Three Years in Austria: Interview with Oleksandr Dmytrenko
Who are you? How has your life changed since the invasion and your moving to Austria?
I, Oleksandr Dmytrenko, am a Ukrainian artist (painting, drawing, sculpture, performance), scholar (history and theory of fine arts), teacher of artistic disciplines, professional jazz musician (guitar, double bass), active concert performer, bandleader. I am a winner of art awards and international jazz festivals.
I arrived in Austria on June 1, 2022, to continue my professional creative and scientific activities in proper conditions. In connection with the outbreak of the Russian war against Ukraine, I used the help of the Office Ukraine. I came to Graz to continue my professional activity under the conditions of the urgent protection of Ukrainians in Austria. Practically, my life has not changed compared to how I lived in Ukraine before the invasion. Of course, except for the fact that I am in a different language environment, in a different apartment (albeit a comfortable one…
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Three Years in Austria: Interview mit Yuliia Iliukha
Who are you? How has your life changed after the invasion and moving to Austria?
My name is Yulia Iliukha. I am a writer and I have a 12-year-old son. And I have a husband who used to be a captain in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but he was demobilised after being wounded. Like all Ukrainians, my life changed a lot after the invasion because I am from Kharkiv. I lived in Kharkiv for most of my life and I wasn’t going to move anywhere. Maybe I was going to move within Ukraine to Kyiv, but I was definitely not going to emigrate to Western Europe.
But after the invasion, I stayed in Kharkiv for the first months because my husband was in the army. And I had been helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a volunteer for many years before that. And so, after the…
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Three Years in Austria: Interview with Olga Zhuk
Who are you? How has your life changed after the invasion and moving to Austria?
My name is Olga Zhuk. I am an artist and designer. I work with lighting and furniture design. I moved to Graz with my kids in summer 2022 and we have been staying here since then. My kids are nine and fourteen years old. By the time we had to move here, I had a pretty good life in Kyiv. I complied to everything society expects from you. I was married, I had kids who went to school, I had a career and career plans. Shortly before the full-scale invasion, I had moved into bigger studio and was going to extend and boost my artistic activities. Due to the full-scale invasion and the moving to Graz as a result, everything broke apart. Here in Graz, we started from scratch basically.
Everyday life has also changed because it is my own responsibility…
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Art, Migration, and Motherhood: Stories of Ukrainian Women in Austria
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Office Ukraine has formed closer connections with Ukrainian artists currently living in Austria. We spoke in depth with some of them about how their lives have changed since that devastating moment—how they have adjusted to life in Austria, the challenges they’ve overcome, and those they continue to face.
Migration—and especially forced migration—often entails the loss of social and financial status, familiar routines, and support networks. We were particularly interested in artists who are also parents, as the integration process takes on entirely different dimensions when children are involved.
Oksana Maslova is a mother of a daughter, a writer, and an active participant in Vienna’s theatre scene. Olena Maiorenko, also a mother—of three—is a painter and art educator. They shared with Office Ukraine how their lives have changed since arriving in Austria.
Interview with Oksana Maslova
How has your position in Austria evolved since you arrived from Ukraine?
Since arriving in Austria, I’ve focused on artistic projects that explore personal transformation and resilience in times of crisis. We are living through a period of intense upheaval, and these experiences can resonate even with those who have never faced such profound change.
In 2023, I…
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Fellowships for Curators and Artists at Salzburg Summer Academy 2025
ERSTE Foundation offers fourteen fellowships for young artists and emerging curators from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine to take part in a course of their choice at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg 2025.
CALL now OPEN until 6 April 2025

The Fellowships for Curators and Artists at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg are part of ERSTE Foundation’s educational program and its long-term endeavour to support and strengthen contemporary art especially in the region of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The fellowship program is realized together with ERSTE Foundation’s long-time cooperation partners from tranzit, Igor Zabel Association and Kontakt Collection. Kontakt Collection collaborates with the Zagreb based WHW Akademija.
We would like to express our solidarity with Ukraine and the people who have to endure or flee from the ongoing war there. Therefore we open this program to Ukrainian artists as well and dedicate two fellowships to them.
