Fellows of Vidnova Fellowship Ukraine 2024
Vidnova Fellowship Ukraine is a fellowship program aimed at supporting people who return to Ukraine from abroad to be at home and resume their activities here.
In 2024, we will support 50 fellows. They are activists and artists who work with the LGBTQ(IA+) community, commemorative practices, protecting the rights of national minorities and combating discrimination against Roma.
Artur Ivanenko is a Roma activist, policy maker and cultural manager. Within the fellowship, he will facilitate educational sessions on the topic “Remembrance of the Roma Genocide”. Artur plans to develop methodical materials that will help in understanding the history of the Roma genocide and their impact on modern times.
Vitalii Zinchenko is a lawyer and activist. Vitaliy wants the closest relatives of POWs to be informed and aware of the social and material guarantees to which they are entitled. He helps the families of POWs free of charge in the formalized and received assistance.
Kateryna Bagrych is an activist who for 10 years worked on the creation of the first Voluntary Social Inclusive Theater “The Road of Good” in Kharkiv, which includes volunteers, people with disabilities and youth. Kateryna returned to Kharkiv to resume the activities of the volunteer inclusive theater and prepare a thematic performance with the stories of volunteers.
Alina Panasenko is a cinematographer and visual artist. Within the fellowship, she will work on the script of the feature film “The Vine”, as well as on the development of a curatorial project, namely the next edition of the book “Practice. Cinema and/as politics”.
Dmytro Tkachuk is a trainer in informal education for teenagers. Plans to implement the project “Indomitable Righteous People of the Peoples of the World in Zhytomyr Oblast”, which will show outstanding personalities of Zhytomyr Oblast’s Jewish community during the Holocaust. In the project, young mentors will also conduct play workshops on history.
Anzhelik Ustymenko is a queer activist and filmmaker who documents the experiences of queer people in the context of war. Such films as “Ukrainian queer fighters for freedom” and “Queer Fighters of Ukraine” have already been created. As part of the fellowship, Anzhelik will continue documenting the experiences of queer people, including those who have joined the military.
Olena Solodovnikova is an artist who will create an English-language podcast “Ukraine. Catch-22” with intellectuals from different countries about how Ukraine is changing the world. In addition, Olena will be involved in the development of a new documentary film.
Alina Ponypalyak is a candidate of historical sciences, a researcher of the Second World War. Alina’s goal is to reveal little-known pages of the history of the Second World War, and to show how the Holocaust and the crimes of the Nazis changed history, memory and Ukraine.
Natalia Diachenko is a participant of the art initiative DE NE DE, co-founder of the NGO The museum is open for renovation. Natalia is now starting work on researching the infrastructure and practices of recreation in the Black and Azov Seas. She will work with archival materials and vernacular photography.
Alina Rodina is an activist. Alina is engaged in documenting war crimes in order to help counter Russian propaganda, and also participates in activities aimed at restoring the cities of the frontline zone.
Mariia Shevchenko is an activist and historian. Within the fellowship, she is working on a project that offers a new perspective on understanding the memory of the victims of National Socialism and the process of their repatriation in the context of family histories. Mariia researches the documents of former forced laborers and prisoners of war of the State Archives of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Saf Homin – artists and journalists. They are working on audiovisual projects, in particular about vulnerable population groups, ecology and the Russian-Ukrainian war. They plan to film a project about non-binary people, and begin shooting a photo series about wounded soldiers and the challenges they face.
Vira Dranhoi is a Roma activist. Plans to work on the development of online educational content for Roma youth. This initiative will include the creation of an online consultation platform where legal and human rights issues will be explained, specifically tailored to the needs of the Roma community.
Natalia Pukha is a human rights defender and public activist who helps people who are experiencing or have experienced gender-based violence during martial law. Provides legal assistance to servicemen and members of their families. Also, plans to start advocating programs for the LGBTQ(IA+) community and adaptation programs for offenders.
Volodymyr Yakovenko is a Roma activist. He will work on a series of podcasts about the Roma community in Ukraine and how Romani women and Roma defend the interests of Ukrainian society and democratic values before the European Union.
The programme is implemented by Insha Osvita in partnership with Commit by MitOst gGmbH and with the support of the Foundation “Memory, Responsibility, and Future” (EVZ).
