink Fellow 2025, Maka is hosted by Art Spark Texas in Austin, a pioneering organization that challenges perceptions of disability through the arts. Art Spark Texas empowers artists of all abilities and ages through programs in visual art, dance, performance, and storytelling.

Her host, Silva Laukkanen, is Director of Integrated Dance at Art Spark Texas. With over 20 years of experience in inclusive performance and dance education, Silva has led nationally recognized programs that connect dancers of all abilities through technique, improvisation, and narrative. She is also a founding member of Body Shift, an integrated dance collective in Austin, and is widely respected for her work in access-focused choreography and disability justice in the arts.

We are grateful to the ArtsLink Fellow Monika Požek (@meetsharedance,) who met and collaborated with Art Spark Texas during her Fellowship in 2022, for helping us connect Maka and Silva. We love it when such deep and lasting ties strengthen our artists and partners!

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Beyond Greener Grass: A Consolidated Summary

Bruno Ambregni — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 13:56:11 +0000

The conversations didn’t end when ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass concluded on May 24 in Lviv. Today, we’re releasing the full consolidated summary – a curated collection by event speaker Katya Taylor, of the most valuable insights, innovative ideas, and practical solutions shared by our speakers and participants.

This comprehensive reflection ensures that the knowledge exchanged during our event can continue to inform future planning and strategies within the Ukrainian cultural field and by outside funding agencies and institutions.

Before diving into the full summary, you can also get a quick overview of the gathering’s key takeaways with the below highlights.

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Beyond Greener Grass: A Drawing Response by Alevtina Kakhidze

Bruno Ambregni — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 17:51:58 +0000

ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass, on May 23 & 24, 2025, at the Jam Factory Art Center in Lviv gathered key artists and cultural leaders in Ukraine and those displaced abroad. The Assembly was a platform for sharing critical ideas, building networks of support, exploring implementation plans and initiating a new cultural ecology for Ukraine and its new diaspora.

Throughout the two day event Ukrainian artist, event speaker and ArtsLink alum Alevtina Kakhidze made a series of spontaneous drawings as the issues and ideas were being discussed during the sessions. Working with markers on an easel pad, Alevtina’s witty and inspired art works added incisive comment and poignant reflection to the discussions.

During the Assembly a call to support a new local museum initiative in Lviv prompted Alevtina to offer the drawings for sale, raising over 18000 UAH for the cause.

All images copyright Alevtina Kakhidze

ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass
Lviv, May 23 & 24, 2025

A Drawing Response

Alevtina Khakhidze

–
From left to right:

1. Decolonization Guide. Points of view of a former empire (British) and a former colony (Ukraine).

2. 3 years for 10,000 words

3. We all f*cked up!? War 2014-2025

4. Transnational relation

5. To profit from our great war

6. Future cultural recovery. Zero.

7. After the air raid siren we continue. It was the russian MiG airplane.

8. Culture is not edible but we are hungry for art

9. I don’t understand Vanya’s art

10. I am not an encyclopedia

11. Ukrainians: we all f*cked up

12. 2025 calendar. Ukrainians are people first of all! Art from Ukraine is a rocket.

13. Writer from North America: Oh so scary here.

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Beyond Greener Grass: A Speaker Spotlight

Bruno Ambregni — Mon, 19 May 2025 15:37:45 +0000

With the ArtsLink Assembly Beyond Greener Grass quickly approaching, we’re shining a light on the voices shaping Ukraine’s cultural present and future. On May 23–24, artists, curators, and cultural leaders are coming together at Lviv’s Jam Factory Art Center to share strategies, stories, and solidarity.

In this installment of our Speaker Spotlight series, we introduce Les Vynogradov—Ukrainian cultural producer, musician, and game designer from Kyiv. Les’s multifaceted career reflects his commitment to advancing Ukrainian culture through various mediums.