ERSTE Foundation offers fourteen fellowships for young artists and…
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FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine – (Re)Creation Residency

FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine is a program of the Austrian Cultural Ministry, organized and hosted by Office Ukraine Innsbruck / Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen. The aim is to provide a two-month break from the ongoing war and to offer the invited artists the possibility to pursue their artistic work in a peaceful and safe environment. The residencies are aimed primarily towards visual artists.
Organised by Office Ukraine/Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen, FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine (Re)Creation Residency enables three visual artists based in Ukraine to participate in a residency for two months each in the alpine-urban setting of the City of Innsbruck and its greater area.
The participants will be hosted by two cultural institutions with expertise in the field of Residency Programs: Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen in Innsbruck and GRUNDin' Residency in Rietz.
Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen is a post-graduate center for production, research, mediation in the fields of visual arts and art…
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FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine: Traineeship Program

FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine is a program of the Austrian Cultural Ministry, organized and hosted by Office Ukraine/Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen, which provides Ukrainian artists and cultural workers based in Austria with the opportunity to gain professional work experience at various art initiatives in Tyrol.
With this program, the Cultural Ministry promotes international artistic and cultural exchange – in both directions: It supports Austrian artists and art projects in the cooperation country, but is also committed to Austria’s internationality when it comes to bringing artists and cultural workers to Austria within the framework of the program.
The program offers an opportunity for artists and cultural workers from Ukraine living in
Austria to collect personal work experience in a cultural institution.
The FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine Traineeship Program consists of three two-month long internships hosted by three different cultural institutions in the greater Innsbruck area:
- Literaturhaus am Inn (literature);
-…
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Open Call for Ukrainian Artists
Office Ukraine Vienna in collaboration with Veronika Dirnhofer / Solidarity Matters, invites Ukrainian artists to apply for participating in the group exhibition “Stolen Past, Threatened Future” (working title) curated by Matilda Cherednichenko

Exhibition Concept
The group exhibition aims to reflect on the diverse impacts of the ongoing war in Ukraine, referring to both the historical consequences and contemporary realities. Through a variety of media, the artists will share the full story of the war's impact, highlighting the realities from different perspectives. From living under constant threat to common uncertainty about the future, the exhibition draws attention to the shared experience of loss, displacement and identity, connecting audiences and spreading solidarity. It will also reflect on the emotional impact of the ongoing aggression and explore how art can process trauma, reconstruct identity, and provide hope for the future.
Instead of focusing on differences, the exhibition highlights unity, presenting the Ukrainian voice as one - no matter where you live or what personal struggles you face.
If you feel your work resonates with this concept, we are looking forward to receiving your application.
Who…
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Open Call for Ukrainian Curators
Exhibition on the occasion of the third Remembrance Day of the Russian full-scale invasion / March 2025

In the context of the third Remembrance Day of Russia's large-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, Office Ukraine Vienna is planning a group show with Ukrainian artists in cooperation with Veronika Dirnhofer / chairwoman solidarity matters in March 2025.
We are organising two Open Calls for the exhibition:
As part of the first Open Call, we are looking for a Ukrainian curator who will present a concept for the exhibition. For the second Open Call, which will be published at a later date, artists can apply to participate in the exhibition based on the selected curatorial concept.
Open Call 1: For the exhibition concept and subsequently the selection of the artists, a Ukrainian curator is now being sought in the course of this first Open Call.
We are asking interested curators to submit a short exhibition concept (max.…
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Allgemein
According to Eurostat, 77,700 temporarily displaced persons from Ukraine were registered in Austria at the end of June this year. According to the country’s statistical service, the largest group is people under 19 years of age (25,089 people), followed by people under 40 years of age (23,873 people), then up to 60 years of age (21,426 people). Slightly more than half of the arrivals receive social benefits. All Ukrainians who came to Austria as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion are entitled to free language learning up to the C1 level. According to the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF), over 54,000 course places have been taken up by Ukrainians in Austria to date. In the first six months of this year, 11,505 Ukrainians attended German courses. Most of them studied the language at the A1 and A2 levels. Detailed statistics can be found on the Integration Fund website.
