1 December 2022 — 31 December 2024

On 5 December 2023, 19:00, IZOLYATSIA foundation presents “Soledar - an unwritten story” project. During the presentation the co-founders of the Open Place art initiative (Yuriy Kruchak, Yulia Kostereva) will talk about the research of displacement and the current situation of the residents of the Soledar community after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

Yuriy Kruchak and Yulia Kostereva first came to Soledar at the invitation of the IZOLYATSIA foundation in August 2020. The researchers held meetings and conversations with active residents of Soledar to create visual maps of local problems, needs and opportunities in the field of culture for different social and age groups.  In 2021, they took part in the Grounding residencies to work directly with the community on a joint cultural and artistic project. The residency took place in February 2021, and after the residency ended and until the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, Yurii Kruchak and Yuliia Kostereva continued to work with individual Soledar initiatives to develop joint projects. They monitored information on Soledar both when the city was at the frontline and when there were about 500 people left in the city (January 2023).

Just as for the residents of the Soledar community, Soledar meant Artemsil, so for Open Place Soledar meant it's people. The artists tried to find out where the people were forced to move, how they adapted to their new homes, and what they think about returning to Soledar.

The research Soledar - An Unwritten History (November 2022 - ongoing) combines data from open sources, survey data (272 respondents), and conversations with people. The research aims to recall the past, remember the present, record changes and imagine the future.

Soledar is a part of a project run by Kultur Aktiv (Germany), in cooperation with Ta(r)dino 6 Art Platform (Azerbaijan) and IZOLYATSIA Platform for Cultural Initiatives (Ukraine), funded by the Culture of Solidarity programme of the European Cultural Foundation and the Federal Agency for Civic Education.