HERITAGE. Space for work: Summer school.
August 16, 2025 (Saturday)
Theme of the Day: Acquaintance and Interaction
Moderators of the Day: Taras Grytsyuk, Anna Potyomkina (“Insha Osvita”)
Taras Grytsyuk — facilitator, activist, historian. Co-founder of “Insha Osvita,” developer and leader of the informal historical education program “Living History Studios,” organizer of the Living History Festival at VDNH. Activist of the “Save Flowers of Ukraine” initiative.
Anna Potyomkina — facilitator, cultural manager, and artist. Co-founder of the Assortment Room, member of the Memory Lab art collective. Instructor of an art course for teenagers in the “Changemakers” program and a teacher at the Ivano-Frankivsk School of Contemporary Art “Fra Fra Fra.”
9:30 Transfer from ibis Kyiv Railway Station hotel
10:00-10:30 Registration, welcome coffee
10:30-11:00 Welcome remarks
11:00-13:00 Acquaintance: Presentation of the “Heritage: A Space for Work” program, focus themes, and participants of 2025
13:00-14:30 Lunch
14:30-17:15 Interaction: Participants’ expectations, problem mapping, future plans
17:30 Tour of the exhibition “Kherson: The Steppe Holds”
The documentary-mystical exhibition “Kherson: The Steppe Holds” is a space of resilience, love, loss, and careful preservation of memories, dedicated to the Ukrainian South. The project is based on the films “Ukrainian Sheriffs,” “The Editorial Office,” and “Volcano.”
The exhibition is a tribute to Kherson region, the homeland of its creators Roman Bondarchuk and Daria Averchenko. Its exposition features unique archives, video, and photo materials filmed in the Kherson region before the full-scale invasion, including previously unpublished materials that have gained special significance in the context of the losses and challenges faced by the region and the country.
18:30-19:30 Dinner
August 17, 2025 (Sunday)
Theme of the Day: Local Identity
Moderator of the Day: Tetiana Pylypchuk, Director of the Kharkiv Literary Museum. She researches Ukrainian literature of the 1920s–1930s, as well as current trends in museum communication and the popularization of museum collections to a broad audience. From 2022 to 2024, she curated the “Fifth Kharkiv” festival—a program of art and discussions launched in September 2022 in Kharkiv. Since 2021, she has been organizing the Kharkiv Art Residency “Slovo.” Co-founder of the “Heritage: A Space for Work” consortium.
9:00 Transfer from ibis Kyiv Railway Station hotel
9:30-11:00 Lecture: Iryna Sklokina. Local, Communal, for Communities? Cultural Heritage as Social Glue
The lecture explores the multifaceted relationship between heritage and community-building: the use of heritage to support identities, foster social cohesion, and revitalize cities and villages. Through specific examples, we will discuss forms of participation and co-creation of heritage, as well as the challenges and overuse of the concepts of “community” and “local.”
Iryna Sklokina is a historian and researcher at the Center for Social History, a postdoctoral researcher at the European University Institute in Florence. Her research interests include Soviet history and memory politics, cultural heritage and its adaptive reuse, Soviet photography, and museology. Among her international projects is OpenHeritage (www.openheritage.eu), dedicated to the “second life” of architectural heritage in 16 EU countries and Ukraine. In 2020–2021, Iryna co-led the “Dis/Archiving Post/Industry” project (Center for Urban History and University of St Andrews), which received the Europa Nostra European Heritage Award.
11:00-11:30 Case Study: Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi. Zdolbuniv Local History Museum — A Place That Transformed from an Abandoned Building into a True Center of Community Cultural Life in 10 Years
The Zdolbuniv Local History Museum in Rivne Region is an example of how initiative and volunteer support can transform a former prison into a modern cultural space.
Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi, Director of the Zdolbuniv Local History Museum.
11:30-12:00 Case Study: Angelina Rozhkova. Experience of the Pokrovsk City Community: Between Donetsk Region and Forced Displacement
Pokrovsk is not just a point on the map but a space of meanings, shared histories, and cultural resistance. The presentation will explore the implementation of the project “Open Platform for Learning, Communication, and Reflection on Kozatska Slava Boulevard” in Donetsk Region, the challenges of forced displacement, and the preservation of community values during evacuation.
Angelina Rozhkova, Director of the Pokrovsk Historical Museum, head of the NGO “Cultural Code of Pokrovsk+.” Since 2024, cultural institutions of the Pokrovsk community have been addressing the preservation and popularization of local history amid physical displacement. Participant of the first cohort of the “Heritage: A Space for Work” program.
12:00-12:30 Case Study: Olha Shevchenko. The Project “Ilya Repin: Distant yet Close”: On the Local Identity of the Artist and Beyond
How did the idea of rethinking Repin’s heritage evolve into a vibrant project uniting youth, the museum, and media? The presentation will cover successful activities (interactive games, a podcast series, and a genealogical platform presentation) as well as the challenges faced. This will be an honest discussion about creating projects despite circumstances and what remains after their completion.