We talked to artists and cultural…
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Office Ukraine Wien
Learning German and navigating through life
The ÖIF representative told us that the pass rates of the exams show that Ukrainian displaced persons are making good progress in learning German and that the need for higher course levels is constantly increasing. This also corresponds to the generally very positive feedback from the Ukrainian community.
In addition to the German courses offered by course providers, the ÖIF also expanded the freely accessible online German learning programmes on Sprachportal.at, the largest German learning platform in the German-speaking world: in addition to its own online German courses, which are implemented in cooperation with the Ukrainian universities of Drohobych and Uzhhorod and which Ukrainian displaced persons can attend without registering, the ÖIF expanded its part-time and job-specific German learning programmes in particular last year. At www.sprachportal.at, a range of daily online German courses and job-specific online courses as well as free learning and practice materials are available to all German learners.
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Office Ukraine Graz
Language Barriers for the Ukrainian Artist* Community in Graz
The Ukrainian Artist* Community has already been an active part of the arts and cultural scene in Graz and Styria for more than two years. In order for inclusion to succeed not only as a private individual, but also as an artist* or cultural worker*, it is necessary to learn German. In this respect, however, Ukrainian artists* living in Graz are confronted with a number of challenges. Although there is a wide range of German language courses on offer in the Graz area, only certain course formats are free of charge for Ukrainians* with displaced person status living in Austria. In line with the Austrian Integration Act, Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) provides German language courses from the teaching of literacy skills to language level C1 free of charge. The situation is different for language courses that are not provided by the ÖIF. If you decide in favour of a different language school or…
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Office Ukraine Innsbruck
Language is the key to everything
Interview with Maryna Kryvinchuk and Iryna Kozhyna
Learning German is a key challenge for all temporarily displaced persons in Austria. We asked journalist Maryna Kryvinchuk and artist and cultural manager Iryna Kozhyna about their language learning experiences, what tools they use and what advice they would give to anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation.
© Maryna Kryvynchuk; 2024; photo: Sophia Martseniuk
Maryna Kryvinchuk was born in the capital city of Ukraine and studied at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, majoring in Media Communications. In Ukraine, she worked in television, at the Ukrainian Book Institute, and in news analytics.
In Austria, Maryna hosted the Voice of Peace radio broadcast about the fate of Ukrainians during the war on FREIRAD – Freies Radio Innsbruck. The enthusiastic singer was also a choir member for a production at the Tiroler…
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Open Call for Ukrainian Artists: “Artist of the Week”

We are excited to announce our "Artist of the Week" project, a unique opportunity for Ukrainian artists (currently based in Austria or Ukraine) of all artistic fields to showcase their work on the social media channels of our platform.
Each week, we will feature one artist on Instagram to share their creative vision with a wider audience. You can see our first publication within this project for reference here.
Please submit your CV/ short bio and the content you would like to present (e.g. high quality images of your work, videos or any other formats that best represent your art and are suitable for social media).
Type of Instagram Video Size and Dimensions Video Format
Instagram Video 1080 x 1350p MP4, MOV, GIF
Instagram Story 1080 x 1920p…
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Professional Integration HUB 2.0 O Internship in Graz
Internship with a Focus on Research and Project Organization as Part of the Professional Integration
HUB Internship Program
Professional Integration Hub is a long-term internship program for Ukrainians residing in Austria as a result of Russia‘s aggression against Ukraine. Office Ukraine will collaborate with the professional Integration Hub in fall 2024.
The goal of the program is to facilitate the professional advancement of Ukrainian specialists by integrating them into the European professional environment. Additionally, the experience gained through the program will be a significant contribution to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and its integration into the EU. The program is initiated and funded by ERSTE Foundation and implemented by the European Centre for Freedom and Independence. Please visit program website for more details: www.professionalhub.at.
Office Ukraine was founded shortly after the beginning of the large-scale war of aggression against Ukraine by Russia for Ukrainian cultural workers at the beginning of March 2022.
The initiative serves as a platform for the coordination of diverse civil society and institutional initiatives and acts as a liaison…
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Professional Integration HUB 2.0 O Internship in Vienna
Office Ukraine Vienna is looking for reinforcement for public relations and project organization in the
field of contemporary art

Professional Integration Hub is a long-term internship program for Ukrainians residing in Austria as a result of Russia‘s aggression against Ukraine. Office Ukraine will collaborate with the professional Integration Hub in fall 2024.