Les serves as a project manager at Kyiv Contemporary Music Days (KCMD), where he oversees the Instrumental and Per Forma grant programs and the Contemporary Classical Music Portfolio UA. He is also the co-founder of the Zapravka Initiative, which supports art residencies.

Previously, Les held the position of Head of Visual Art at the Ukrainian Institute, where he was instrumental in launching programs such as the EXTER residency, the Visualise exhibition support program, and “Ukraine Everywhere,” an initiative promoting Ukrainian visual culture online.

As a fellow of Initiative Neue Musik Berlin (INM) through the Weltoffenes Berlin program, Les contributed a monthly column titled “Follow the Fellow,” sharing insights into his experiences and explorations in Berlin.

In the realm of digital arts, Les co-founded Heden Smugglers, an indie game studio developing the adventure game “Hedenite.” Musically, he performs under the solo project “anom” and is a member of the doom metal band Vin de Mia Trix.

CEC: Why do you think a gathering like this is especially important right now?
LV: I think it’s crucial to have gatherings like this regularly—to catch up, exchange latest perspectives, and coordinate our next steps. The protracted Russian war and its constantly shifting threats have robbed Ukrainians of the capacity to plan long-term, but outside of Ukraine, we, and especially our international partners, have that privilege. We are long past the emergency reaction schemes and stop-gap measures: At this point, it should be abundantly clear that this major war in Europe is not going away anytime soon, and we all need shared visions of how to resist—and ultimately stop—the Russian aggression in the long run. And in that sense, sustaining multi-year initiatives such as Beyond Greener Grass, which allows monitoring the rapidly evolving situation in the culture field on an ongoing basis, adjusting our strategies, and continuing to foster solidarity across the borders, is indispensable.
The present moment, however gloomy and uncertain, is yet another stage of a war Ukrainians have been forced to fight for over ten years now. The newly found sense of urgency and attention brought to Ukraine by the recent political events should be channeled toward reinforcing lasting processes of resilience.

CEC: How does your work seek to address today’s geopolitical context?
LV: In an increasingly hostile and divided world, we try to keep conversations going, making things together, and creating added value.
With Kyiv Contemporary Music Days, we have been focusing on two major tracks. On the one hand, we do co-productions with international partners that typically involve non-Ukrainian musicians (occasionally featuring a Ukrainian soloist) performing music by Ukrainian composers, often commissioned by us, alongside pieces from other countries. That way, we aim to represent the Ukrainian scene, not as an exhibit to be showcased, but rather as an equal partner in creating meanings together with European colleagues.
On the other hand, we seek to establish contacts with institutions across Europe that are willing to strengthen their collaboration with Ukraine. This has allowed us to create multiple opportunities for Ukrainian artists through grant programs such as Instrumental and Per Forma.
With Hedenite, the video game I am developing with artists Anna Ivanenko and Jenya Polosina and programmer Nazar Mazur, we are telling a story about stolen history and finding your agency in a fundamentally unjust world. While it is heavily inspired by our native Kyiv and draws from the Ukrainian experience, it’s a story we hope to have a universal appeal thanks to the original aesthetic, fantasy worldbuilding, and fun game mechanics.
So, our response to the current geopolitical context is more empathy, critical thinking, and solidarity.

CEC: What conversations and project ideas are you hoping to spark (or continue) from this Assembly?
LV: I am excited to share our recent experience of international cooperation, but what I am most curious about is hearing from colleagues from Ukraine and getting updates on their projects. We are all involved in multiple initiatives at once and usually don’t have time to take a step back, discuss it all, and compare our perspectives as they evolve. And yet these conversations usually prove to be very fruitful. I hope we can take the discussions from where we left them last year at the Beyond Greener Grass workshop in Berlin and expand on these ideas.

Many thanks Les for taking the time and taking part in the Beyond Greener Grass Assembly!

