After Donbas. Conference
The National Art Museum of Ukraine invites you to the conference “After Donbas”, dedicated to the preservation, research, and representation of contemporary art and culture of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The conference will focus on artistic, curatorial, and museum practices, as well as cultural institutions and communities closely connected to the region, who have been forcibly displaced due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
After Donbas. Conference
23–25.03.2025
Register
The preposition “after” does not signify an end, but rather captures a state of uncertain continuity — a condition in which the region, its culture, and its artistic communities continue to exist after the outbreak of war. This is not only about territorial loss or its threat, but also about the transformations experienced by people living in the moment of “after,” pointing to a new cultural reality or even a void — a void reminiscent of an exhausted coal seam that formed along with the start of Russian occupation. What does the body of artworks created before and after 2014 tell us about the situation we face today?
The conference will bring together curators, researchers, artists, and museum professionals working with the culture of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions to address key questions around its preservation, research, and representation.
Key topics:
– Decolonization of art theory and history: Addressing the challenges of reconciling Western epistemologies with decolonial thought, and phenomenon- and geography-centered approaches. Rethinking national and regional history, the post-Soviet legacy, and the role of Eastern Ukrainian art in the global context of war.
– Museums in wartime: Challenges of preserving collections, working with displaced heritage, documenting war, and developing new approaches for relocated museums and their role in the region’s recovery.
– Art and community self-organization: Supporting artistic initiatives through grassroots organization, creating new platforms for collaboration, and exploring informal practices beyond institutional frameworks.
– Aesthetic image of the region and stigma in art: How perceptions of aesthetics shift under the impact of war — visualizing trauma, destruction, displacement, and resistance in artistic practices. Ukrainian Donbas as a space of loss, periphery, industry, and war.
The program includes:
– Networking and exhibition tour on March 23
– Panel discussions on March 24, 2025 at NAMU (6 Hrushevsky Street)
– Public discussion on March 25 at PinchukArtCentre (1-3 Velyka Vasylkivska Street)
The full program will be sent after registration.
The project is implemented with the support of the Ukrainian-Danish Youth House Art Platform.
Partners: National Art Museum of Ukraine, PinchukArtCentre, Lysychansk Youth Community.
Media partners: Artslooker, Soniakh.