The goal of the program is to facilitate the professional advancement of Ukrainian specialists by integrating them into the European professional environment. Additionally, the experience gained through the program will be a significant contribution to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and its integration into the EU. The program is initiated and funded by ERSTE Foundation and implemented by the European Centre for Freedom and Independence. Please visit program website for more details: www.professionalhub.at.
Office Ukraine was founded shortly after the beginning of the large-scale war of aggression against Ukraine by Russia for Ukrainian cultural workers at the beginning of March 2022.
The initiative serves as a platform for the coordination of diverse civil society and…
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Fighting stereotypes and finding your voice: Internship at the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kateryna Kinsel is an art critic and art historian from Ukraine who moved to Vienna with her family due to the full-scale Russian invasion.

In winter, Kateryna started her internship at the Art History Museum in Vienna. The internship is a result of a cooperation between the Artists Solidarity Program Europe (ASoP Europe) supported by the Austrian Foreign Ministry, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, and Office Ukraine. We talked with Kateryna to learn more about her life and her experience at the prominent Austrian museum.
Kateryna, please tell us more about your background.
Before the full-scale invasion, I lived in Kyiv. I worked as a corporate lawyer for 15 years, but according to the statistics, a certain number of lawyers later switch to the art field, and I was one of them. After two of my daughters were born, I decided to systematize thousands of paintings and hundreds of books in my head and get a proper art education. In 2021 I graduated from the National Academy of…
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The Artist in Residence Programme at MuseumsQuartier in Vienna
CALL for APPLICATIONS 2025 now open until September 15, 2024

The Artist in Residence Programme at MuseumsQuartier in Vienna is part of ERSTE Foundation’s long-term endeavour to support contemporary art and to strengthen the fragile situation of its creators, especially in the region of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
The residency programme is carried out in close cooperation with ERSTE Foundation's key cultural partners: tranzit, Igor Zabel Association and Kontakt Collection (Kontakt Collection will collaborate with the Zagreb based WHW Akademija.) Thus, the residencies are aimed at artists and curators from Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia working in the field of critical contemporary visual art to do research in their respective area.
Taking into consideration the urgencies raised by the ongoing war against Ukraine, we would like to express our solidarity and add a grant of a two-month stay…
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Money in art: how Ukrainian artists build life in Austria
To talk about Ukrainian artists and cultural workers’ representation and visibility in Austria wouldn’t be possible without talking about their working conditions and the art market. It’s not a surprise that most artists have a precarious position, and a few can sustain just from their art practice even if they were born in the EU and have a European passport. Speaking about refugees and temporary displaced people, it’s important to consider the difficulties they are facing in terms of language barrier, bureaucracy, and lack of network and connections. In our spring issue, we want to highlight the working art landscape for Ukrainian artists in Austria, to share the experience of different artists and some hard facts.
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“It’s unclear what will happen next year”
As it stands the EU Temporary Protection Directive will expire in March 2025. Visual artist Valeriia Lysenko and digital media artist Svitlana Zhytnia talk about why the next year worries them and how their lives and work in Graz have changed.
First of all, a brief overview: The EU Temporary Protection Directive has been offering immediate and temporary protection to displaced persons from Ukraine since March 2022. It makes it possible to stay in a member state, live there and work outside of an asylum procedure. The directive for the more than four million displaced Ukrainians in the EU has been extended several times, most recently in autumn 2023 when the EU Council decided to extend it until 2025.1 This means that the maximum duration of three years, as stipulated in the directive, has been reached. From today’s perspective, the temporary protection status will expire on 4 March 2025.2 It is not yet clear what will change for Ukrainians* in Austria.
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House of Europe
The European Union has been supporting the Ukrainian cultural sector for many years. A large number of institutions, initiatives, platforms, companies and individuals work every day to provide opportunities for creative people in the field of culture and education, as well as to build bridges between Ukraine and Europe. One of these projects is House of Europe. In December 2023, we had the opportunity to talk to them about their activities.
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“For the sake of my children, I had to become strong.”