Olha Shevchenko, Deputy Director for Research at the Ilya Repin Art and Memorial Museum of the Kharkiv Regional Council, project leader of “Ilya Repin: Distant yet Close,” board member of the NGO “Repin Cultural Center,” participant of the first cohort of the “Heritage: A Space for Work” program.
12:30-13:00 Case Study: Renata Chechel. Working with Personal Memory: Principles of Documenting and Representing Experiences
Practices of collecting, preserving, and presenting personal stories during wartime: from interviews and working with objects to exhibition and artistic formats. The discussion will cover the ethics of documentation, the importance of psychological support for all participants, and co-creation with children and teenagers whose experiences are documented by the Museum of Wartime Childhood.
Renata Chechel, project manager at the Museum of Wartime Childhood. She has coordinated numerous exhibition and artistic initiatives, including the exhibitions “The Power of Resistance” about the experiences of children and teenagers from Crimea, “Wartime Childhood: Experiences of World War II” in Lviv, and “Books That Accompany Through War” at the Book Arsenal. She also managed the artistic project Imbalance, in which teenagers explored personal memory through art and created their own exhibition at the Dovzhenko Center.
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:30-15:30 Visit: National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide (3 Lavrska St., Kyiv)
Exhibition “Azov Greeks: Paths of Identity” (curated tour)
Visit to the Hall of Memory at the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide
16:00-18:00 Discussion: Participants of the “Heritage: A Space for Work” program and the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide team (Mystetskyi Arsenal, 10-12 Lavrska St.)
A conversation about the institution, its challenges in both academic and daily work, how the museum engages with family stories, the narratives it seeks to develop, its communication methods, approaches, vision, principles, tools, and ethics.
Hanna Sokiryna, Deputy General Director: Presentation of the museum, its structure, team composition, mission, values, and areas of work, including international and inter-museum collaboration. The discussion will also cover the construction of the second phase as a project, collection formation, team challenges, and future tasks.
Andriy Ivanets, PhD, Senior Researcher at the Department of Holodomor and Artificial Famines of the 1920s–1940s: Why the Holodomor is part of national memory policy; what the Holodomor was and why it was a genocide; why the artificial famines of 1921–1923 and 1946–1947 cannot be called “Holodomor”; whether “hunger struck everywhere,” as Russians claim; why Russia denies the Holodomor and targets monuments on occupied territories and Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
Yuliia Kotsur, PhD, Head of the Holodomor Oral History Department: The museum’s fieldwork, expedition results, creation of GIS, respondent search methodology, campaigns to collect existing testimonies, positive and negative experiences of community engagement, and how small testimonies unfold into larger stories.
Olha Vyhodovanets, Deputy Head of the Museum’s Information and Educational Department: How the museum works with family stories in exhibitions and tours (stories about a necklace, a shirt, Mrs. Vobloho); how to turn a tour participant into an artifact donor: tools and secrets of a guide.
Q&A session and reflection circle.
18:00-19:00 Dinner
August 18, 2025 (Monday)
Theme of the Day: Reflecting on Experiences of Wars and Conflicts Involving Ukraine (World War I, World War II, the War in Afghanistan, Russian Aggression Against Ukraine Since 2014)
Moderator of the Day: Oleksandra Kovalchuk, Deputy Director of the Odesa National Art Museum, volunteer, and civic activist, leader of the NGO “Museum for Change,” expert in cultural management and fundraising. Co-founder of the “Heritage: A Space for Work” consortium.
9:30 Transfer from the hotel
10:00-11:00 Lecture: Oksana Dovgopolova. How the Language of Memory of the Russo-Ukrainian War is Formed
One of the challenges of the Russo-Ukrainian War has been the need to develop a fundamentally new language of war memory. Why do we need to create a new language? Why is it timely to work on memory today? What are strategic and tactical commemoration, and what memory practices have already emerged in Ukraine during the years of war? These topics will be discussed in the lecture.
Oksana Dovgopolova is a co-founder and curator of the Past / Future / Art memory culture platform, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics, and a member of the Memory Studies Association. She lives in Odesa.
11:00-13:00 Discussion: How to Talk About the War?
Participants: Tetiana Teren (journalist, cultural manager, curator of book projects and literary programs), Diana Klochko (art historian, exhibition curator, editor, translator), Larysa Denysenko (writer, lawyer, human rights advocate, TV and radio host), Kateryna Semenyuk (cultural manager, curator, co-founder of the Past / Future / Art memory culture platform).
Moderator: Oksana Dovgopolova
Ukraine is currently searching for a language to talk about the Russo-Ukrainian War. The war is ongoing, and we don’t yet know what name it will have in future history textbooks. Each war’s experience crystallizes into a new language of memory—there is no universal, fixed language for discussing any war. Unfortunately, Ukraine is no exception, and we are forced to find ways to talk about the war today. We are already thinking about the importance of not losing memory. Memory is not a list of events that happened; it is the translation of values into a narrative. What will we want to tell and why? What images will appear in a future museum of the Russo-Ukrainian War? How will they be reflected in memorials of other wars? Will the way we talk about other wars change? We will never return to the world as it was before the war. We must imagine the world we want to live in.