23–24 MAY 2025 | ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass
Jam Factory Art Center, Lviv, Ukraine

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Beyond Greener Grass – Meet curator and cultural leader Katya Taylor

Bruno Ambregni — Sat, 17 May 2025 16:54:13 +0000

On May 23-24, ArtsLink Assembly Beyond Greener Grass gathers key artists and cultural leaders in Ukraine and those displaced abroad together with international partner organizations and funding agencies at Jam Factory Art Center.

In this series of articles we are presenting some of the brilliant minds that are taking part in the gathering in Lviv.

Today we are in discussion with Katya Taylor from Ukraine. A CEC ArtsLink alumna, Katya is an influential figure in Ukraine’s cultural landscape.

Find the entire event program here with the list of all the speakers and people who will be on stage during the 2 day gathering.

A curator, cultural strategist, and public diplomacy advisor dedicated to advancing contemporary Ukrainian culture and identity on both national and international stages, Katya is the founder and CEO of Port of Culture, a cultural development agency and NGO based in Kyiv. Established in 2015, the organization initially operated as a local hub but has since expanded its reach, executing cultural projects across various locations.

In addition to her work with Port of Culture, Katya also serves as an advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on Public Diplomacy. Her role involves shaping cultural narratives and promoting Ukraine’s cultural diplomacy efforts globally.

Through her work, Katya is advocating for the power of art and culture in forging national identity and fostering international dialogue. She has curated several significant cultural events and initiatives, including:

HeForShe Arts Week Kyiv (2018 & 2019): A UN Women initiative promoting gender equality through art.

Women in Arts Award: An award recognizing the achievements of women in the Ukrainian art scene.

Language Exercises: An exhibition in Baku exploring decolonization and the role of language in cultural identity.

Katya is also the author of the book “Turnkey Art: Management and Marketing of Culture”, which serves as a resource for cultural managers and artists navigating the complexities of the art world.

CEC: Why do you think a gathering like this is especially important right now?
KT: Meetings of artists, curators, institutions, and other art ecosystem participants are always important. Everyone constantly creates, generates ideas, and implements projects, and without interaction, the field remains fragmented, uneven, and unstable. This interaction not only improves understanding across circles but also helps unite efforts around common themes: often, people work on similar ideas and could amplify their voices by coming together.
Also, this gathering could form (and often does) a “one voice” of culture—a single message capable of driving environmental change, building capacity, fostering community, and even influencing legislation. When our voice represents a broader group’s interests, it becomes far more persuasive to external stakeholders.
Finally, “right now” is already the fourth year of [the full-scale invasion], when our society and international partners are tired of the Ukrainian narrative. That’s why we need a coordinated cultural strategy more than ever: to define what is priority and valuable, we must hear each other, understand how to support and strengthen specific ideas and projects. Without coordinated work by artists, curators and institutions, the dialogue remains fragmented and its impact limited.

CEC: How does your work seek to address today’s geopolitical context?
KT: During the first two years of the full-scale invasion (2022-2024), I was actively involved in international projects (The Captured House, Sound of Freedom, The Wall, War Diaries) that mostly focused on cultural and public diplomacy. It was a deliberate choice, because we (Port of Culture team) understood that the world needed to learn about Ukrainian culture and together with others, we tried to make it happen. This amplified Ukraine’s voice in the polyphony of global narratives and was crucial for remaining present in the news.
Over the past two years (2023-2005), I’ve devoted my work primarily to Ukraine. After those two years of projects in Europe and Africa, I returned to Ukraine to work with local communities and support Ukrainian artists. Within our foundation’s Artist Support Ukraine programme we awarded over 100 micro-grants, realized more than 40 exhibitions and projects that brought Ukrainian artists into collaborative laboratories and special initiatives, giving them room to develop and receive financial backing.
We organized a series of educational and cultural events across the regions—including frontline territories—for both institutions and the public.
We see our mission as clearly articulating what Ukrainian culture and art are today. We provide cultural and educational events (often for free) so that people are not merely spectators of exhibitions but feel themselves part of Ukrainian culture and identify with it. So each of us can become an agent—and an ambassador—of Ukrainian culture.