Oksana Radkevych, an artist, mother and displaced person, left Ukraine and came to Austria in 2022, shortly after the beginning of the full-scale war. “The beginning of the war took away the basic need of every person and family, the feeling of security.” The strong desire or, as Oksana puts it, the instinct to protect her children led her to leave her familiar surroundings. “At the time, it seemed safer to go to a country you didn’t know at all than to stay in Ukraine,” she recalls.
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There is no place for bureaucracy when it comes to saving lives
Many students and teachers at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna expressed their solidarity with Ukraine. Veronika Dirnhofer, an artist and professor in the drawing class, was one of the first to support Ukrainians and had her entire class help raise donations in an unexpected way. The students held a series of parties, exhibitions, and auctions in the walls of the Academy and collected more than 20.000 EUR. We talked with Veronika about how a large institution is able to open its doors and support people in difficult situations, thanks to individual initiative.
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Information on special funding for Ukraine
Dear Ukrainian artists, representatives of institutions, cultural initiatives and cultural workers,
we would like to remind you that you can receive additional support from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport (BMKOES). The grant is awarded for projects realised with the participation of Ukrainian artists:
- Scholarships (€ 1.500 monthly per artist for a maximum of 3 months)
- Project grants (maximum € 5,000 per project; no infrastructure or rental costs can be funded).
All information about the grants as well as the application form can be found on the BMKOES website.
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“I was a bit naïve about the duration of the war”
The Ukrainian curator Anastasiya Yarovenko about her exhibition at the Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, which was supported by the BMKOES.
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Tense Horizon – an exhibition at QL-Galerie Graz
I am Elmira Shemsedinova, an artist and educator. Fleeing conflict, I found temporary refuge through the Office Ukraine Graz, an experience for which I am profoundly thankful. The platform facilitated connections within Austria’s art community, including fellow Ukrainians displaced by the war.
In September 2022, I was awarded a scholarship from BMKOES, which allowed me to continue my work. The curator Alois Kölbl, whom I met through Anton Lederer of Office Ukraine Graz invited me for an interview for KHG’s publication, “Denken+Glauben”. On this occasion, I could share the history of my family, the displacement suffered by my relatives, Crimean Tatars, who remained in Russian-occupied Crimea. About the importance of Crimea and how it is influencing my artistic practice.
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“It’s a good challenge to make Ukrainian art better known in Austria”
Lizaveta German is the co-founder of the gallery “The Naked Room”in Kyiv and co-curated the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Venice Biennial in 2022. In this interview the renowned Ukrainian curator gives an insight into her work, her exhibition projects and her experiences in Vienna, where she has lived since April last year.
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Ukrainian artists linked to the local art scene
Over the past year, I have had the privilege of working with Office Ukraine in Graz as well as had a chance to work on several projects as curator.
In Graz, there is an incredible community of artists who have relocated here following the onset of the invasion. I find it immensely gratifying to work closely with this aspect — organizing exhibitions with these artists and helping to promote Ukrainian art here in Austria. For me, it was extremely important to be able to collaborate with them and with local institutions, organizations, and individuals building a strong joint community.
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“Stay Loud and Visible”
Nadja Ayoub, director of Kunstraum Schwaz (formerly Galerie der Stadt Schwaz), has been in close contact with the Innsbruck Office Ukraine since the beginning of the initiative. The committed curator spoke to us about her motivations for exchanging ideas with Ukrainian artists and how the war has affected her curatorial practice.
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Inner Landscapes
Unter dem Titel “Inner Landscapes” versammelte die Ausstellung in der Fenstergalerie der ERSTE Stiftung sieben ukrainische Künstler:innen — Lilia Petrova, Maryna Shtanko, Yevgen Samborsky, Vladyslav Riaboshtan,Taras Kovach, Yana Franz und Marharyta Zhurunova —, die mit unterschiedlichen Medien und Formaten arbeiten und an verschiedenen Orten leben.
Viele ukrainische Künstler:innen sind aufgrund der russischen Invasion gezwungen, ein Nomadendasein zu führen. Die bis 27. April präsentierten Arbeiten sind das Ergebnis einer Auseinandersetzung der Künstler:innen mit ihrer ungewissen existenziellen Situation.