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:30-18:00 Visit: National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War (27 Lavrska St.)
Tour of the museum’s exhibitions, introduction to its formats, approaches to memorialization, museification, and work with traumatic experiences. Discussion on how the direct experience of the current Russo-Ukrainian War has changed approaches to working with the experiences of World War II. Conversation about the mission of a war museum today.
Q&A session and reflection circle.
18:00 Dinner (27 Lavrska St.)
August 19, 2025 (Tuesday)
Theme of the day: Social Cohesion
Moderators:
Svitlana Zhavoronkova, Director for Gender Equality, Persons with Disabilities, and Social Inclusion, PFRU-2. Experienced in organizing and moderating events focused on community development, participatory practices, and promoting social cohesion. Actively engaged in projects that foster the involvement of diverse social groups in processes of cultural transformation and development. Her work includes strategies aimed at the sustainable development of communities and the creation of inclusive cultural initiatives.
Nataliia Tyshchenko, Community Manager, IZOLYATSIA. Platform for Cultural Initiatives.
Anna Pohribna, Deputy Director General for Program Affairs, Mystetskyi Arsenal.
09:00 Transfer from the hotel
09:30–11:30 Lecture: Tetiana Havrysh — How to Create a Healing Space in the Community?
War profoundly changes us. We must adapt to new rules—accept differences, learn to interact, and make joint decisions not only in the “project bubbles” of large cities but also in smaller towns and villages. These are the places where men and women will return from the war with transformed experiences, where mothers with children and elderly people from occupied and frontline territories have relocated. Society is not yet ready for inclusion. Despite progressive legislation, the persistence of outdated frameworks and the lack of new practical experience—treating others as equals—make true inclusion difficult to achieve.
Ukraine has a very high mortality rate from chronic non-communicable diseases (stroke, heart attack, diabetes, cancer), often resulting from the absence of a culture of self-care and the stereotype that life and health are solely the responsibility of doctors and the healthcare system. In reality, it depends on the environment and community well-being. How can community socialization hubs become centers of care for individuals, influence local policy changes, and initiate a healthy environment for life and development?
Tetiana Havrysh — lawyer, co-founder and Director of Strategic Development at the Charitable Foundation “Healthy Solutions for an Open Society,” founder and managing partner of ILF law firm, Honorary Consul of Germany in Kharkiv.
11:30–12:00 Case Study: Nina Matsiuk — Inclusion Is Not Only About Ramps
Inclusion in cultural projects: is it when the product is accessible to all, or when everyone also has access to creating the cultural product? Who is inclusion truly about, and what must be ensured so that everyone is genuinely included?
Nina Matsiuk — expert in inclusivity and accessibility, consultant on implementing inclusive and barrier-free practices, with experience in educational and cultural institutions, creative industries, communications, management, and event organization.
12:00–12:30 Case Study: Svitlana Bazhenova — Trauma-Informed Art Practices in Community Work
The presentation will showcase the experience of the Art Therapy Force project, which applies a trauma-informed approach in working with art and local communities. The project team explores how art practices can be ethical, sensitive to the experiences of people who have endured traumatic events, and help create a safe space for expression, interaction, and support.
12:30–14:00 Lunch
14:00–15:00 Case Study: Maryna Bakaienko — Community-Building Centers: Why Do Communities Need Shared Spaces?
An overview of the Cedos and UMAEF initiative aimed at developing infrastructure for community-building in Ukrainian municipalities. Since 2023, 21 communities have received expert and financial support to establish accessible physical spaces that strengthen social connections and foster local initiatives. The presentation will highlight key approaches, challenges, and outcomes of the project.
Maryna Bakaienko — Project Manager, Community reBuilding.
15:00–15:30 Case Study: Yuliia Kakulia-Danyliuk — “Home Is Where Your Footprints Are”
An inspiring story of how a small library became a major symbol of hope, transforming into a multifunctional cultural hub and a pillar of support for its community.
Yuliia Kakulia-Danyliuk — librarian, Kapytolivka Village Library (Kharkiv region), participant of the first cohort of the Heritage: Workspace program.
15:30–16:00 Case Study: Tetiana Perevierzieva — Avdiivka Porridge as a Symbol of Preserving Cultural Identity
How traditional culinary heritage can unite people and maintain a connection with their homeland.
Tetiana Perevierzieva — civic activist, founder of the “Porridge Traveling Across Ukraine” project, participant of the first cohort of the Heritage: Workspace program.
16:00–18:00 Wrap-up Session: Reflections on the Summer School. Next Steps
18:00–19:00 Dinner
The Capacity Building and Networking Program for Local Cultural Actors “Heritage: Space for Work” is supported by the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine Fund, funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.