CEC: What conversations and project ideas are you hoping to spark (or continue) from this Assembly?
KT: I often come to Lviv for various art events, and we always talk about how to bring to Kyiv what’s already happening there. Lviv has truly become Ukraine’s cultural capital, showing that culture can flourish at an incredible pace when there’s security, political will, and a real understanding of its value. That example gave us hope and proved that systematic, strategic development is possible.
What I’d like to explore further is how to build similar professional communities and dynamic cultural environments in other Ukrainian cities—even within a wartime context. In Kharkiv we see a spontaneous, grassroots kind of growth driven by horizontal networks, while Zaporizhzhia demonstrates what dedicated municipal support can achieve. These two very different cases could serve as models for comprehensive cultural strategies elsewhere. We can learn from those cases, we can exchange ideas and build stronger, sustainable programmes together.
Above all, this assembly is a fantastic opportunity to pause, meet colleagues, and exchange ideas and news. In my day-to-day work I simply can’t keep up with every project or event in other cities, so here I finally get to give proper attention to what our peers are doing.

Many thanks to Katya for taking the time and taking part in the Beyond Greener Grass Assembly!

23–24 MAY 2025 | ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass
Jam Factory Art Center, Lviv, Ukraine

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On The Move Cultural Mobility Forum 2025

Bruno Ambregni — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 16:49:56 +0000

“In the face of today’s uncertainties, what is the future for those entering an artistic career?”

The focus of this year’s On the Move’s Cultural Mobility Forum is on the challenges associated with the international mobility of young and emerging arts and culture professionals.

CEC ArtsLink has been an active member of the On The Move Network since 2024 and we are looking forward to connecting with our peers at the annual forum held this coming April 29-30 in Riga, Latvia.

Each year On the Move proposes a Cultural Mobility Forum to collectively investigate international artistic and cultural mobility trends. As a unique knowledge platform, the network works together with its members and partners to design thematic panel discussions and contextualise global mobility issues.

“The Cultural Mobility Forum is vital for reimagining how artists and cultural professionals connect across borders. Each year it deepens our understanding, strengthens networks, and sparks the collaborations needed for a more open, inclusive cultural ecosystem. This year addressing the mobility of young and emerging stakeholders has never been more topical.”

– Bernardo Queirós, On The Move Communication Officer

29-30 April 2025
Riga, Latvia

You can explore the full program of the 2-day forum, and if interested you can register here to attend online.

Co-hosted by NÒDPC, Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture and in partnership with Riga Cirks and HowlRound, the Forum is co-funded by the European Union, part of the New Solidarities’ project (2025–2028).

Pre-Forum Webinars

In the lead-up to this year’s edition of the Cultural Mobility Forum, On The move has been organizing Pre-forum Webinars to bring together perspectives from a range of stakeholders to explore the theme of the international circulation of young and emerging arts professionals.
The outcomes of these webinars are contributing to shaping the overall programme of the 2025 forum and is a step towards building more sustainable cultural ecosystems.

Pre-forum Webinar #1: European Platforms for the Promotion of Emerging Artists
This first webinar focuses on the value of the European platforms for the promotion of emerging artists, exploring their achievements, limitations, and potential areas for improvement.

Pre-forum Webinar #2: International mobility funders supporting young and emerging arts workers
This second webinar spotlights initiatives from the Latvian Ministry of Culture, the Acción Cultural Española, and Ettijahat – dedicated to fostering the internationalisation of artistic practices.

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Distant Pairs at Beyond Greener Grass

Bruno Ambregni — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 08:13:31 +0000

Commissioning new collaborations between artists in disparate locations with restricted travel possibilities is the premise behind the Distant Pairs Series; a program that celebrates the potential of the collaborative process and the value of transnational partnerships, even amidst severely constrained conditions.