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Ukrainische Künstler:innen im Projekt myt’: Wo Vergangenheit und Gegenwart im LOT aufeinandertreffen
Office Ukraine unterstützt vor allem Initiativen, die ukrainische Künstler:innen in ihr Programm aufnehmen und ihnen Raum und Möglichkeiten bieten. Das LOT ist ein neuer Raum im 10. Bezirk in Wien, der sich in der Brotfabrik befindet und zu Beginn des Krieges seine Unterstützung für die Ukraine zum Ausdruck brachte. Vom 10. bis 12. März fand im LOT ein dreitägiges Festival statt, das der Symbolik der ukrainischen Kunst gewidmet war. Wir sprachen mit Lidiia Akryshora, einer der Kuratorinnen der performativen Ausstellung myt’.
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Another Side
Die erste Soloshow der jungen ukrainischen Künstlerin Anzhelika Palyvoda in Wien ist derzeit bei META legal unter dem Titel “Another Side” zu sehen.
Ihre Arbeiten aus den beiden stilistisch unterschiedlichen Serien “Another Side” und “Sticks & Stones”, die parallel in Wien entstanden sind, wo die Absolventin der National Academy of Art and Architecture in Kyiv seit Oktober letzten Jahres lebt und an der Universität für angewandte Kunst studiert, versteht Anzhelika Palyvoda als reflektierten Dialog: zwischen ihr und der neuen Umgebung im Spannungsfeld zwischen Anpassung und Fremdheit.
Die inhaltlichen Schwerpunkte der Arbeiten (Acryl auf Leinwand) der 2000 in Kyiv geborenen Künstlerin thematisieren Aspekte der aktuellen dramatischen Situation von Ukrainer:innen sowie von Palyvoda selbst: etwa Flucht und der komplizierte Prozess, ein neues Leben in einem fremden Land zu beginnen. Gleichzeitig spürt die Künstlerin in ihren meist in gedämpften Naturfarben gehaltenen Arbeiten, denen mitunter korrespondierende Satzfragmente wie “Ein Dach über dem Kopf haben” eingeschrieben sind, auch den Ähnlichkeiten, etwa in Sprache und Landschaft, zwischen Österreich und der Ukraine nach.
Die Ausstellung ist bis 23. September, Mo – Fr 9.00 – 18.00 zu sehen.
Voranmeldung unter philip.raffling@meta-legal.at erbeten
META legal
Universitätsring 12/1/13,
A-1010 Wien
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Großes Talent zur Selbstorganisation
Am 11. März 2023 wurde in der Wohnung der ukrainischen Künstler:innen Yevheniia Laptii und Svitlana Zhytnia in Graz die Ausstellung “Home Reflections” eröffnet. Ziel dieser Pop-up-Ausstellung war es, die Beziehungen zur lokalen Community auszubauen und auf die vielseitig talentierten Künstler:innen aus der Ukraine aufmerksam zu machen. Weitere Ausstellungen sind geplant.
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Ruhepunkt im Herzen von Wien
Die Artist Residency im MuseumsQuartier Wien wurde aufgrund des Krieges auch für ukrainische Künstler:innen geöffnet
Ein Interview mit Larissa Agel, Geschäftsführerin und Projektmanagerin bei tranzit.at und Teil des Office Ukraine Teams
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“365 Days of full-scale War in Ukraine – Visual Diary” im MuseumsQuartier Wien
Seit dem 24. Februar 2022, dem Beginn des großflächigen Angriffskriegs Russlands gegen die Ukraine, hat sich das Leben aller Ukrainer:innen drastisch geändert: Viele haben die russische Besetzung ihrer Städte erlebt, viele haben Familienmitglieder und Freund:innen verloren, viele sind geflüchtet.
In der Veranstaltung am 24. Februar 2023 in der Arena21 im MuseumsQuartier haben wir anhand unterschiedlicher künstlerischer Medien beleuchtet, was Krieg für die Betroffenen bedeutet: Was erleben Menschen auf der Flucht? Wie erfahren sie ihre erste Zeit in einem fremden Land? Und wie kann das Zusammenleben zwischen Neuankommenden und Österreicher:innen vor dem Hintergrund so unterschiedlicher Lebenssituationen gelingen?
