ZMINA: Rebuilding | Forests of Our Hearts: The Connection Between Slovak and Ukrainian Art at the Atmosféra Festival
The Atmosféra Festival has a long-standing tradition in Slovakia. This well-known event has now also joined forces with artists from war-torn Ukraine. The project Forests of Our Hearts brought together artists from both Slovakia and Ukraine. We spoke with curator Tomáš Tholt and festival producer Lucia Šimášková about the idea, implementation, and progress of the project.
Could you briefly introduce the Atmosféra Festival, especially its mission?
Tomáš Tholt (TT): The Atmosféra Festival is more than just a music and cultural event – it is a space for freedom, solidarity, and community. Its goal is to create an environment where music, art, and nature intertwine into a unique experience.
Atmosféra utilises the landscape as an active part of the festival, working with its natural features and transforming it into a vibrant, creative space. In addition to a rich music programme, it offers discussions, lectures, community activities, and presentations, making it not only a festival but also a platform for dialogue.
The festival promotes solidarity and helping others – in collaboration with the Peace for Ukraine association, it creates space for fundraising and initiatives to support the Ukrainian community both in Slovakia and Ukraine. Atmosféra thus connects art with responsibility and opens up important topics that shape our society.
When and how did the idea for the Forests of Our Hearts project come about?
TT: Atmosféra 2024 introduced an independent exhibition as a curatorial selection of projects for the first time. The forest space within the festival grounds provided conditions to explore themes of nature, ephemerality, transience, solidarity, and freedom.
The choice of Ukrainian partners was closely linked to the ambition of giving artists from a war-torn country the opportunity to express themselves, to raise awareness of their struggles, and highlight the difficult situation their country is facing.
Tomáš Tholt, curator
Why did you choose ArtPole as a project partner?
Lucia Šimášková (LŠ): We had a personal recommendation from another Ukrainian cultural manager. ArtPole is a significant player on the Ukrainian art scene. Through its themes and project concepts, it complemented and expanded the Forests of Our Hearts project. The ArtPole agency specialises in creating innovative artistic projects, each of which opens up new opportunities for communication among artists, introduces new methods of working with various artistic disciplines, and thus develops new forms and meanings in contemporary art. ArtPole collaborates with writers, musicians, and performers from Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Austria, and other countries. In addition to artists, the agency also invites translators, cultural anthropologists, and philosophers to contribute to shaping the environment of each project.
How did you select the curators and artists for the project?
TT: On the Slovak side, the project curators were Lucia Šimášková and myself. Both of us worked with the festival to create a comprehensive concept of visual communication, activating the space through artistic objects and lighting. Forests of Our Hearts was part of a broader concept of artistic interventions within the festival area. The artistic and curatorial selection on the Ukrainian side was managed by the ArtPole platform in response to the festival's theme.
Were the goals you set at the beginning of the project achieved?
Art, in the form of an exhibition, was presented at the festival for the first time, and the project's vernissage received a huge audience response. The exhibition seamlessly blended into the festival grounds, and visitors naturally engaged with it as part of their environment. The festival space thus became an entire exhibition area, and art in nature became an essential element of the festival.
Lucia Šimášková, festival producer at Atmosféra
What were the biggest challenges you faced during the project? (e.g., transporting artists to Slovakia)
TT: Logistical challenges related to transporting artworks and artists were anticipated and did materialise. The biggest issue was that one artist was unable to leave Ukraine due to mobilisation, and several artworks could not be transported across the border as they reflected the theme of war and incorporated military materials. However, the implementation team successfully managed these challenges.
What message did you want to convey to visitors through the exhibition?
The exhibition addressed themes of freedom, transience, ephemerality, and the connection between humans and nature. Through delicate objects and paintings made with natural pigments, as well as the interplay of light and the forest itself, we created a temporary, gentle landscape. The aim was to enhance the experience of nature through subtle interventions that simultaneously communicated themes of home, introspection, and the difficult situation in Ukraine.
Tomáš Tholt, curator
From your application: "A new Slovak-Ukrainian collaboration will emerge between the Atmosféra Festival and the ArtPole artistic agency, forming the foundation for future joint projects in 2025–2026." What are your plans in this regard?
TT: We are currently finalising reports, and we would like to continue collaborating on visual art within the Atmosféra Festival.
How did you select the speakers and experts for the discussion?
TT: In the discussion, we connected active civil society members with exhibiting Ukrainian artists.
LŠ: The discussion partner was the Peace for Ukraine organisation, which helped select guests and design the discussion.
What feedback have you received from the Ukrainian community in Slovakia?
LŠ: Many members of Peace for Ukraine were physically present at the festival. The feedback was very positive, as the Ukrainian community was actively involved not only in the discussion but also in the SK-UA brunch.
Author: Ján Janočko
ZMINA: Rebuilding is a project co-funded by the EU Creative Europe Programme under a dedicated call for proposals to support Ukrainian displaced people and the Ukrainian Cultural and Creative Sectors. The project is a cooperation between IZOLYATSIA (UA), Trans Europe Halles (SE) and Malý Berlín (SK).