Cultural Workers Studio began as an emergency initiative by Viktoria Lyakh, Inga Zimprich, and Sönke Hallman in February 2022. Following an initial Open Letter stating opposition to russia’s full-scale invasion that year, the project saw meetings on Saturday afternoons beginning February 26 (“Cultural Workers’ Cafes”) to welcome cultural workers arriving from Ukraine, at Flutgraben e.V., as an informal opportunity to build community together.
The project evolved into a shared studio, rehearsal and exhibition space, and accommodation for and led by cultural workers from Ukraine. The project attempts to offer support and community for people from Ukriane to continue their cultural practices, listen to and meet their needs. The project is horizontal, consensus-based and solidarity/dialogue-driven, attempting access to convivial resources, open a space for possible collaborations, access to living needs including work, and emergency support.
The studio has presented a regular program of publicly-accessible projects, including:
– A livestream conecert (May 2022)
– Exhibition of Crimean artist Vlad Shevchenko (August 2022)
– 2 Festivals of short films from Ukraine (August 2022 and March 2023)
– Friday “Open Studio” events (May-October 2022, continuing in 2023)
– A short course of Ukrainian language (December- March 2023)
– A dual-exhibition and solo debut exhibition (March 2023)
– residencies hosting 12 artists at risk from Ukraine (December 2022-February 2023, December 2023-March 2024)
– A cultural exchange with partners in Kyiv Region (March 2024)
– A fundraising “Fest” to help our colleague fight breast cancer in Kharkiv (December 2024)
Many events are created to support Ukraine’s resistence to the full-scale invasion, beginning in February 2022.
Founding members of Cultural Workers Studio:
Ann Krekhno, Natalie Krekhno, Olena Vakhramieieva (since went back to Kyiv) and Richard Pettifer (support).
Cultural Workers Studio 