Scattered Communities

Funding: Robert Bosch Stiftung, Goethe-Institut in Ukraine
Partners: Asortymentna Kimnata, Visual Culture Research Center, Antonin Artaud Fellowship
Duration: 2024– 2026
Curatorial group: Alona Karavai, Serhiy Klymko, Yaroslav Futymskyi
Project management: Alona Karavai, Darya Khrystyniuk, Kateryna Osypchuk
Contact: board@asortymentna.org

“Scattered Communities” is a program for Ukrainian artists who remained in Ukraine and those who left due to the war. It creates space to process these different experiences through collaborative artistic works aimed at reflecting on community ties, migration — at its various levels and forms — and sustaining artistic dialogue within the Ukrainian art community.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, some artists were forced to leave their homes, some remained in Ukraine, and others joined the armed forces. We do not have precise figures or statistics that fully capture the experiences of these groups. Nor do we have clear instruments to measure tension, guilt, disagreement, or ruptured connections. What remains is to sustain and build new dialogues that make visible the different voices within the artistic community.

The first iteration of the program, supported by Goethe-Institut Ukraine, started in October 2024 and ran until January 2025. Twenty-six artists living in Ukraine, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Portugal, the United States, and the United Kingdom were selected to participate. We accepted applications both from established duos and from those open to finding a partner for collaboration.

In total, around ten online meetings took place within the program. Two were focused on partner matching, and one discussion meeting addressed the topic of connections and ruptures within the artistic community. Additional thematic online meetings explored (de)cancelling, the hierarchy of trauma and the psychological dimension of tensions and linguistic scholasticism, love for the (non-)neighbor, and accessible practices of solidarity.
In November and December, we focused on participants’ individual work and curator consultations. We launched a mobility component within the project and provided production funding for seven collaborative artistic works. In December, we held two paired artist talks — with Mykola Ridnyi and Andrii Boyarov, and with Mykola Lebеd and Oleksii Podat.
During the first round, we supported the creation of seven works and works in progress by artistic tandems including Anna Zviahintseva (Kyiv) and Mark Chehodaiev (Vienna), Mykola Lebid (Berlin) and Yurii Holik (Vienna), Alina Kleitman (Turin) and Nikita Kadan, Dasha Chechushkova, Anna Nykytiuk and Kseniia Shcherbakova, Ksenia Pohrebennyk (Ivano-Frankivsk), Anna Ivchenko (Berlin) and Yevheniia Miliukos (Lisbon), Teta Tsybulnyk and Polina Choni, Dmytro Zaiets (Kharkiv) and Mariia Vasylenko. More about the projects is available via the link. The independent publishing initiative of Asortymentna Kimnata, ilostmymemory, also released a zine-manual as part of the project “Situational Flowerbeds” by Dasha Chechushkova, Anna Nykytiuk, and Kseniia Shcherbakova.

In February 2025, we launched an open call for the second round of the program. Applications were accepted both from established artistic tandems and from individual participants — with the opportunity to choose partners within both rounds of “Scattered Communities”.

As before, the program consisted of a series of closed-group discussions and offered funding opportunities: for travel to meet one another — where possible — and/or for the creation of joint works. As a result of the call, 20 artists were supported, including three active service members. In the new round of “Scattered Communities,” eight artistic projects and works in progress received funding, including works by Pavlo and Danylo Kovach (Donetsk region — Vienna), Harry Kraievets (Berlin), Teta Tsybulnyk (USA) and Pavlo Kerestei (United Kingdom), Valeriia Zubatenko and Kateryna Motylova, Vitalii Ruppelt and Mykola Lebid. More about the project concepts is available via the link.
Three works created within “Scattered Communities” were presented at exhibitions at Asortymentna Kimnata. The program also supported four research and exchange trips — within Ukraine and abroad. In addition, three artist talks took place — with Valeriia Zubatenko and Mykola Tomilin, Mykola Karabinovych and Dmytro Kurovskyi, as well as Kateryna Berlova. A book of essays written by program participants will summarize the discussions from both rounds of “Scattered Communities” — it is being prepared for publication by the niche publishing initiative ilostmylibrary. The book is already available for pre-order. We also published a detailed report covering the second round of the program.

In January 2026, we launched the third round of “Scattered Communities.” This time, applications are accepted from already established artistic tandems, where some participants are based in Ukraine and others abroad. The Antonin Artaud Fellowship, which supports research and experimentation in performative art, joined the program as a partner. Alongside the third round, we remain in contact with participants from previous iterations and follow the development of their projects.

All proprietary copyrights to the works created within the Scattered Communities program remain with their authors — we expect only a short disclaimer.

The “Scattered Communities” program is implemented by Asortymentna Kimnata and Insha Osvita with the support of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Goethe-Institut Ukraine. Warm thanks to the Kyiv Biennale/Visual Culture Research Center, the Ukrainian Institute in Germany, Office Ukraine in Austria, and the teams of Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie, zusa, commit and MitOst e.V. for their support in developing the program, information and friendly assistance.