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In unserer Februar-Ausgabe widmet sich Office Ukraine Wien der Ausstellung “While I float”, in der vier ukrainische Künstler:innen präsentiert wurden, sowie zwei von uns unterstützten Artist Residencies in Wien.
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Interviews mit den ukrainischen Künstlerinnen Mila Bereziuk, Danyilo Kovach, Olga Musina
Wir haben ukrainische Künstler:innen, die in Kontakt mit unseren Büros in Wien, Graz und Innsbruck stehen, nach ihren Erfahrungen in Österreich und ihren Strategien gefragt, die ihnen geholfen haben, ihre schwierige Lebenssituation zu bewältigen.
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Conclusio und Statements der ukrainischen Künstlerinnen Yuliia Makarenko, Kateryna Lysovenko, Polina Makarova
Conclusio 2022
Die Arbeit des Office Ukraine Graz konzentrierte sich in den zehn Monaten seit der Gründung im März zunächst auf grundlegende Unterstützungsleistungen für ukrainische Künstler:innen und Kulturschaffende, die vor dem Krieg nach Österreich geflohen sind. In dieser Zeit wurde aber schnell deutlich, dass die Einbindung der hierzulande Schutz Suchenden in das österreichische Kunstsystem ein wesentlicher Faktor ist. Aus diesem Geist heraus wurden zahlreiche Tandems gebildet – Verbindungen von Ukrainer:innen und Österreicher:innen (Organisationen wie Künstler:innen), die gemeinsam neue Projekte entwickelten bzw. noch weiter betreiben. Dies wäre ohne die Unterstützung unserer Freund:innen und Partner – lokale Institutionen und Organisationen – nicht möglich gewesen. Der Ansatz des Office Ukraine Graz geht weiters auch davon aus, dass eine Präsenz ukrainischer Kunst und Kultur nicht nur für Ukrainer:innen, sondern auch für andere in Österreich lebende Menschen eine Bereicherung darstellt.
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Conclusio und Statements der ukrainischen Künstlerinnen Kristina Kapeljuh, Veronika Kutseva, Oksana Radkevych
Seit Beginn der Initiative ist das Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen die Office Ukraine Zweigstelle im Westen Österreichs, mit Fokus auf die Bundesländer Tirol, Salzburg und Vorarlberg. Das Büro in Innsbruck konnte bis dato zahlreiche Kooperationspartner:innen gewinnen und über 50 vertriebene Künstler:innen konkret in den Bereichen Vernetzung, Projekt- und Auftragsvermittlung, Unterkunftsvermittlung, Vermittlung von Arbeitsräumlichkeiten, Verteilung von Künstler:innenbedarf, Behördenkommunikation, Jobsuche, etc. unterstützen. Mit vielen weiteren Künstler:innen sind wir in Kontakt. Durch das Knüpfen von Kontakten zu lokalen Institutionen und Einzelpersonen sowie durch die Verteilung von Künstler:innenbedarf wird versucht, den Ankommenden die Möglichkeit zu geben, weiterhin künstlerisch tätig zu sein. Diese Vernetzungs- und Unterstützungsarbeit wird vom dreiköpfigen Team des Office Ukraine Innsbruck geleistet. In den vergangenen Monaten konnten wir auf die Unterstützung von über 30 institutionellen Partner:innen und zahlreichen Einzelpersonen zählen. Die Begegnungen und der Austausch mit ukrainischen Kunst- und Kulturschaffenden – zahlreiche persönliche Treffen, über 500 versendete E-Mails, unzählige Telefonate und Chat-Nachrichten – sowie mit neuen und alten lokalen Kooperationspartner:innen waren eine bereichernde Erfahrung.
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“Meine einzige Waffe ist die Kunst”
Nina Khyzhna ist Theaterregisseurin, Choreografin und Performerin. Sie stammt aus der ostukrainischen Stadt Kharkiv und ist seit Oktober Stipendiatin des „Styrian Artists-in-Residence”-Programms des Landes Steiermark. Anfang November kehrte sie von einer Recherchereise für ihr Theaterprojekt mit dem Titel “Nobody died today” (etwa: Heute ist niemand gestorben) aus der Ukraine zurück. Die Theaterperformance soll vor Weihnachten drei Mal im Grazer Theater im Bahnhof (TiB) aufgeführt werden.
