The project intended to strengthen the relationship between artist-run and non-institutional cultural spaces in Poland and Ukraine while interrogating and sharing how Ukrainian cultural heritage, art, and contemporary critique could be popularised abroad. Fundacja Ziemniaki i (PL), Stroboskop Art Space (PL), BLOK Magazine (PL), and Ksi-Prostir (UA) joined together to achieve these goals.
The approach to rebuilding was twofold. The first dealt with “rebuilding” an approach to Ukrainian culture from a position of decolonisation and environmental ethics in collaboration with artists, writers, and researchers. The second discussed how the independent cultural sphere could be rebuilt by organising a capacity-building workshop.
Fundacja Ziemniaki i joined forces with Stroboskop Art Space in 2023. They work together as a single organisation to strengthen the independent, artist-run sector in Poland and abroad. Ziemniaki i is a not-for-profit that encourages and nurtures early career cultural workers. Stroboskop is the longest-running artist-run space in Warsaw (est 2016) and has been directed by Ziemniaki i co-director Katie Zazenski since 2018. They have achieved: 45 exhibitions, 2 artist residencies, 1 mentorship programme, 120+ artists worked with, 2 interdisciplinary research projects, 1 research library, 1 internationally distributed publication and 5 art and bookfairs, and gallery weekends coordinated and participated in. In 2022, they co-founded an alternative gallery weekend for artist-run spaces called FRINGE Warszawa to spotlight the importance of non-institutional and non-commercial cultural spaces in the city. In 2023, there were 22 participants and the list for 2024 is already being compiled.