Program of the Jam Factory Art Center 

Support to activities of relocated artists who could have a possibility to artistically reflect on the war. Program “Navigation. Integration Program for Internally Displaced Artists” focused on supporting artists who had to move to Lviv due to a full-scale war. It contributed to their integration into the cultural and artistic domain of Lviv and their professional development.

Goal

The program aims to support artists who had to relocate to Lviv because of russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine.

Relevance and Importance

Today, artists and art professionals in Ukraine are some of the most vulnerable in the job, since almost all art institutions and organizations of the creative sector have ceased their activities. Some shit down or relocated, others have been destroyed. All financial resources in the country are allocated to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine in confronting russian aggression, as this is crucial for our survival. Nevertheless, during these times of the greatest crisis for the country art and culture are needed most. They can reflect on the conditions of life during the violence and pain flooded war. The voices of artists must sound loud and strong to express what is happening in our minds and souls today.

The Navigation team sought to create conditions where artists will feel more confident in the new environment of the city, access a network of professional contacts, and be better oriented in the professional cultural and artistic community in Lviv. They will be able to present their projects to the existing Jam Factory audiences and to Lviv professional community. They will be able to continue or resume their artistic activities, and start new projects, including partnerships with local artists.

At this moment, at a time of huge threat to our country and culture, we find it important to highlight the values of mutual assistance and solidarity of the community of individual cultural actors and institutions through the development of new programs to support, integrate, and strengthen the professional capacity of Ukrainian artists.   Working with professional artists is a key component in the implementation of the “Jam Factory” mission. It is about the support of modern processes in Ukrainian and international art and culture. Moreover, today, in times of war, it is more critical than ever to consolidate our effort around the support of the professional art community of Ukraine.  As an institution directly cooperating with the cultural scene of Lviv, the team sees its task in helping artists who had to evacuate to Lviv and in promoting their integration into the city’s professional community. Having experience of program activities discussing the most relevant artistic and philosophical ideas and phenomena, important issues for society and interaction and exchange between artists, cultural workers, and diverse visitors, the team has the capacity to provide an appropriate “climate” for the integration of artists from other regions and promote their professional development in the new city.

Changes Entailed by the Project  

The team creates the conditions where:

• Internally displaced artists feel more confident in the new settings of the city;
• Internally displaced artists receive a network of professional contacts, and better navigate in the professional cultural and artistic domain of Lviv;
• The projects of internally displaced artists are presented to the Jam Factory audience and the professional community of Lviv;
• Internally displaced artists have the financial and infrastructural possibility to continue or resume their artistic practices;
• Internally displaced artists can start new projects in collaboration with local artists.

Outcomes

To implement the project, the team equipped one of the Jam Factory premises as an art studio. This is a shared space with tables, storage racks, and various types of lighting appliances, where up to 6 artists can work at the same time. During the Navigation, some of the participants used the space to implement their projects. The Art Center plans to use the studio in the future as a workshop for the creation of art works.

Participants created 12 individual and 4 collaborative art projects. Of these, 4 individual and 2 collaborative projects were funded by a grant from the ZMIN Foundation:

• Vladyslav Judin, “Relya”. Plastic Arts;
• Lilia Petrova, “Little animals”. Printed zine;
• Kateryna Drozd, “Recreation”. Visual research project and video installation;
• Eliza Mamardashvili, While  You Were Killing a Tree. Installation;
• Mikhail Zubchaninov, Yuri Golik, “You are an icon now”. Photo series;
• Sofia Avdeyeva, Pavel Lisovsky, “Grab Bag of Doctor Bugg records”. Audio-visual performance (digitized graphics, poems and music).

Also, the participants proposed and held 5 public events at the Jam Factory, as part of the Navigation program:

• Eliza Mamardashvili “Remember Before Entry”. Performance art.
• Sofia Avdeyeva “Grab Bag of Doctor Bugg Records”. Audio-visual performance.
• Vitaliy Matukhno “The Noble Promptings of the Spirit.” Film screening and discussion.
• Svitlana Kosheleva “Flowers of Memory”. Board Game.
• The final exhibition of art projects in the spaces of Jam Factory.

Target Audience

The project’s direct target audience includes artists who had to relocate to Lviv and the region due to the war, and the professional artistic community of Lviv.   Indirect target audience includes people who appreciate contemporary art and are interested in the events of the sector, and are regular visitors to the Jam Factory Art Center. Through the coverage of the program process in social networks and and during public events, we will be able to raise the awareness of a wide audience about relocated artists and project events, and present new art works.  

Stakeholders of the project are the direct participants of the project: relocated artists; involved partners and institutions: local artists, curators, gallerists, institutions of Lviv (Center for Urban History, Ya Gallery, Art Center “Dzyga”, Institute of Culture Strategy and others), historians, researchers and a wide audience who will attend public events.

Sustainability. Scaling up. Continuity

The acquired experience of working with the community of internally displaced artists, equipped workshops and built or confirmed professional ties with cultural figures and educators in Lviv give the team the ground to continue the implementation of the Navigation program next year, and announce new competitions for participants among artists who relocated to Lviv.  

Jam Factory does not plan to scale the project but to replicate the program in the same scope, with a slight adjustment in the number of supported projects and the frame of events. The continuation of the program can be implemented with the resources of grant support and our contribution of Jam Factory.

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The project is implemented by the Jam factory NGO thanks to financial support from ZMIN, as part of the 2022 grant program, as well as with the support of the Stabilization Fund for Culture and Education of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, and the Goethe-Institut.

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