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Public Program im Belvedere 21: Öffentliches Gespräch mit dem Team von Office Ukraine
Im Rahmen des Public Program “Geschichten wiedererzählen: Kriege im ehemaligen Jugoslawien und Krieg in der Ukraine” war das Office Ukraine-Team am 15. Oktober zu einem Public Talk im Blickle Kino des Belvedere 21 eingeladen.
Die Teammitglieder Larissa Agel, Natalia Gurova, Susanne Jäger und Ania Zorh von Office Ukraine Wien erörterten im Gespräch mit Claudia Slanar / Belvedere 21 Entstehung, Struktur und Arbeit der Initiative und sprachen über Herangehensweise, Erfolge sowie die speziellen Herausforderungen des Projekts.
Im Anschluss diskutierten die Autorin und Übersetzerin Ksenyia Kharchenko und die Publizistin und Literaturkuratorin Oksana Shchur (beide aus Kyiv) ihre Erfahrungen über Flucht und das Leben im Exil.
Das von Nikita Kadan kuratierte und in Anwesenheit des Künstlers präsentierte Filmprogramm ukrainischer Künstler:innen und Filmemacher:innen – unter anderem mit Beiträgen von Antigonna, Yarema Malashchuk & Roman Himey und Yuri Leiderman – gestaltete sich zu einer eindringlichen, mitunter bedrückenden Tour de Force über das Leben in der Ukraine vor und während des Krieges, das bei den Zuseher:innen einen intensiven Eindruck hinterließ.
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Dieser Garten heilt mich und meinen Geist
Kateryna Lysovenko ist eine junge Künstlerin aus Kiew (Ukraine), die vor wenigen Monaten aufgrund des Krieges nach Graz kam. Über das Office Ukraine Graz wurde der Kontakt zum Universalmuseum Joanneum (UMJ) hergestellt und in weiterer Folge geeigneter Wohnraum gefunden. Mit ihren beiden Kindern und einer Katze lebt sie nun im Portierhaus des Schloss Eggenberg. In einem Gebäude im Schlosspark konnte sie sich ein Atelier einrichten, um ihrer künstlerischen Tätigkeit weiterhin nachgehen zu können.
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Königin der Katzen
»Office Ukraine. Shelter for Ukrainian Artists« wurde ins Leben gerufen, um ukrainische Künstler:innen und Kulturarbeiter:innen aller Sparten, die nach Österreich geflüchtet sind, zu unterstützen. Das Projekt ist online und hat darüber hinaus drei Büros (Graz, Innsbruck, Wien). Bis jetzt wurden wir von ca. 400 ukrainischen Künstler:innen kontaktiert und einer großen Zahl konnten wir aktiv helfen. Dabei hilft das Office Ukraine den Künstler:innen bei der Vernetzung mit der lokalen Kunst- und Kulturszene und versucht Unterstützung zu finden. Darüber hinaus organisiert Office Ukraine regelmäßige offline Netzwerktreffen, in denen wir Menschen ermutigen, anderen zu helfen. In unserem Newsletter möchten wir Beispiele für die Zusammenarbeit zwischen österreichischen und ukrainischen Kulturarbeiter:innen aufzeigen und die Büros vorstellen. Nach wie vor brauchen zahlreiche Künstler:innen Unterstützung. Lassen wir sie nicht im Stich.
Tetiana Shtykalo ist eine Künstlerin aus Odessa (Ukraine), die sich aufgrund des russischen Angriffskriegs gezwungen sah, die Ukraine zu verlassen. Mit ihrem Ehemann und ihrem Hund verließ sie ihre Heimat und kam nach Österreich. »Office Ukraine. Shelter for Ukrainian Artists« half ihnen nicht nur, eine Unterkunft zu finden, sondern auch weiterhin ihrer künstlerischen Arbeit nachgehen zu können. Wir haben mit Tetiana während unseres letzten “Get Together”-Treffens, das alle zwei Wochen im FREIRAUM UKRAINE im MuseumsQuartier Wien stattgefunden hat, gesprochen.
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