Whilst this sounds like an immediate response to the current geo-political crisis, it was initiated back in 2020 by NYC based Issue Project Room in response to the suspension of in-person programming and travel restrictions during the covid pandemic.

This May, Issue have partnered with Time Based, a platform for advancing contemporary music and sound-centered practices in Ukraine on three commissioned works uniting artists based in Kyiv and New York City. Working through the simultaneity of war and multiple crises, these three pairs engage in collaborative creations that highlight physical distance – yet reveal a deeply layered interdependence.

The ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass at Jam Factory Art Center in Lviv will screen the new commissions and feature a live concert by Distant Pairs composer/musicians Maryana Klochko and Oleksii Podat on Saturday May 24th at 7.00pm

Maryana Klochko is a music producer, vocalist, and film composer based in Kyiv, Ukraine. In her works, she often engages with the unconscious—through lyrics and vocal parts, she seeks a balance between the real and the fictional. She perceives music as storytelling, finding visual images within compositions that come to life through sound.

Oleksii Podat from Sloviansk, Ukraine, is a distinctive voice in Ukraine’s experimental music scene, Oleksii is known for his radical approaches to sound production, blending avant-garde playfulness with raw sonic intensity. His self-proclaimed genre, melodic noise, has become a defining element of his artistic identity, pushing the boundaries of contemporary composition.

The new Distant Pairs commissions will stream through May on ISSUE’s event web pages.

Madison Greenstone & Anton Saenko: Wednesday, May 7th, 2025
Distant Pairs Live in NYC with Eden Girma, Madison Greenstone & Suzanne Thorpe: Saturday, May 10th, 2025
Eden Girma & Maryana Klochko: Wednesday, May 14th, 2025
Oleksii Podat & Suzanne Thorpe: Wednesday, May 21st, 2025

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The Assembly is Back! ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass in Lviv

Bruno Ambregni — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 18:10:00 +0000

ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass – building a new cultural ecology for Ukraine
May 23 – 24
Jam Factory Art Center, Lviv, Ukraine | In person and livestream

The Beyond Greener Grass Assembly continues CEC ArtsLink’s strategic approach to supporting the cultural sector in Ukraine as they deal with critical and existential challenges during the war and envision the post-bellum future. In partnership with Jam Factory Art Center, this Assembly is part of our ongoing sustained and deep engagement with the cultural community of Ukraine over many years.

As the war waged by Russia against Ukraine enters its eleventh year and the destructive full-scale invasion reaches its fourth year, Ukrainian artists and cultural workers face non stopping loss of colleagues and peers, displacement both within Ukraine and abroad, disrupted personal and professional connections, the destruction of homes and spaces essential for creating and showcasing work, ongoing power outages, and the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage.

The clear need for a strategic and structured approach to uniting the cultural field to create opportunities, tools, and networks for the support of independent Ukrainian cultural workers and institutions emerged during the Beyond Greener Grass series of workshops for artists and cultural leaders in Lviv, Kyiv, Berlin and Warsaw in March-June 2024.

Beyond Greener Grass gathers key artists and cultural leaders in Ukraine and those displaced abroad together with international partner organizations and funding agencies at Jam Factory Art Center. It will present critical ideas, build networks of cooperation, solidarity and support, develop constructive proposals for future action and initiate a new cultural ecology for Ukraine.

MAY 23 – 24 | Save the date to your calendar!

Registration is required to attend in person. If you are interested in attending, please email Hnat Zabrodskyy at bgg(at)cecartslink(dot)org

The full program, and details of the speakers will be available on the Assembly page in the coming weeks.

ArtsLink Assembly: Beyond Greener Grass is produced by CEC ArtsLink in partnership with Jam Factory Art Center and Ukrainian Institute.
Support is provided by the European Cultural Foundation, Fonds Podiumkunsten/Performing Arts Fund NL, the Kirby Family Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. Livestream is produced and supported by HowlRound.com.

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