Украінская куратарка, адна з рэдактарак кнігі-каталога Таццяна Качубінская падчас прэзентацыі ў Берліне. Фота: @voyeur.voyager, сацсеткі antiwarcoalition.art.
The Berlin-based publishing house Distanz has released the English-language book catalogue “Sense of Safety. Art in a Time of War”. The publication documents the results of a large-scale international art project carried out in Kharkiv in 2024. The book was presented in Berlin on June 9.
The “Sense of Safety” project is unique in that its curatorial and management core was formed through the active joint participation of the Belarusian Cultural Embassy, the antiwarcoalition.art platform (the International Coalition of Cultural Workers Against War), and Ukrainian partners. The initiative was previously shortlisted for the Shevchenko Prize, Ukraine’s highest state award in the field of culture and the arts.
At the centre of the publication is the exhibition of the same name held at the Yermilov Centre in Kharkiv from August to November 2024. Following the start of the full-scale invasion, the basement gallery combined its artistic functions with those of a bomb shelter, becoming one of the safest places in the city.
While works by more than 30 Ukrainian and international artists were exhibited in the underground bunker, a broader global network developed beyond its walls. More than 20 partners in 12 countries created “Bridges of Solidarity” to help prevent the city under bombardment from becoming isolated. The catalogue analyses this experience from political, philosophical and existential perspectives.
The publication is the result of close collaboration between Belarusian and Ukrainian professionals. The curatorial team that developed the concept of the “Sense of Safety” exhibition consisted of Antonina Stebur, Maxim Tyminko and Aleksander Komarov, working alongside their Ukrainian colleagues Tatiana Kochubinska and Maryna Konieva.
Behind the scenes of the large-scale international effort were renowned Belarusian arts managers Hanna Chystasierdava and Valiantsina Kisialiova, who, together with partners, ensured the operation of the project’s entire infrastructure.
The intellectual dimension of the publication is enriched by essays from prominent contemporary cultural figures. Among them are Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan, philosopher Boris Buden, and Belarusian art researcher Lena Prents. Their texts are accompanied by 150 unique images documenting the life of art under real wartime conditions. The editors of the catalogue are Antonina Stebur and Tatiana Kochubinska.
The catalogue, as well as its Ukrainian-language version, can be ordered here.