In the exhibition, 127 garage (from Kharkiv, currently based in Graz) presents a selection of self-organized art spaces from Ukraine and their art communities who are part of The Weaving project. The Weaving was launched by 127 garage in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The project unites representatives of self-organized and independent spaces engaged in contemporary art across Ukraine. The main aim is to connect organizations near the frontline with organizations in the “safer” zones of the country. The results of these pairings are exhibitions hosted in the partner spaces that represent the activities and communities of the displaced organizations. By sharing resources and encouraging collaboration, the project aims to weave a tapestry of artistic resilience and creativity that will last for years to come.

In an extended, discursive part, 127 garage will provide an insight into the urgent concerns and practical development of The Weaving and report on its practical experience and the associated challenges against the backdrop of the war and exile situation. The Berlin art spaces and initiatives Kreuzberg Pavillon and Cultural Workers Studio are invited to formulate a short commentary or reaction to The Weaving and to draw a connection to their own collaborative practice, which is also based on solidarity support and networking within and between artistic communities and independent project spaces.

The following questions, among others, will be explored in a joint discussion:

What differences and similarities can be identified in both the conceptual and everyday work of managing and maintaining self-organized art spaces against the backdrop of different precarious, crisis-ridden, political contexts?

What can concrete forms of support and solidarity between self-organized art spaces and initiatives look like?
What resources can be shared, for example?

What can we learn from each other?

How can long-term/stable networks beyond national borders be established and common goals formulated?

This event is part of the encounter and networking project Geographies of Collectivity. Artistic Infrastructures in Times of Crisis: Berlin-Vienna-Graz-Minsk-Kharkiv-Pristina (September & October 2024) at alpha nova & galerie futura

127 garage is a space for cultural initiatives from artists and for artists. The artist Anton Tkachenko and the curator Nastia Khlestova, opened a space for exhibitions, lectures, shows, meetings, discussions, and, most importantly, experiments in their garage in Kharkiv in 2019. It`s main goal and mission were to create a space comfortable for work and interaction, supporting young artists.  After the Russian invasion 127 garage became nomadic organization supporting emerging artist and artist-run spaces throughout Ukraine. 127 garage’s work is centered on different formats of knowledge exchange and developing new tools for understanding the condition today for a queerer tomorrow. 127 garage strives for a world of horizontal hegemonies, borderlessness, and borderlands, guided by the curiosity and urgency.

Heiko Pfreundt and Lisa Schorm run the project space Kreuzberg Pavillon. The space aims to develop and exhibit experimental, artistic, curatorial and art-mediating activities. Their projects critically adress inherited privileges, both in terms of access to art and the possibilities of art production itself.
Since 2019, they have been co-organizing the Project Space Festival Berlin. The Project Space Festival is an initiative of the independent visual arts community in Berlin with a shared interest in mutual support and visibility.

Cultural Workers Studio is a community collective studio led by Ukrainian women artists displaced by the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Studio has been active since May 2022 and is located at the artist-run Flutgraben e.V. in Berlin-Treptow. It produces public and private events aimed at advocating solidarity with Ukrainian self-determination in the wider community, and offers emotional, cultural, and material support to members and to the community. Its specialisations are filmmaking (Ann Krekhno, Anita Kopylenko, Anna Mudra), theatre and sound production (Hanna Liashenko, Olha Bohachevska, Axxi Oma, Richard Pettifer), Event Production, Artists-at-risk residency hosting. The Studio has about eight core members and a wider community of about 200 people.